Drop It Like It's Hot

"Drop It Like It's Hot"
Single by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell
from the album R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece
B-side "Get 2 Know U"
Released September 12, 2004
Format 12" single, CD single
Recorded 2004
Genre Hip hop, gangsta rap
Length 4:30
Label Doggystyle, Star Trak, Geffen
Writer(s) Chad Hugo, Calvin Broadus, Pharrell Williams, Tim Stahl, John Guldberg
Producer(s) The Neptunes
Certification 2x Platinum (RIAA)
Gold (ARIA, RIANZ)
Silver (BPI)
Snoop Dogg singles chronology
"Beautiful"
(2003)
"Drop It Like It's Hot"
(2004)
"Let's Get Blown"
(2005)
Pharrell singles chronology
"Change Clothes"
(2003)
"Drop It Like It's Hot"
(2004)
"Tit 4 Tat"
(2004)
Music video
"Drop It Like It's Hot" at MTV.com
Audio sample
file info · help

"Drop It Like It's Hot" is a single by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring American singer and producer Pharrell. Snoop Dogg performs the chorus and the second and third verses (of three), while Pharrell performs the first verse. Pharrell's verse includes a line from "Raspy Shit" (a song from his debut album In My Mind), which was produced by The Neptunes and contains vocal samples from Laid Back's "White Horse". Part of "White Horse"'s production is sampled in "Drop It Like It's Hot" as well.

The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from December 11, 2004, making it Snoop Dogg's first number one on the chart. It was also his first Top 10 as a solo artist since 1994's "Gin and Juice". The song also gave him his first number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It also peaked at number one for four consecutive weeks in New Zealand, and number ten in the UK Singles Chart. It gained some critical attention for its very sparse production, consisting of tongue clicks, keyboards, a drum machine beat and white noise. It was nominated at the Grammy Awards of 2005 for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, though it lost both awards to the songs "Jesus Walks" and "Let's Get It Started", respectively. The single was Pharrell's biggest hit worldwide, until 2013's "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines" (his highest peaking single as lead artist is "Happy").

On December 11, 2009, "Drop It Like It's Hot" was named the most popular "Rap Song" of the decade by Billboard.[1]

Origin of title

The phrase "drop it like it's hot" was already in common use before the song was released, and had been used in various songs since the 1990s. It is a metaphorical description of a dance move commonly performed by women, and is performed by various women throughout the music video. It was used in Positive K's 1992 album The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills, in the song "Ain't No Crime." It was also used by Lil Wayne as a guest rapper on Juvenile's 1999 hit single "Back That Azz Up" from his album 400 Degreez. Lil' Wayne also has a song called "Drop It Like It's Hot" from his 1999 debut album Tha Block is Hot, which was released a year later. Jay-Z said "drop it like it's hot" in the song "Cashmere Thoughts" off his 1996 album, Reasonable Doubt. Drake's song "Practice" has been used by Young Money's parent label, Cash Money's former rap artist Juvenile featuring spin-off labelmate Lil Wayne of the same name which was released from Take Care in 2011.

Outside of hip-hop, it was also the title of a song on indie rock band Minus the Bear's 2002 EP Bands Like It When You Yell "Yar!" at Them.

The line was also spoken in the 2000 film Big Momma's House.

Music video

The music video of the single was shot in black-and-white. It was directed by Paul Hunter.[2] It shows Snoop Dogg doing the dance step known as the Crip Walk in the very beginning and end. The video included both of Snoop Dogg's sons, Corde and Cordell. Other appearances in the video include Terry Kennedy, Lauren London, Pharrell Williams' fellow Neptunes member Chad Hugo, and Pusha T.

The video won the award for the best hip hop video at the 2006 MTV Australia Video Music Awards and a MOBO Award for Best Video in 2005.

Radio edits

There are two radio edits for the song: one is a standard radio edit that removes profanities and drug references while the other is an "Extra Clean" edit that removes phrases with gun and gang references (and the word "roll" from the chorus) as well.

