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
Released	October 12, 2004
Format	12" single, CD single
Recorded	2004
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4:30 (Album Version/Single Version) 4:29 (Clean Radio Edit)
Label	Doggystyle/Star Trak/Geffen
Writer(s)	Chad Hugo, Calvin Broadus, Pharrell Williams
Producer	The Neptunes
Certification	2x Platinum (RIAA)
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 2004 rap number-one hit single by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell. Snoop performs the chorus and the second and third verses (of three), while Pharrell performs the first verse.

It was a Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit for three weeks from December 11, 2004, making it Snoop Dogg's first number one on the chart. The song also gave him his first number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It has reached number ten in the UK Singles Chart.

The song gained some critical attention for its very sparse production, which was essentially just tongue clicks, keyboards and a drum machine beat which, compared to much early 2000s rap, was very minimalist. 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 is Pharrell's biggest hit worldwide (his highest peaking single as lead artist is "Frontin'".)

Pharell's verse includes a line from his song "Raspy Shit" from his album In My Mind, which was produced by The Neptunes and contains vocal samples from Laid Back's "White Horse".

On December 11, 2009, the song was named the most popular "Rap Song" of the decade by Billboard.This is his first Top 10 as a solo artist since 1993's "Who Am I? (What's My Name?)".

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 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". Lil' Wayne also has a song called "Drop It Like It's Hot", which was released later the same year. Jay-Z said "drop it like it's hot" in the song "Cashmere Thoughts" off his 1996 album, Reasonable Doubt.

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 monochrome. It was directed by Paul Hunter.

The video shows Snoop Dogg doing the dance step known as the Crip Walk in the very beginning and end.

It 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 references (and the word "roll" from the chorus) as well.

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak Position
Australia (ARIA)	4
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	9
Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)	12
Denmark (Tracklisten)	2
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)	7
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)	13
France (SNEP)	21
Irish Singles Chart	7
Italy (FIMI)	11
New Zealand (RIANZ)	1
Norway (VG-lista)	9
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	25
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	3
UK Singles Chart	10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	5
U.S. Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay	32

Decade-end charts

End of decade chart (2000–2009)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	48

Remixes

• The official remix features new verses from Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, and a verse from Jay-Z dissing R. Kelly for suing him, which appeared on the bonus CD of the Boss'n Up DVD. MTV
• DJ and Drum and Bass producer Roni Size performed a remix with Dynamite MC on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge on the 10th of January, 2005.
• Glitch-hop producer Edit also created an unofficial, unreleased remix, which can be found on various mixtapes. [1]
• Lil Wayne released a remix of the song, titled "Nah This Ain't the Remix", on his mixtape Dedication 1. He takes shots at Snoop Dogg for using his line, with lines like "don't touch my shit nigga" and "I rock a red flag..". However, he claimed that he wasn't mad, saying in the song, "When I first heard this I got a little upset but then I thought to myself, what haven't I done yet?" and later, "Nah, I ain't hatin', don't get me wrong, I made it a hot line, you made it a hot song. Peace." It can be taken as a reference to Jay-Z's song dissing Nas "Takeover" in which Jay-Z says: "I sampled your voice, you was usin' it wrong, you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song."

Mashups

• Mashup artist Party Ben mashed "Drop It Like It's Hot" with the Led Zeppelin song "Whole Lotta Love".
• dj BC mashed up the song with Nu Shooz's I Can't Wait.

Samples

• Jamie Foxx's hit "Blame It" (featuring T-Pain) sampled the song with cameo appearance by Snoop Dogg at the 2009 BET Awards.

Parodies

• MADtv did a parody music video of "Drop It Like It's Hot" called "Smokin' Too Much Pot." (The real song also contains references to marijuana.)
• A remix of the song uses a new sample of the Gap Band song "Outstanding". The remix features E-40, Killer Mike, Warren G and Jadakiss.
• British comedian Lenny Henry performed an elaborate parody of the song, complete with a music video closely mimicking that of the original, on the second episode of his 2005 comedy series, The Lenny Henry Show.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic included a few lines from the song in "Polkarama!", a medley of popular songs set to polka music on his 2006 release Straight Outta Lynwood.
• Carlos Mencia parodied rappers who went to jail in his new rap video on Mind of Mencia. He parodied Snoop's "Drop It Like It's Hot", DMX's "Ruff Ryders Anthem" and Mystikal's "Shake It Fast".
• Bulgarian comedy rappers DJ Damian & Dinamit parodied the video of Drop It Like It's Hot and Fat Joe's song Lean Back (Remix) (produced by Lil Jon) in their song "Kachak" (Къчак) satirizing the lifestyle of the gypsies of Bulgaira.
• The music video was parodied by country group Hot Apple Pie for their 2005 video "Hillbillies".

Covers

• The song was covered by the German band The BossHoss on their 2007 release 'Stallion Battalion'.
• Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake covered the song in a skit.

Soundtrack appearances

• The song appears in the game Dance Central for Kinect on the Xbox 360 and in a commercial for the soft drink Sun Drop.

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (New Zealand)#2005
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2004 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 2004 (U.S.)