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Production Credits:
So What'Cha Want
Click for Lyrics
First Appearance: Check Your Head LP, 21 April 1992
Written by: Beastie Boys
Performed by: Beastie Boys
Production Notes: Engineered by Mario Caldato, produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato. Recorded and mixed at G-Son Studios, Atwater Village, CA. Sequenced at PCP Labs. So What'cha Want (Soul Assassin Remix) remixed by DJ Muggs for the Soul Assassins.
Behind the Beats and Lyrics...
Samples:
- Biz Markie
- "I've Been Watching You" by Southside Movement - Moving South (1975) by Southside Movement
- "Just Rhymin' With Biz" by Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane (1988) by Big Daddy Kane
References:
- Eddie Harris - tenor saxophone jazz musician
- Paris - capital of France
- Spoonie Gee - old school rap artist known as the "love rapper" for his romantic hip-hop style
- Chevy Impala - Chevrolet automobile
- Wisk - namebrand laundry detergent
- Ready-Whip - namebrand of whipped dessert topping
- Dr. Spock [1904-1998] - Benjamin Spock, a world-famous pediatrician
- Off the Wall - a street game in which a rubber ball is thrown against a wall by one player while other players scramble to catch it
- Victor the Cleaner - film character from 1990 French film Nikita and 1993 American film Point of No Return
- Gardena - city in SW California
Sample & Reference Breakdown:
- "Just plug me in just like I was Eddie Harris" references the song "Plug Me In" by Eddie Harris
- "You can't front on that" sample: Biz Markie
- "I'm like Spoonie Gee I'm the Metropolitician" references the lyrics in "Spoonin' Rap" by Spoonie Gee: "My name is Spoonie Gee and I wanna be known as the metropolitician of the microphone"
- "But the sweat is getting wet around the ring around your collar" is a reference to a Wisk laundry detergent commercial slogan
- "I want you off the wall if you're playing the wall" is a term used by baseball coaches in directing their outfielders.
- Guitar and bassline sample: "I've Been Watching You" by Southside Movement
- scream sample: "Just Rhymin' With Biz" by Big Daddy Kane screamed by Biz Markie
Commentary:
Beastie Boys
"Adam Horovitz had a couple of loops on his SP 1200 which we thought were cool. We put them on the two-inch tape with Mario, but then ended up playing over the samples, eventually replacing them all together. Adam played some guitar parts, I played some beats on the kit, and Mark Nishita did a few takes of some funky organ that we sampled as well. In a last-minute flurry, the vocals came together, and the Biz was sampled from an earlier session he had done with us, making the song complete" - Michael Diamond, 1999
Press & Print Media:
"...when Mike D raps 'I think I'm losing my mind this time, I think I'm losing my mind...' he sounds like he's speaking through a malfunctioning megaphone" - Newsday, 1992
"...a subterranean swirl, [So What'cha Want] recalls the rappers' former uncaged energy" - People, 1992
"The straight up street [So What'cha Want] shows and proves that [the Beasties] still have what it takes to make heads nod on the MC'in tip" - The Source, 1992
Live:
Performed in 279 known Concerts.
First known Performance:
17-May-1992 : Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
Last known Performance:
12-Jun-2009 : Great Stage Park, Manchester, TN, United States
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