"Gett Off" is a song written and produced by American musician Prince for his thirteenth albumDiamonds and Pearls. The album was his first with his backing band The New Power Generation. "Gett Off" was released as the lead single from Diamonds and Pearls in June 1991. The cover uses a face drawn in place of the first letter in the wordOff and Prince's name written in reverse. "Gett Off" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number four in the United Kingdom. In the United States, "Gett Off" went to number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In addition, "Gett Off" was Prince's seventh and final song to reach number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs. It ranked at number 97 in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s.
Background and release
"Gett Off" evolved from several earlier compositions, starting with the song "Glam Slam" from 1988's Lovesexy. Prince created an unreleased remix in early 1991 called "Glam Slam '91", which used the chorus of "Glam Slam", but with new music and lyrics that borrowed partially from Graffiti Bridge's "Love Machine". Prince toyed with the song some more, adding a new chorus, and involving the newly formed New Power Generation. The song was renamed "Gett Off", which was very similar to a B-side/remix called "Get Off" from the maxi single release of "New Power Generation", also from Graffiti Bridge. "Gett Off" also uses a few musical segments from "Get Off". The new track features vocal contributions from Rosie Gaines and Tony M., and flute by long-time Prince associate Eric Leeds. Prince also contributes a guitar solo. Prince delivered the song exclusively to nightclubs on his 33rd birthday, on a now very valuable 12" single featuring the otherwise unavailable "Gett Off " remix. It was so well-received that Prince decided to release the song commercially as a single with the rap song "Horny Pony" as its B-side, and also as a maxi single with several remixes, which varied from country to country. He also added it at the last minute to Diamonds and Pearls, replacing "Horny Pony".Coincidentally Gett Off contains a sample from 'Horny Pony'. As well as being conceived from other compositions, it served as the musical blueprint for "Blue Light" and "Get Wild".
Video
An official video was developed and released for the song. The video is notable for the appearance of Diamond & Pearl, as well as Prince's Yellow Cloud Guitar.
"Mother Popcorn"
The lyrics "I like 'em fat, I like 'em proud, you've got to have a mother for me..." and the music that accompanies them in the fourth verse of "Gett Off" are paraphrased from the 1969James Brown song "Mother Popcorn". Prince alludes to the borrowing in a vocal aside. The musical quotation is preceded by a crackling noise mimicking the sound of an old vinyl record and a sample of Brown's song.
The edited 4:04 single mix backmasks the word "ass"; this version was included on the UK compilation Now That's What I Call Music! 20 which marks the first appearance of Prince on a Now Album.
On the soundtrack of the 1992 film Innocent Blood.
A brief snippet of this song as well as Cream, Sexy MF and Darling Nikki were sung by a character in the popular British sketch show The Fast Show. Due to copyright, these clips were not included in the home media releases of the show, despite the anachronistic 1940 music hall setting.
