"Hypnotize" is a single by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. featuring vocals by Pamela Long, released as the first single from his album Life After Death on March 1, 1997. The last song released before he was killed in a drive-by shooting a week later, it was the fifth song by a credited artist to hit number one posthumously. Rolling Stone ranked the song as #30 on their list of 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time.
Background
produced "Hypnotize" and sampled the beat from Herb Alpert's 1979 hit "Rise" which was written by Andy Armer and Herb's nephew, Randy "Badazz" Alpert. Randy recalled, "I asked Puffy, in 1996 when he first called me concerning using 'Rise' for 'Hypnotize,' why he chose the 'Rise' groove. He told me that in the summer of 1979 when he was I think 10 years old the song was a huge hit everywhere in New York and 'Rise' along with Chic's 'Good Times' were 'the songs' that all the kids were dancing and roller skating to that summer. He had always remembered that summer and that song. When he first played the loop for Biggie, Biggie smiled and hugged him." Randy continued, "Over the years I was approached by Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Vanilla Ice, and maybe another 4–5 artists to use the song and I never said 'yes' until I heard a rough version of Biggie's recording produced by Sean 'Puffy' Combs, D-Dot, and Ron Lawrence. I was sent a cassette from Puffy and when I cranked it up I not only immediately loved it but my gut thought that this could be a number one record once again. The original 'Rise' record climbed the chart all summer and became number one around the end of October; Biggie's version was released and charted its first week at number two and went to number one the second week." As for the chorus, or "hook", the melody and phrasing is interpolated from a lyrical section of Slick Rick's song "La Di Da Di", and it is also from these lyrics that the title "Hypnotize" is derived. Often misattributed to Lil Kim, Pamela Long from the group Total sang this part.
Legacy
The song was featured in 1999 movie 10 Things I Hate About You in a dance scene with Julia Stiles. The song features many pop culture references to television and film including Star Wars, Roots, Starsky & Hutch, King of New York, comics and cartoon character Richie Rich, children's clothingUnderoos, and the '60s pop hit "Da Doo Ron Ron" by The Crystals. Other references include popular fashion lines Versace, DKNY, Moschino and Coogi. More recently, the song served as the theme song to the 2009 motion picture Notorious, based on Biggie's life. Conor McGregor uses a remixed version of "Hypnotize" and Sinead O'Connor's version of the Foggy Dew during his walkouts at UFC events. On the November 30, 1998 episode of WWE Raw, then known as "Raw is War", Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson used a remix of the instrumental version of Hypnotize. A racist parody of the song titled "Notorious KKK" resulted in the Moon Man memes. The song was sung briefly by Sofia Black-D'Elia's character on the Fox show, The Mick. In 2017, the song was used in a trailer for the film Baywatch. The song was briefly played in the 2018 film .
Reception
The song was a hit on U.S. radio before being issued as a single. On its release, "Hypnotize" entered the BillboardHot 100 at number two, right behind labelmate and co-writer and co-producer Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. When "Hypnotize" reached number one two weeks later, it made The Notorious B.I.G. the fifth artist in Hot 100 history to have a posthumous chart-topper. It also gave back-to-back number-one hits to Combs' Bad Boy Records label. Nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1998 Grammy Awards, it lost to "Men in Black" by Will Smith. The single reached number 10 in the UK, B.I.G.'s first top 10 hit in that country. Kris Ex of Pitchfork wrote "Big was a master of flow, sounding unforced and unlabored over a bevy of pristine, hi-fidelity maximalist beats that seemed to always bow to his intent." 50 Cent told NME that the song was the one he would want played at his funeral: "I'd just want everyone to have as much of a party as possible."
Music video
The music video was filmed in Los Angeles, California. Directed by Paul Hunter, the video starts off with the caption: Florida Keys 5:47 pm, with B.I.G. and Puff Daddy hanging out on a 60-foot Tempest yacht with some ladies when a bunch of helicopters disrupt their party and attempt to capture them. It then cuts to B.I.G. and Puff Daddy in an underground parking lot, where they spot a black Hummer and a group of men dressed in black riding motorcycles, and attempt to get away from them by driving their vehicle in reverse while in the streets. It cuts to a pool party that's set underwater, where swimsuit models can be seen shaking their bodies through the windows, and it ends with B.I.G. and Puff Daddy escaping the helicopters. Intercut throughout the video are scenes of B.I.G. and Puff Daddy behind a sepia background with some female dancers dressed in leather bikinis and B.I.G. dancing behind a black background while pieces of the chorus are captioned below.
