We Fly High
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| "We Fly High" | |
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| Song |
"We Fly High" is the lead single from Jim Jones' third album, Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). The intro of the song uses a sample of "Mr. Cool" by Rasputin's Stash. Parts of the original song were filmed on a green screen.
Collaborations And Remixes
A remix was played on Funkmaster Flex's radio show on Hot 97 on October 5th, 2006 and has been leaked on the internet. The official remix of the song features T.I., Diddy, Birdman and Young Dro and a video was made for the remix, it aired December 1st on Access Granted on BET. The video has an extra verse from the the Beef Mix by Juelz Santana. In the video for the remix, at the end while Jones is talking, he waves his hand in front of his face, in the style of Tony Yayo. Also, in some parts of the video, Jones, Birdman, Lil' Wayne and Juelz Santana appear with a red bandanna hanging from their right pocket, probably referencing to the Bloods gang. There's a few more remixes:
- Official Remix (featuring T.I., Diddy, Birdman, and Young Dro)
- We Fly High (NY Giants Remix)
- Brooklyn High (Jim Jones Diss) (Jay-Z)
- We Fly High (Beef Mix) (featuring Juelz Santana & Jay-Z)
- We Fly High (Reggaeton Remix) (featuring Tego Calderon & Don Omar)
We Fly High is the only Jim Jones song to ever have a BET remix, an MTV remix and a Much Music remix.
Popularity
Despite conventional wisdom, the song's popularity began throughout the US in October 2006 when the New York Giants' Michael Strahan and fellow team-mates began taking "jump shots" to celebrate sacks against the Washington Redskins [1].
Because of this incident, the NFL issued a "clarification" two weeks after the Giants/Redskins game [2] to remind the Giants that if their celebrations included two or more players, that they would be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. [3] The song is also extremely popular across North America; when played in the clubs, it is typical for everyone to take "jump shots" when Jim Jones says "ballin'". The dance in the video along with the jump shot has been named the "Fadeaway" by Jones.
WWE's Montel Vontavious Porter is known to do the "Fadeaway" jump shot before dropping an elbow on his opponent. Homicide celebrated with this song after defeating Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Title in his hometown of New York City at the Manhattan Center.
The song has become Jim Jones' most successful single to date, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first top ten single. The single also remains his most successful single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and Hot Rap Tracks, peaking at #4 and #1, respectively, and has also ranked as #1 on the Hot RingMasters chart. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA, as a digital single and as a "Master Tone" (a.k.a. Ringtone)
In addition to commercial success, the slogan "ballin'!" (pronounced /bɔlˈɪnˌ/) has accumulated an enormous amount of radio play.
The song has been used around the country during basketball games (hence, the word has come to mean "playing basketball", or as an adjective, meaning "very good at playing basketball") . Due to the catchphrase "ballin'" has become very popular. Additionally, such average people as Mike Rice (Baltimore,MD) have taken the word's meaning to even newer heights by "ballin'" on an unhealthy level in their day to day lives. Such levels of ballin' could be considered hazardous to one's health, but Mike Rice cares not...because, well, he's ballin'.
Jones has also made a "We Fly High" remix for the New York Giants and a "We Fly High" reggaeton version remixed by the famous reggaeton producer; Nely 'El Arma Secreta', or 'The Secret Weapon', which features Jones, Tego Calderon and Don Omar.
On the BET show "Rap City", The Game used the second verse from his new album 'Doctor's Advocate' from the song 'Too Much' while rapping on the "We Fly High" beat. It was also featured in the Electronic Arts game Def Jam Icon.
Confrontation with Jay-Z
Soon after "We Fly High" was released, Jay-Z recorded a diss for it, entitled "Brooklyn High", over the same beat. The chorus contains the vocals of Jones and others, but the phrase "BALLIN'!" was replaced by Jay-Z yelling "Brooklyn!". The song is thought to be disrespectful of both Jones and Cam'ron, another Dipset rapper.
Jim Jones has released a retaliation to Jay-Z's song "Brooklyn High" also on the "We Fly High" beat. Less than a day after Jay-Z's retaliative record came out, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana released a remix called "We Fly High (Beef Mix)" getting back at Jay-Z.