Drop It Like It's Hot


"Drop It Like It's Hot" is a hit single by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring American singer and producer Pharrell Williams. Snoop Dogg performs the chorus and the second and third verses, while Pharrell performs the first verse. Pharrell's verse includes a line from "Raspy Shit", which was produced by The Neptunes and contains vocal samples from Laid Back's "White Horse". Part of "White Horse"'s production is sampled in "Drop It Like It's Hot" as well.
The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from December 10, 2004, making it Snoop Dogg's first number one on the chart. It was also his fourth top-ten as a solo artist, first since 2003's "Beautiful". The song also gave him his first number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It also peaked at number one for four consecutive weeks in New Zealand, and number ten in the UK Singles Chart. It gained some critical attention for its minimal, extremely sparse production, consisting of tongue clicks, keyboards, a drum machine beat and white noise. It was nominated at the Grammy Awards of 2005 for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, though it lost both awards to the songs "Jesus Walks" and "Let's Get It Started", respectively. The single was Pharrell's biggest hit worldwide, until 2013's "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines".
On December 10, 2009, "Drop It Like It's Hot" was named the most popular "Rap Song" of the decade by Billboard.

Origin of title

The phrase "drop it like it's hot" was already in common use before the song was released, and had been used in various songs since the 1990s. It is a metaphorical description of a dance move commonly performed by women, and is performed by various women throughout the music video. It was used in Positive K's 1992 album The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills, in the song "Ain't No Crime." It was also used by Lil Wayne as a guest rapper on Juvenile's 1999 hit single "Back That Azz Up" from his album 400 Degreez, and in his own song called "Drop It Like It's Hot" from his 1999 debut album Tha Block is Hot featuring B.G. and Mannie Fresh. Clark Kent said "drop it like it's hot" in the song "Cashmere Thoughts" from Jay-Z's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt. DJ Quik used the phrase in the song "Sexuality" from his album Balance & Options. Another song with the same name is "Drop It Like It's Hot", but it's sung by the Big Tymers, and featuring Chilli, Juvenile, & Lac. This version of the song was featured in the Big Tymers predecessor of their debut, How You Luv That Vol. 2.
Outside of hip-hop, it was also the title of a song on indie rock band Minus the Bear's 2002 EP Bands Like It When You Yell "Yar!" at Them.
The line was also spoken in the 2000 film Big Momma's House.

Music video

The music video of the single was shot in black-and-white. It was directed by Paul Hunter. It shows Snoop Dogg doing the dance step known as the Crip Walk in the very beginning and end. The video included both of Snoop Dogg's sons, Corde and Cordell. Other appearances in the video include Terry Kennedy, Lauren London, Pharrell Williams' fellow Neptunes member Chad Hugo, and Pusha T.
The video won the award for the best hip hop video at the 2006 MTV Australia Video Music Awards and a MOBO Award for Best Video in 2005.

Radio edits

There are two radio edits for the song: one is a standard radio edit that removes profanities and drug references while the other is an "Extra Clean" edit that removes phrases with gun and gang references as well.

Commercial performance

North America

"Drop It Like It's Hot" was the highest-ranking debut for the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 2, 2004, entering the chart at number 51. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from December 10, 2004. The song topped at number one in Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Rap Songs, Rhythmic Songs, Digital Songs and Hot 100 Airplay
Since its release the song has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The Mastertone version received certification of double platinum by the RIAA.

Europe

The song topped the Recorded Music NZ for four weeks, making it Snoop Dogg's first number one on the chart. The single reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart, and reached on the top ten in several countries.

Track listing

  1. Drop It Like It's Hot — 4:32
  2. Get 2 Know U — 3:36

    Remixes

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 36
Australia Urban 14
Austria 69
Belgium 66
Germany 47
Netherlands 60
Netherlands 65
New Zealand 22
Switzerland 16
US Billboard Hot 10023
US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 5

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

!scope="row"|United States