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	August 2, 1988 (1988-08-02)
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	1988
Genre	Golden age hip hop
Length	5:00 (album version) 4:32 (radio edit)
Label	Profile
Songwriter(s)	Robert Ginyard
Producer(s)	Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock William Hamilton
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock singles chronology
"It Takes Two" (1988) "Get on the Dance Floor" (1988)
"It Takes Two" (1988) "Get on the Dance Floor" (1988)

"It Takes Two" is a song by New York hip hop duo Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock that became a top 40 hit single was later certified platinum by the RIAA. Over the years, the song has been covered and sampled by various recording artists. The music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide said: "There are many critics and listeners who claim that Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock's 'It Takes Two' is the greatest hip-hop single ever cut. It's hard to disagree with them."^[1]

Composition and background

The song samples heavily from Lyn Collins' 1972 song "Think (About It)",^[2] using drum breaks, the well known "Yeah! Woo!" sample, as well as the lyric sung by Collins which gives "It Takes Two" its title.^[3] The famous introduction of the song is spoken over a sample of "Space Dust" by The Galactic Force Band (1978).

Music video

The music video "It Takes Two" was edited by Peter Lauer and Pam Thomas, who worked in MTV’s promotions department alongside Peter Dougherty, Ted Demme and Mark Pellington.

The music video was filmed in 16mm by Steven Gladstone and Ilona Lieberman. Most of it was shot on a variety of 16mm Fuji Film stocks, using two standard 16 Bolex cameras that shared a single constant-speed electric motor.

The first scene, where the DJ and little boy are talking, was shot in a record store in Harlem.^[4]

The interior dance sequences were not part of the original production. The entire film "budget" was four 100 foot rolls of 16mm film, which did not result in there being enough coverage, which explains the use of the xerography, and the insertion of the shots from the dance hall that do not match the video. The shot of a lone figure in a graveyard introducing the song (before the music starts) was indeed taken in a cemetery. There was no lighting budget, so the director of photography's Volkswagen Bus, which had suffered a collision during travel to the shoot location, was driven to the gate of the cemetery, and the vehicle's headlights were used to illuminate the shot. The artist is reported to have paid the "producer" $5,000 for the video, the production crew remains unpaid to this day, and it is unclear how much, if any, of the $5,000 was actually spent on making the video.^[4]

Charts

Sampling and covers

Mike Will Made It, Carly Rae Jepsen and Lil Yachty version

"It Takes Two"
Single by Mike Will Made It, Carly Rae Jepsen and Lil Yachty
Released	February 10, 2017 (2017-02-10)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2016
Genre	Hip hop
Length	3:34
Label	604 Interscope School Boy
Songwriter(s)	James Brown Robert Ginyard Jr.
Producer(s)	Mike Will Made It
Mike Will Made It singles chronology
"Nothing Is Promised" (2016) "It Takes Two" (2017) "Gucci On My" (2017)
"Nothing Is Promised" (2016) "It Takes Two" (2017) "Gucci On My" (2017)
Carly Rae Jepsen singles chronology
"Last Christmas" (2015) "It Takes Two" (2017) "Cut to the Feeling" (2017)
Lil Yachty singles chronology
"iSpy" (2016) iSpy2016 "It Takes Two" (2017) It Takes Two2017 "Honor" (2017) Honor2017

"It Takes Two" was covered by American record producer Mike Will Made It, Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen and American rapper Lil Yachty. The song was released on February 10, 2017 as part of Target's clothes fall campaign. In this version, Jepsen also performs a rap. "It Takes Two" was accompanied by a three-minute promotional commercial directed by Roman Coppola premiering during the 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony commercial break.^[8]

In popular culture

• The song was used in the films Iron Man 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Proposal, Sisters and The Disaster Artist.^[11]
• The song was also frequently used in the TV series My Name Is Earl.
• The song was also used in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in the in-game radio station Playback FM.
• The Song was mentioned in the fictional playlist ‘’Raid The Arcade’’ in the book Armada by Ernest Cline
• The song replaced "20th Century Boy" as the theme song for Lip Sync Battle in the fourth season.
• The song was used in the unlicensed Nintendo Entertainment System game, Action 52. The song was used in the intro cutscene for the game.
• The song was used in the second trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp.

See also

• 1988 in music

References

External links

• Music video on YouTube