It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock song)

"It Takes Two"
Single by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
from the album It Takes Two
Released	1988
Format	Vinyl
Genre	Hip hop
Length	5:00
Label	Profile Records
Producer	Teddy Riley
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock singles chronology
"It Takes Two" (1988) "Get on the Dance Floor" (1988)

"It Takes Two" is a 1988 hip hop song by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock and produced by Teddy Riley that was later certified platinum. The song samples heavily from Lyn Collins' 1972 song "Think (About It)", using multiple drum breaks, the well known "Woo! Yeah!" sample, as well as the lyric sung by Collins which gives It Takes Two its title. The famous introduction of the song is spoken over a sample of "Space Dust" by The Galactic Force Band (1978). The Music Video was Directed by Stu Sleppin and Produced by Bob Teeman. The first scene, where the DJ and little boy are talking, was not filmed in the USA, but in Niue, an island in the pacific.

Sampling and covers

• Female dance trio Seduction used the chorus line in their single "Two to Make It Right".
• Belgian hip-house group Technotronic sampled the line "I wanna rock right now" in the last 40 seconds on the album version of their 1989/1990 single "Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)".
• Prince (musician) and Rosie Gaines performed a short cover of the song during the Nude Tour as part of an extended Alphabet St. jam.
• The song was sampled by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince in their song "I Wanna Rock" in their 1993 album Code Red.
• Gang Starr also sampled the song in "Suckas Need Bodyguards" from their 1994 album Hard to Earn.
• The song has been sampled on a The Black Eyed Peas single "Rock That Body" from their 5th studio album The E.N.D.
• Filipino rapper Francis Magalona covered this song in his 1990 debut album Yo.
• The song is also sampled in the techno song "The Question Is What Is The Question" by Scooter.
• Ciara's "Make It Last Forever" sampled the song on her 2006 second album Ciara: The Evolution.
• In 2008, French DJ and producer Mr. Oizo released a track titled "Two Takes It", with vocals by Carmen Castro, which is a cover of the song with altered lyrics and beats.
• Snoop Dogg sampled the song on his song "I Wanna Rock" on his 2009 album Malice n Wonderland.
• In 2009, Korean artist BoA interpolated the song on her single "Bump Bump!" featuring Verbal of M-flo.
• Girl Talk samples the song for his song "Give and Go" on the album Night Ripper.
• British rapper Skepta references the lyrics in his song "Skepta".
• The song was sampled in several video games - most notably the poorly-received unlicensed multicart game Action 52 for the NES and the highly-acclaimed beat-em-up game Street Fighter III: New Generation (in Alex's theme "Jazzy NYC [Underground Edit]") for the Sega Dreamcast.
• Chris Brown recorded his version of this song entiltled "I Wanna Rock" on his 2010 rap mixtape In My Zone.
• The "Woo! Yeah!" vocals are sampled and heavily processed on Modeselektor's Death Medley 12" EP from 2002
• Korea's Girl Group 2NE1's I Am The Best" ("내가 제일 잘 나가") from 2nd Mini Album samples the famous Woo! Yeah! loop.
• The song has been sampled by Gigi Barocco with his remix for Breakdown's "Play With it"

In popular culture

• The song was mentioned in the film The Proposal

• In David Simon's 1991 book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which covers the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit in 1988, Simon calls the song "the summer's hands-down winner for Sound of the Ghetto" and uses its lyrics to frame a chapter summarizing murders and other senseless, violent acts that occur over the course of the summer.

• The track is featured on the soundtrack of the 1991 video game Action 52 and the 2004 video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the hip-hop radio station Playback FM.

• The track was heard in the American Dad! episodes Stan's Night Out, and G-String Circus.

• It is the "B-7" song, the favorite dance song of Randy in the TV show My Name Is Earl. The song also appears in the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly as well as the 2009 movie The Proposal and the 2010 film Iron Man 2.

• This song is ranked #18 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s, #37 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, and #80 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.

• This song has been widely used in Breakdancing circles and has attracted a global following after being featured in numerous notable battles, including most recently, the final of the Bboy Park 2010 Team Battle in Tokyo, Japan.

External links

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