Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent

"Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" is a song by American singer Gwen Guthrie. It was released as the lead single from her fourth album, Good to Go Lover in 1986, on Polydor Records. The song became the biggest hit of Guthrie's career, and the song's title became a semi-popular catchphrase among many women throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.[1][2] In 2005, Blender listed "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" as number 339 on its list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".[3]

"Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent"
Single by Gwen Guthrie
from the album Good to Go Lover
Released1986
Format3:32 (7")
5:59 (12")
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)Gwen Guthrie
Producer(s)Gwen Guthrie
Gwen Guthrie singles chronology
"Just for You"
(1985)		 "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent"
(1986)		 "Seventh Heaven"
(1986)

Charts

The song was a major hit on both sides of Atlantic,[4] mostly in dance clubs and on the radio, charting moderately on the US pop chart (reaching number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100), but faring better on the R&B chart where it spent one week at number-one and on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart where it spent two weeks at the top.[5] The song peaked at number-one in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, and was also successful in parts of Europe, reaching number 5 on the UK Singles Chart.[6]

Chart performance
Chart (1986) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA Charts) 75
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) 28
Germany Media Control Charts) 21
Ireland (IRMA) 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 25
New Zealand (RIANZ) 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 17
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 5
US Billboard Hot 100 42
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs 1
US Billboard R&B Chart 1
Zimbabwe (ZIMA)[7] 1

References to other songs

The song contains apparent references to at least three other songs:

The line "Ain't nothing goin' on now, but the rent-uh" appears in the 1972 James Brown hit "Get on the Good Foot — Pt. 1".

The line "You got to have a J-O-B if you want to be-with-me" is set to a melody line that recurs throughout "Doctor Love", a 1977 disco hit by First Choice.

The line "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing" is taken from Billy Preston's 1974 hit song of the same name.

Covers and pop culture references

The song has been referenced numerous times in popular culture, including songs with similar messages, such as Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills". The last stanza of Blackstreet's song "No Diggity" uses the title line. Rapper Foxy Brown released a cover version of the song, titled "JOB", which also featured Mýa. It appeared on Brown's 1999 album Chyna Doll.

Comedian Eddie Murphy cited the song's title and lyrics[8] in his 1987 stand-up comedy movie Raw as reflective of the materialism of American women at the time. In the 1994 film House Party 3, Reynaldo Rey used the lyric: "No romance without finance" to convey to Kid, how the lack of employment was a deal breaker. In the comedy series Martin, "Ain't Nuttin' Goin' on But the Rent" was the name of Episode 16 of Season 3 in 1995 where Martin refused to pay a 5% rent increase to his landlord. The song was also used in 2013 in the 8th episode of Season 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race, when contestants Alyssa Edwards and Ivy Winters had to lip sync to it to avoid elimination.

See also

References
  1. "Hard 'Rain' Falls On Women". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  2. "Gwen Guthrie; Songwriter, Singer of Dance Hits". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  3. "Blender Magazine: Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  4. "Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent was a major hit on both sides". Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003, (Record Research Inc.)
  6. Official Charts Company info from Official Charts Company
    • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  8. Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) – Full Transcript a Scraps from the Loft. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
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