Commercial performance

Since its release the song has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.[3]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2004-05) Peak
position
scope="row" Australia (ARIA)[4] 4
scope="row" Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] 9
scope="row" Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 9
scope="row" Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[7] 12
scope="row" Denmark (Tracklisten)[8] 2
scope="row" Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 13
scope="row" France (SNEP)[10] 21
scope="row" Italy (FIMI)[11] 11
scope="row" Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 7
scope="row" New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 1
scope="row" Norway (VG-lista)[14] 9
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[15] 40
scope="row" Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 25
scope="row" Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 3
scope="row" UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[18] 10
scope="row" UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[19] 3
scope="row" US Billboard Hot 100[20] 1
scope="row" US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[21] 1
scope="row" US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (Billboard)[22] 1
scope="row" US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[23] 5
scope="row" US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[24] 1
US Hot Singles Sales (Billboard)[25] 3
scope="row" US Rhythmic (Billboard)[26] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[27] 71
US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[28] 43
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[29] 36
Australia Urban (ARIA)[30] 14
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[31] 69
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[32] 66
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[33] 65
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[34] 22
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[36] 23
US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[37] 5

Decade-end charts

End of decade chart (2000–2009) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[38] 48
US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[39] 13
US Rap Songs (Billboard)[40] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[41] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[42] Gold 7,500*
United Kingdom (BPI)[43] Silver 200,000^
United States (RIAA)[44] 2× Platinum 2,000,000[45]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Remixes

Mashups

Samples

Parodies

Covers

Soundtrack appearances

See also

References

  1. Music Video Database Music video database. Accessed October 25, 2007.
  2. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database
  3. "Australian-charts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. "Austriancharts.at – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. "Ultratop.be – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. "Ultratop.be – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  7. "Danishcharts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". Tracklisten.
  8. "SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL: DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  9. "Lescharts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT" (in French). Les classement single.
  10. "Italiancharts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". Top Digital Download.
  11. "Dutchcharts.nl – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. "Charts.org.nz – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". Top 40 Singles.
  13. "Norwegiancharts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". VG-lista.
  14. Romanian peak
  15. "Swedishcharts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". Singles Top 60.
  16. "Swisscharts.com – SNOOP DOGG FEAT. PHARRELL – DROP IT LIKE IT'S HOT". Swiss Singles Chart.
  17. "SNOOP DOGG FEATURING PHARRELL: Artist Chart History" UK Singles Chart.
  18. "Archive Chart: 2004-12-11" UK R&B Chart. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  19. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Snoop Dogg. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  20. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Snoop Dogg. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  21. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History" Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for Snoop Dogg. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  22. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Pop Songs for Snoop Dogg. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  23. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Rap Songs for Snoop Dogg. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  24. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History". Billboard Hot Singles Sales for Snoop Dogg.
  25. "Snoop Dogg Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Snoop Dogg. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  26. http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-of-the-year/?year=2004
  27. "The Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - Year End Charts 2004". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
  28. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2005". ARIA. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  29. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Urban Singles 2005". ARIA. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  30. "Zeitraum für die Auswertung: 02.01.2005 - 23.12.2005". Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  31. "2005 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart". Ultratop 50. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  32. "Dutch Year-End Charts 2005". MegaCharts. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  33. "Top Selling Singles of 2005". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  34. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2005". Schweizer Hitparade. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  35. http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-of-the-year/?year=2005
  36. "The Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - Year End Charts 2005". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  37. "The Billboard Hot 100 Singles & Tracks - Decade Year End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  38. "The Billboard Hot 100 Singles & Tracks - Decade Year End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  39. "The Billboard Hot 100 Singles & Tracks - Decade Year End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  40. "ARIA Charts — Accreditations - 2005 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  41. ""Top 40 Singles Chart: Chart #1442 (Monday 10 January 2005)"". RadioScope. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  42. "British single certifications – Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell Williams – Drop It Like It's Hot". British Phonographic Industry. 2004. Enter Drop It Like It's Hot in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  43. "American single certifications – Snoop Dogg – Drop It Like It's Hot". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH