Work It (Missy Elliott song)

"Work It"
Single by Missy Elliott
from the album Under Construction
Released	September 9, 2002 (2002-09-09)
Format	Digital download CD single 12" single
Recorded	2002
Genre	Hip hop, Southern hip hop
Length	4:25
Label	Goldmind/Elektra
Writer(s)	Missy Elliott Tim Mosley
Producer	Timbaland and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott (co-producer)
Missy Elliott singles chronology
"The Knoc" (2002) "Work It" (2002) "Gossip Folks" (2003)

"Work It" is a hip hop song written by American rapper/singer Missy Elliott and her producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for Elliott's critically acclaimed fourth studio album Under Construction (2002). The song's musical style, and production by Timbaland, were heavily inspired by Old school hip hop from the 1980s, and includes a portion which samples Run-D.M.C.'s "Peter Piper". The beginning of the song samples Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three's "Request Line". Released as the album's first single in September 2002, the track reached the number two position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated November 16, 2002 for ten weeks (behind Eminem's "Lose Yourself"), becoming Missy Elliott's most successful single to date. It also reached number one for five weeks on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song is tied with Foreigner's 1981 hit "Waiting for a Girl Like You" as the longest-running U.S. number-two single that did not reach number one. Like this song, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" spent ten weeks at #2. A remix of this song features 50 Cent. The end of the song samples "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James, and the synth pattern in the rhythm track samples the intro to "Heart of Glass" by Blondie.

Music video

The music video to "Work It" was directed by David Myers. Timbaland, Eve and Tweet make cameos in the video, as well as a brief appearance by actress/dancer Alyson Stoner. Aaliyah (January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), who at the time had both recently died, are commemorated in the music video with their images airbrushed on a car's hood.

The video won the award for Video of the Year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

Lyrics

A portion of the song's lyrics helped popularize the slang term "badonkadonk" with mainstream audiences ("Love the way my ass go bum-bump-bum-bump-bump/Keep your eyes on my bum-bump-bum-bump-bump/And think you can handle this badonk-a-donk-donk").

During the chorus, the lyric "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it" is simply played backwards, a part many mistakenly assumed to be gibberish. In the middle of the song, after the lyric "Listen up close while I take you backwards", the lyric "Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards" is also played in reverse. This vocal reversing trend made it to several of her productions during the following years.

Also, in the song's chorus, an elephant trumpeting is heard to hide a sexual reference ("If you got a big (elephant trumpet), let me search ya"). In the radio edit of the song, part of the third verse is altered.

Formats and track listings

CD single

1. "Work It" (Album Version)
2. "Pussycat" (Album Version)
3. "My People" (Basement Jaxx Remix)(Multimedia Track)

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	6
Canadian Singles Chart	40
Danish Singles Chart	11
Dutch Singles Chart	19
French Singles Chart	60
German Singles Chart	32
Irish Singles Chart	19
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	16
Swiss Singles Chart	14
Swedish Singles Chart	15
UK Singles Chart	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2
U.S. Billboard Pop Songs	3
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks	1

End-of-decade charts

Chart (2000–2009)	Rank
US Billboard Hot 100	96

References

Preceded by "Luv U Better" by LL Cool J

Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks number-one single November 23, 2002 - December 21, 2002

Succeeded by "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" by Erykah Badu featuring Common