Keep Their Heads Ringin'

"Keep Their Heads Ringin'"
Single by Dr. Dre
from the album Friday
B-side "Take a Hit" by Mack 10
Released March 7, 1995 (1995-03-07)
Format
Recorded 1994
Genre
Length 5:06
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Dr. Dre singles chronology
"Natural Born Killaz"
(1994)		 "Keep Their Heads Ringin"
(1995)		 "California Love"
(1995)

"Keep Their Heads Ringin'" is a single by American rapper Dr. Dre featuring vocalist Nanci Fletcher, taken from the soundtrack of the movie Friday.[1]

Background

Although the soundtrack was released on Epic Records, Death Row Records still owns the masters to the song. In the United States, the song topped the Hot Rap Tracks chart and peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold by the RIAA on May 10, 1995 and sold 700,000 copies domestically.[2][3] It interpolates "Funk You Up" by The Sequence from their 1980 single released under Sugar Hill. The song also appears on Death Row Greatest Hits released in 1996. The intro "Hey. Whatup?" is done by Dr. Dre while the intro continues with the music on with KRS-One saying his trademark shout "Buck, buck, buck". There is an alternate version of the song that can be found on Death Row Greatest Hits and the compilation album Death Row Dayz, where Dr. Dre uses the line on verse 1: "Just chill, listen to the beats I spill, I use Crest, so ain't no cavity creeps in my grill", instead of the more mainstream version of: "Just chill, listen to the beats I spill, keepin' it real, enables me to make another mill'" and on verse 3 "Dre came to wax you, hoe just call me Mop 'n Glow" instead of "Dre came to wax you, so just call me Mop 'n Glow".

Music video

The music video was directed by F. Gary Gray and takes place in a plane hangar, in a Convair 880, with Dr. Dre, and his crew taking over air control. It features cast members from Friday including Chris Tucker, Faizon Love, and Nia Long, to name a few. It ends with Chris Tucker and Faizon Love taking the plane and flying away from the police. Chris Tucker says "I'm on probation, I can't go back to jail" referring to the character "Smokey" who was having trouble with the law in Friday. Lead vocalist Nanci Fletcher's intro marked the first time a female from the Death Row camp was featured in a video.

The video was played before showings of Friday in most cities.

Track listing

  1. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (LP Version) — 5:01
  2. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (Instrumental) — 4:57
  3. "Take a Hit" (by Mack 10) (LP Version) — 4:34
  4. "Take a Hit" (by Mack 10) (Instrumental) — 4:34
  1. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (Radio Version) — 5:02
  2. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (LP Version) — 5:01
  3. "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" (Instrumental) — 4:57

Personnel

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1995) Peak
position
ARIA Singles Chart[6] 93
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[7] 15
Dutch Top 40[8] 11
Eurochart Hot 100 37
French SNEP Singles Chart[7] 29
German Singles Chart[9] 23
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[7] 3
Swedish Singles Chart[7] 7
Swiss Singles Chart[7] 7
UK Singles Chart[10] 25
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] 10
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[11] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[11] 10
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles 1
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[11] 13

End of year charts

End of year chart (1995) Position
Dutch Top 40[8] 83
French Singles Chart[12] 72
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] 53

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[14] Gold 5,000*
United States (RIAA)[2] Gold 700,000[3]

*sales figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade — 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 338. ISBN 2-35019-009-9.
  2. 1 2 "American single certifications – Dr. Dre – Keep Their Heads Ringin". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  3. 1 2 "Best-Selling Records of 1995". Billboard. BPI Communications. 108 (3): 56. January 20, 1996. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Dr-Dre-Mack-10-Keep-Their-Heads-Ringin-Take-A-Hit/release/255065
  5. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2072495
  6. ↑ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20110121-0000/Issue1083.pdf
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)
  8. 1 2 "Single top 100 over 1995" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  9. ↑ "Dr.Dre singles, German Singles Chart" (in German). musicline. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  10. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)
  11. 1 2 3 4 Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved January 12, 2009)
  12. ↑ 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)
  13. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1995". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  14. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Dr. Dre – Keep Their Heads Ringin'". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
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