Baby Got Back
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| "Baby Got Back" | ||||
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| Single by Sir Mix-a-Lot | ||||
| from the album Mack Daddy | ||||
| B-side | "Cake Boy" | |||
| Released | May 7, 1992 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, Cassette single, CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Comedy hip hop, Dirty rap | |||
| Length | 4:22 | |||
| Label | Def American | |||
| Writer(s) | Sir Mix-a-Lot | |||
| Producer | Sir Mix-a-Lot | |||
| Sir Mix-a-Lot singles chronology | ||||
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"Baby Got Back" is a 1992 Number One single by hip hop artist Sir Mix-a-Lot, from his album Mack Daddy. The song samples the 1986 electro single "Technicolor" by Channel One.
At the time of its original release, the song caused controversy with its outspoken and blatantly sexual lyrics about women, as well as specific and objectionable references to the female anatomy. The video was briefly banned by MTV.[1] Baby Got Back has remained popular and even anthemic for almost 20 years since it was originally featured on the album Mack Daddy in 1992.
In 2008, it was ranked number 17 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.[2]
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[edit] Synopsis
The first verse begins, "I like big butts and I cannot lie", and most of the song is about being attracted to large buttocks. The second and third verse challenge mainstream norms of beauty: "I ain't talkin' bout Playboy. Cuz silicone parts are made for toys" and "So Cosmo says you're fat / Well I ain't down with that!". Sir Mix-a-Lot commented in a 1992 interview: "The song doesn't just say I like large butts, you know? The song is talking about women who damn near kill themselves to try to look like these beanpole models that you see in Vogue magazine." He explains that most women respond positively to the song's message, especially black women: "They all say, 'About time.'"[3]
Also brought to the forefront of pop culture by this song is a generally accepted white standard of beauty — a skinny body lacking in voluptuous curves. In the prelude that opens the song there is a conversation between two (presumably) thin, white valley girls, where one girl remarks to her friend, "Oh, my God, Becky, look at her butt! It is so big [...] She's just so ... black!", to which Sir Mix-a-Lot, representing the African-American subculture's view, says: "You other brothers can't deny" and "Take the average black man and ask him...".[4] However, Sir Mix-a-Lot follows this in a later verse with "Even white boys got to shout," indicating that it is not only African-American men who are attracted to curvy women.
[edit] Chart performance and awards
Sir Mix-a-Lot's best known song, "Baby Got Back" reached number 1 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart for five weeks in the summer of 1992, and won a 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. For almost two decades following the song's release on the album Mack Daddy, it has continued to appear in many movies, shows, music videos, and even commercials, see Covers and Parodies for more information. It was number 6 on VH1's Greatest Songs of the '90s. It was number 1 on VH1's Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '90s.
[edit] Weekly charts
| Chart (1992–93) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[5] | 1 |
| US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[6] | 27 |
| US Dance/Club Play Songs[7] | 5 |
[edit] Year-end charts
| Chart (1992) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[8] | 2 |
[edit] Related songs and allusions
In a 2000 interview, Sir Mix-a-Lot reflected: "There's always butt songs. Hell, I got the idea sitting up here listing to old Parliament records: Motor Booty Affair. Black men like butts. That's the bottom line."[9] The song is part of a tradition of 1970s-90s African-American music celebrating the female behind, including "Da Butt," "Rump Shaker," and "Shake Your Groove Thing."[10][citation needed] Spoken word duo Athens Boys Choir has a parody of the song on their album Rhapsody in T called "Tranny Got Pack."[citation needed] An alternate version was performed at a 2006 Washington Mutual retreat in Hawaii.[11] The song was also covered by Jonathan Coulton in his Thing a Week project. It was spoofed in an episode of In Living Color, "Baby Got Snacks," featuring Jamie Foxx as the lead singer.[citation needed] In 2008, the movie Another Cinderella Story used a parody of the song, entitled "Baby Got Bacne," in the scene in which "Cinderella's" mother is in an advertising campaign. There was also a 2009 Burger King commercial promoting SpongeBob SquarePants Kid's Meal toys, which used a parody called "I Like Square Butts".[12][13] Another parody includes "Baby Likes Fat" which is used in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVII". It was also parodied on the "Buoyancy" episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy with "Bill's Got Boat".
In the TV show Friends, Rachel Green sings the song to a baby in the Season 9 episode "The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song", and the encounter with Rachel's sister Amy in "The One With Rachel's Other Sister."
The song has also inspired, or served as a framing device, for a logic puzzle.[14]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Baby Got Back Songfacts". Songfacts. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=604. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
- ^ Andrew Winistorfer (2008-09-29). "VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs". Prefixmag. http://www.prefixmag.com/news/vh1s-100-greatest-hip-hop-songs/21901/. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ Keizer, Brian (September 1992), "Big Buts", Spin 8 (6): pp. 87–88
- ^ Crawley, Sara L.; Foley, Lara J.; Shehan, Constance L. (2008), Gendering Bodies, Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 17–18, ISBN 0-7425-5956-1
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ "Billboard Hot 100 - 1992". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1992. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ Sir Mix-a-Lot (October 2000), "Still Bumpin'", Vibe 8 (8): p. 82
- ^ Aubry, Erin J. (2003), "The butt: its politics, its profanity, its power", in Edut, Ophira, Body outlaws: rewriting the rules of beauty and body image (2nd ed.), Seal Press, p. 30, ISBN 1-58005-108-1
- ^ By EAMON JAVERS. "WaMu lenders sang 'I like big bucks' - Eamon Javers". Politico.com. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35779.html. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
- ^ Feldman, Claudia (16 April 2009), "Burger King’s whopper of an ad", Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/6377572.html
- ^ Video on YouTube
- ^ http://ethicalwerewolf.blogspot.com/2011/02/puzzle-about-your-butt.html
| Preceded by "I'll Be There" by Mariah Carey |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single July 4, 1992 – August 1, 1992 |
Succeeded by "This Used to Be My Playground" by Madonna |
