Doin' It (LL Cool J song)

"Doin It"
Single by LL Cool J featuring Leshaun
from the album Mr. Smith
B-side	Hey Lover
Released	December 17, 1995
Format	CD single
Recorded	1995; Platinum Island Studios engineer Mario Rodriguez and Vaughn Sessions
Genre	R&B, dirty rap, new jack swing
Length	4:40
Label	Def Jam
Writer(s)	James Todd Smith
Producer(s)	Rashad "Ringo" Smith, LL Cool J
LL Cool J featuring Leshaun singles chronology
"Hey Lover" (1995) "Doin It" (1995) "Loungin" (1996)
Mr. Smith track listing "Hey Lover (4) "Doin It" (5) "Life As..." (6) All World: Greatest Hits track listing "I Need a Beat" (13) "Doin It" (14) "Loungin" (15)

"Doin It" is the second single from LL Cool J's sixth album, Mr. Smith, and was released on December 17, 1995 for Def Jam Recordings. Based on a sample of Grace Jones' "My Jamaican Guy", it also featured LeShaun (who previously released a song with the same sample and theme in 1993 titled "Wild Thang"), production from Rashad "Ringo" Smith and LL Cool J.

"Doin It" was a success for LL Cool J, making it to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard charts. On the B-side was the previous single, "Hey Lover".

The remix featured on the soundtrack to The Nutty Professor samples the Art of Noise's "Moments in Love."

The crowd noise played throughout the song, shouting "Go Brooklyn", is sampled from "Top Billin'" by Audio Two. Keri Hilson sampled this song in her song "Do It" featuring Tank for her debut album In a Perfect World.

The song has the singers rapping about their sexual desire for each other.^[1][2]

Music video

The video was shot in December 1995, and it was directed by Hype Williams. LeShaun did not appear in the music video, as she was pregnant at the time, so different models took her place and lip sync her parts. Leshaun and her group 2 much had a record out back in the 80's with the same sample and same sexual lyrics. It was called "Wild Thang" The beginning of her song was the hook for LL's Doin it.

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Track listing

A-side

1. "Doin It" (LP Version)- 4:40
2. "Doin It" (Unarmed Version)- 4:05

B-side

1. "Hey Lover" (Street Version)- 4:04
2. "Hey Lover" (Street Instrumental)- 4:04

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1996) Peak position Germany (Official German Charts)[3] 36 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[4] 10 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] 16 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[6] 14 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[7] 47 UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 15 US Billboard Hot 100 9 US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 7 US Billboard Hot Rap Singles 2 US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 3 US Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 17

Year-end charts End of year chart (1996) Position Dutch Top 40[8] 76 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] 61 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments United States (RIAA)[10] Gold 600,000[11] ^*sales figures based on certification alone

References

1. The Genres, Prosody and Pragmatics of Rap Said Abir Anbari - 2011 - Page 6 "There are also songs in which a male and a female performer rap together about their (sexual) desire for each other, for instance, in the song “Doin It” (1996) of LL Cool J and LeShaun (see app., p. 42)."
2. S2S Magazine - "Jamie Foster Brown - 1996 Page 22-"LL Cool J: Sexually explicit? All right, if you want to call it that. Jennifer: You don 't agree? LL Cool J: I mean, not particularly. I think that some of it is adult oriented, but that's the nature of that particular song, "Doin It." That's the only song you're ..."
3. "Musicline.de – LL Cool J Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
4. "Dutchcharts.nl – LL Cool J – Doin It" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
5. "Charts.org.nz – LL Cool J – Doin It". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
6. "Swedishcharts.com – LL Cool J – Doin It". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
7. "Swisscharts.com – LL Cool J – Doin It". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
8. "Top 40 1996". Dutch Top 40. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
9. "Billboard Top 100 - 1996". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
10. "American single certifications – L.L. Cool J – Doin%27 It". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
11. "Best-Selling Records of 1996". Billboard (BPI Communications Inc.) 109 (3): 61. January 18, 1997. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 8, 2015.