No Diggity

"No Diggity"
Single by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen
from the album Another Level
Released	September 30, 1996[1]
Format	12" CD
Recorded	1996 2010 (re-recorded)
Genre	R&B hip hop
Length	5:03
Label	Interscope 069495003-2
Songwriter(s)	Chauncey Hannibal Teddy Riley William Stewart Lynise Walters Andre Young Richard Vick Bill Withers
Producer(s)	Teddy Riley William "Skylz" Stewart
Blackstreet singles chronology
"Tonight's the Night" (1995) "No Diggity" (1996) "(Money Can't) Buy Me Love" (1997)
Music video
"No Diggity" on YouTube
Dr. Dre singles chronology
"California Love" (1996) California Love1996 "No Diggity" (1996) No Diggity1996 "Been There, Done That" (1997) Been There, Done That1997

"No Diggity" is a 1996 song released by American R&B group Blackstreet as the first single for their second studio album "Another Level" featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and in New Zealand, and number nine in the United Kingdom. "No Diggity" ended "Macarena"'s 14-week reign atop the Billboard Hot 100. It ranked at number 91 on Rolling Stone and MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs. It sold 1.6 million copies in 1996, and won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was nominated for Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. It ranked at #32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s. In the United Kingdom, the song climbed back into the top forty of the UK Singles Chart in March 2013, peaking at number thirty-eight 16 years after its original release there. It was the final Cash Box #1 hit.

Background

Co-producer Teddy Riley originally offered the song to Guy as part of their short-lived reunion in 1996. After failing to record any material, he then suggested the song to Guy's lead singer Aaron Hall, who refused to take part in recording the song.^[2] He then offered the song to his other group Blackstreet. In a 2010 interview, Riley revealed the song was initially a hard sell among group members. He stated:

"None of the guys liked 'No Diggity'. None of them. They would even say it. That's why I'm singing the first verse. You know how they say they pushed the little one out there to see if it tastes good and see if he would get egged? Well they pushed me out there – and it became a hit. And now they wish they were singing the first verse, so that they can have the notoriety like me. So they trust what I'm saying..."^[3]

While credited to Teddy Riley, the musically backing is actually an incognito production by Dr. Dre, who was in the process of extricating himself from his label Death Row Records. The beat to "No Diggity" was initially offered to rapper 2Pac for his Death Row debut All Eyez On Me by label boss Suge Knight, but with Dre leaving the label he sold the beat to Teddy Riley. Upon the release of the finished recording by Blackstreet, Tupac and Death Row responded with a diss track containing numerous insults aimed at Dr. Dre over an instrumental sampling "No Diggity", but were forced to replace the production after Blackstreet issued the label with a cease and desist order stopping them from distributing the song.^[4] An updated version of this response, "Toss It Up", would be released under his Makaveli alias just days after his death, featuring, ironically, Aaron Hall.

Content

Between Blackstreet's sung verses are rap verses performed by Dre, Teddy Riley and Queen Pen. There is a radio version that excludes both rappers and features Blackstreet only, tailor made for airplay on Adult R&B stations.

The song's musical backing track is an altered sample from the beginning of "Grandma's Hands" by R&B singer Bill Withers.

Music video

The video is directed by Hype Williams^[5] and features Blackstreet members in front of a beachhouse standing in the sand, dancers in a wet road surrounded by black limousines, and a marionette playing the piano sample in a club. It was nominated for Best R&B Video and Best Rap Video on 1997's MTV Video Music Awards.

