Can I Get A...
| "Can I Get A... (soundtrack version)" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Def Jam's Rush Hour Soundtrack & Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | September 1, 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | 12-inch single, CD, vinyl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 5:09 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Shawn Carter, Jeffrey Atkins, Amil Whitehead, Irving Lorenzo, Robin Mays | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer(s) |
Irv Gotti Lil' Rob | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Can I Get A..." is a 1998 single by American rapper Jay-Z, featuring Amil and Ja Rule. It was released on Def Jam's Rush Hour Soundtrack in promotion of the film Rush Hour, but also appears on Jay-Z's third album Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. The song is produced by Irv Gotti and Lil' Rob. The song is notable for popularizing a young Amil and Ja Rule, as well as becoming one of Jay-Z's most commercially successful singles at the time, peaking at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The chorus of the original song starts with "Can I get a 'fuck you'", but it was censored to "Can I get a 'what what'" and ".. whoop whoop" for radio airplay.
The vinyl "Can I Get A..." single was released in 1998 with two tracks that do not feature Jay-Z: Ja Rule's "Bitch Betta Have My Money" and Wu-Tang Clan's "And You Don't Stop". The CD single was released in 1999 with two different tracks that do not feature Jay-Z: Case and Joe's "Faded Pictures" as well as Dru Hill and Redman's "How Deep Is Your Love". All songs were included in the Rush Hour soundtrack.
Janet Jackson's 2004 song "Strawberry Bounce", from her album Damita Jo, samples "Can I Get A...".
VH1 ranked "Can I Get A..." at No. 57 in the network's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s.
Chris Penn appeared on the video as the bartender.
Music Video
Ja spoke to Complex and said “There’s a great story behind that record. The video director Steve Carr, he’s a funny guy, a great guy. He’s the one who actually told me to take my shirt off. It was the last scene of the video, and he was like, ‘I see you in the back doing pushups and shit. So you wanna take your shirt off for this last scene and run one like that?’ And I’m like, ‘Uh, I don’t know.’ He was like, ‘Do it—we’ll just shoot one.’ And that was it. That was basically my whole scene in the video was me with my shirt off. So big shout out to Carr for that. He had a vision. He’d seen it early.
Charts
| Chart (1998–99) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 36 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 30 |
| German Singles Chart | 12 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 26 |
| UK Singles Chart | 24 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 19 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 6 |
| US Billboard Hot Rap Singles | 22 |
Single track list
CD
- "Can I Get A..." – 5:13
- "Faded Pictures" – 3:48
- "How Deep Is Your Love" – 3:58
Vinyl
A-side
- "Can I Get A..." (radio edit)
- "Bitch Betta Have My Money" (radio edit)
- "And You Don't Stop" (radio edit)
B-side
- "Can I Get A..." (TV track)
- "Bitch Betta Have My Money" (TV track)
- "And You Don't Stop" (TV track)
See also
References
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