Smack My Bitch Up
"Smack My Bitch Up" is a song by English rave group The Prodigy. It was released in November 1997 as the third and final single from their third album, The Fat of the Land (1997). In 2013, Mixmag readers voted it the third greatest dance track of all time.[4]
For the album by Ultramagnetic MCs, see Smack My Bitch Up (album)."Smack My Bitch Up"
17 November 1997
- 5:43 (album version)
- 4:45 (edit)
Liam Howlett
The song caused considerable controversy because of its suggestive title and explicit music video, which depicted scenes of drunken and drug-fuelled sexual assault and violence. The refrain, which consists only of the line "Change my pitch up/Smack my bitch up", was sampled from the song "Give the Drummer Some" by the Ultramagnetic MCs. The song also contains a brief medley of Shahin Badar vocalising alap. In 2010, it was voted as the most controversial song of all time in a survey conducted by PRS for Music.[5]
Prior to the release of the single, Liam Howlett was presented with three remixes of the title song, one by Jonny L, one by DJ Hype and one by Slacker. Howlett chose the DJ Hype remix to be released on the single. The Jonny L remix was released through a free CD that came along with an issue of Muzik magazine, while the Slacker remix was never officially released, although it surfaced on a rare and limited set of white labels.
Composition[edit]
The lyrics "Change my pitch up / Smack my bitch up" are repeated through the whole song. The vocals are sampled and altered from the Ultramagnetic MCs song "Give the Drummer Some"; the original lyrics, performed by rapper Kool Keith, are: "Switch up change my pitch up" / "Smack my bitch up, like a pimp".[6] Kool Keith had previously been sampled by the Prodigy in the track "Out of Space". The female vocals in "Smack My Bitch Up" were performed by Shahin Badar. Badar's vocals and harmonies are based on "Nana (The Dreaming)" performed by Sheila Chandra. Initially Liam Howlett used a direct sample of Chandra's song, but later had the vocal resung after sample clearance issues. The track also contains samples from "Funky Man" by Kool & the Gang, "In Memory Of" by Randy Weston, "House of Rising Funk" by Afrique, "Like This" by Mixmaster Gee and the Turntable Orchestra and "Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against the Machine.
Critical reception[edit]
British magazine Music Week gave "Smack My Bitch Up" five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week.[7]
Chart performance[edit]
In the UK the song peaked at No. 8, ultimately spending 16 weeks in the top 100, despite limited air time. The song reached the top 15 in several countries, such as Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. The song performed best in Finland, securing the band their third Finnish No. 1 hit alongside "Firestarter" and "Breathe". Although not reaching the top 20 in those countries, "Smack My Bitch Up" was a hit in the Netherlands peaking at No. 22, in Australia reaching No. 41,[8] and in the United States reaching No. 89.[9] The single also returned to the Billboard charts after Flint's death, entering number 23 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales chart in its 16 March 2019 issue.[10]
In other media[edit]
In 2012, a parody video, by the now defunct YouTube channel TheCube95, went viral.[52] The video featured a cat exhibiting similar reckless behavior to that of the woman in the original music video.
In 2020, the game Cyberpunk 2077 featured a scene where the main character, V, in the "Chipin' In" main quest, goes to clubs, gets tattoos, does drugs and drinks alcohol while being controlled by the character of Johnny Silverhand. The cutscene is in first-person perspective (just like most of the game) and has a corresponding song on the soundtrack titled "Smack My Chip Up", a clear reference to "Smack My Bitch Up". Released the same year, Assassin's Creed Valhalla includes a sidequest called "The Prodigy", where the player character boxes a clergyman, prompting a character named Keith to sing, "Smack my bishop!"[53]