Juicy Fruit (song)

"Juicy Fruit"
Single by Mtume
from the album Juicy Fruit
Released 1983
Format 7-inch single, 12-inch single
Recorded 1982
Length 6:00 (album version)
4:32 (UK album edit)
3:44 (7-inch edit)
5:55 (12-inch vocal version)
7:03 (12-inch "fruity instrumental mix")
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) James Mtume
Producer(s) James Mtume
Mtume singles chronology
"So Ya Wanna Be a Star"
(1980)		 "Juicy Fruit"
(1983)		 "Would You Like To (Fool Around)"
(1983)

"So Ya Wanna Be a Star"
(1980)		 "Juicy Fruit"
(1983)		 "Would You Like To (Fool Around)"
(1983)

"Juicy Fruit" is a song written by James Mtume and released as the lead-off single from Mtume's third album, also titled Juicy Fruit. It features keyboards by legendary Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist/arranger Bernie Worrell and vocals by the legendary Tawatha Agee. The mid-tempo song is arguably Mtume's most well-known, proving enormously successful on R&B radio stations and (to a lesser extent) nightclubs when first released. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart on June 4, 1983 and remained there for eight weeks. Its success on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, however, was more modest, reaching number 45.[1] The single remarkably became a certified one million seller on July 25, 1983 without even becoming a Top 40 hit. The song's video had different lyrics, where they replaced "You can lick me everywhere" with "Candy kisses everywhere" so it wouldn't be censored or banned from being seen on TV.

"Juicy Fruit" has been prominently sampled by hip-hop and R&B artists throughout the years, most notably by The Notorious B.I.G. on his debut solo single "Juicy", Keyshia Cole on her single "Let It Go", and Tamar Braxton on her hit single "The One".

The single itself would become the inspiration for another act that would take the name from the song, Juicy, whose single "Sugar Free" was considered an answer to "Juicy Fruit" and itself the basis for being used as sampled backgrounds on numerous songs.

Samples

The song "Juicy Fruit" is a staple hip hop sample. It is sampled in the following songs:

Cover versions

The song was covered in 2011 by American R&B singer-songwriter and recording artist Mashonda which samples the instrumental beat of the original song with recreated background music.

Charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 45
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 30

Instrumental remixes

A remix of the song was made in 1983 titled the "Fruity Instrumental Mix". It was produced by Tony Humphries. This version of the song runs over seven minutes containing mostly instrumental beats featuring the singing vocals of "Juicy Fruit", minus its starting chorus. This is the version sampled for the Notorious B.I.G. song "Juicy", the remix of Montell Jordan's "Supa Star", and the Urban Noize remix of Nicki Minaj's song "Your Love".

The other instrumental remix titled "The After 6 Mix" runs about three and a half minutes featuring background effects and added instrument sounds. This remix also features vocals from the lead singers of "Juicy Fruit" but to a much lesser extent than in the Fruity Instrumental mix. This version is sampled in the Ant Banks song "It's Going On".

A heavily filtered disco-edit recut of "Juicy Fruit" by Adana Twins & Doctor Dru was included on Black Jukebox 01, released August 2011.

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 417.
Preceded by
"Save the Overtime (For Me)" by Gladys Knight & the Pips		 Billboard Hot Black Singles number-one single
June 4 – July 23, 1983 		Succeeded by
"She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer
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