Australian CD single

1. "No Diggity" (LP version)
2. "No Diggity" (clean version)
3. "No Diggity" (Billie Jean Remix)
4. "No Diggity" (All Star Remix)
5. "No Diggity" *(Instrumental)

Versions

• A1 "Billie Jean" (Remix) – 5:38
  • Producer: Blackstreet, Teddy Riley
• A2 "Billie Jean" (Instrumental) – 5:38
  • Producer: Blackstreet, Teddy Riley
• A3 "No Diggity" ("Will" Remix) – 4:26
  • Producer: Teddy Riley, William "Skylz" Stewart
• B1 "No Diggity" ("All-Star" Remix) – 4:44
  • Producer: Allstar
• B2 "No Diggity" ("All-Star" Remix Instrumental) – 4:44
  • Producer: Allstar
• B3 "No Diggity" (a cappella) – 4:42
  • Producer: Teddy Riley, William "Skylz" Stewart
• Rx1 "No Diggity" (Bondax Remix) – 3:36
  • Producers: George Townsend and Adam Kaye

Personnel

Published by Donrill Music/Zomba Enterprises, Inc. (ASCAP/Chauncey Black Music for Smokin' Sounds [ASCAP]/Queenpen Music (ASCAP)/Sidi Music (BMI)/Sony Songs Inc./Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But Fuckin' (ASCAP).

Track recorded by George Mayers, John Hanes, Serban Genea, Sean Poland and Chris Johnson for Future Recording Studios, Virginia Beach, VA. Track mastered by Herb Powers at Hit Factory, New York, NY.

Queen Pen appears courtesy of Funky Mama Productions/Interscope Records. Dr. Dre appears courtesy of Aftermath Entertainment.

Track contains portions of "Grandma's Hands" written by Bill Withers and published by Interior Music Corp./Avant Garde Music Publishing, Inc. performed by Bill Withers, used courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment.

All-Star Remix contains a sample of "As Long As I've Got You", written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter and performed by The Charmels. Will Remix contains a mimic of "Cell Therapy", written by Barnett, Burton, Gipp and Knighton and performed by Goodie Mob.

Charts and certifications

Cover versions

• Makaveli used the sample on his song "Toss It Up". Both songs came out around the same time.
• Paddy Casey and the Dublin Gospel Choir on Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 2.
• Klaxons on Radio 1 Established 1967.
• Virginia Coalition on OK to Go.
• Lo Fidelity Allstars on On the Floor at the Boutique – Volume 2.
• The song was sampled in 2001 by German singer Sarah Connor. However, the song was misquoted in her album's liner notes as "No Daggity".
• British rock band Rooster covered the song live and appears as a B-side on their fourth single "Deep and Meaningless".
• The UVA a cappella group The Academical Village People used the chorus of the song, along with other popular songs' choruses, in a mash-up through the bridge of their cover of Sublime's "What I Got".^[40] It appears on their 1998 album, Calabash!.^[41]
• The song is sampled on Girl Talk's mash-up album entitled Feed the Animals (2008).
• British singer Oli Brown released a cover version in 2010.
• Washington State produced a cover version "Dog Doogity" encouraging dog owners to pick up their pets' waste.^[42]
• British singer Cher Lloyd covered this song on The X Factor (2010).
• Australian electronica musician Chet Faker recorded a cover that appeared on his 2012 EP Thinking in Textures. Faker's version was also featured in the 2013 Super Bowl commercial.
• The song is also covered in a capella in the 2012 musical comedy Pitch Perfect by Anna Kendrick and other female members of the cast. The original song was also used in promotional material.
• American independent singer Tyler Ward also covered this song in March 2013.
• Chicago's J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound performed a version of the song in June 2013 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.^[43]
• In March 2013, Ed Sheeran and Passenger performed a live acoustic cover of "No Diggity" during several live performances, one of them notably being mashed up with "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
• On The X Factor, Third D3gree sing this song on the final day of super bootcamp after being brought together as a group.
• In September 2016, Los Angeles-based duo Parlor Social (Dessy Di Lauro, Ric'key Pageot) invited Teddy Riley up on stage to perform a big band, neo-ragtime live version of the song.
• Campsite Dream released a tropical house version of the song with female vocals in 2016.
• Twenty one pilots covered the song with Jon Bellion during many shows on their Emotional Roadshow World Tour.

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics