It's Goin' Down (X-Ecutioners song)

"It's Goin' Down"
Single by The X-Ecutioners featuring Mike Shinoda and Mr. Hahn
from the album Built from Scratch
Released	March 2002
Format	CD/ vinyl
Recorded	1999-2001
Genre	Nu metal, rap metal
Length	4:08 (Album Version) 3:32 (Radio Version)
Label	Loud Records, Columbia
Writer(s)	Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn, Melvin Bradford, Alvin Joiner
Producer(s)	Mike Shinoda
The X-Ecutioners singles chronology
"Música Negra (Black Music)/Wordplay" (1997) "It's Goin Down" (2002)
Mike Shinoda solo singles chronology "It's Goin' Down" (2002) "Enjoy the Silence 04" (2004)

"It's Goin' Down" is a song by American turntablists The X-Ecutioners. It features Wayne Static of Static-X and two members of American rock band Linkin Park: rapper Mike Shinoda and turntablist Joe Hahn. It is often mistaken for a Linkin Park track due to their involvement. It was released as the first and only single from The X-Ecutioners' second studio album Built from Scratch, which was originally released in September 26, 2001. The single was released in March 2002 in CD and vinyl format.

Background

While the song is foremost credited to the X-Ecutioners, it was written and performed primarily by Shinoda and Hahn of the band Linkin Park. It was also produced by Shinoda. The song includes samples of the Xzibit song "Year 2000" and Linkin Park's demo tracks "Step Up" (originally from the original and reissue of the EP Hybrid Theory) and "Dedicated (Demo 1999)" (originally from the LP Underground 2.0 EP). During the DJ scratching of the song's bridge, one can clearly hear the phrase "X-Men 'bout to blast off worldwide", X-Men being the former name of the X-Ecutioners which was changed to avoid copyright infringement.

"It's Goin' Down" peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart and number 28 in Australia. In the US, it reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[1] number 13 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart^[2] and number 29 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.^[3]

The song also samples Linkin Park songs on two occasions during the intro. First being "Watch them flee/Hip hop heads", which comes from the track "Dedicated (Demo 1999)". The second is a sample of Mr. Hahn saying, "You do it like this," which is from "Step Up". Linkin Park performed "It's Goin' Down" often between 2002 and 2004. They also collaborated with American rapper Snoop Dogg in one performance in which he said a few verses from "Gin and Juice."^[4]

History

In a recent article from Resident Advisor, the song has been carefully described as "a rap rock style to expect from Linkin Park being taken into the X-Ecution chamber, ready to be finally cut up, getting a lot of the JJJ play already, and is quite a decent track with a pretty average and flawless rap from Shinoda."^[5] An instrumental version of "It's Goin' Down" on the 12" vinyl format is included in the single itself.

Music video

The music video for "It's Goin' Down" also features Linkin Park's Rob Bourdon on drums, Dave Farrell on bass, and Static-X guitarist and frontman Wayne Static on guitar, although they were not involved in the recording of the song. Brad Delson and lead vocalist Chester Bennington made a cameo appearance, as well as other well-known musicians.

Track listing

CD • iTunes single
No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Goin' Down" (featuring Mike Shinoda and Mr. Hahn)	4:08
2.	"X-ecution of a Bum Rush" (featuring The Beat Junkies)	2:58
3.	"Play That Beat" (Lo-Fidelity All-Stars Remix)	4:22

Vinyl
No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's Goin' Down" (featuring Mike Shinoda & Mr. Hahn)	4:08
2.	"It's Goin' Down" (featuring Mr. Hahn) (Instrumental)	4:08
3.	"The X-Ecutioners (Theme) Song" (featuring Dan the Automator)	4:33
4.	"It's Goin' Down" (featuring Mr. Hahn) (Scratchappella)	2:13

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	28
Germany (Official German Charts)	56
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)	82
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	69
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	85
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[7]	29
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	13

References

1. "The X-Ecutioners Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
2. Billboard Archived December 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
3. Billboard
4. "Linkin Park Live Guide".
5. DJ Robotek RA Reviews: X-ecutioners - Built from Scratch on Sony (Album) Resident Advisor Retrieved July 31, 2014
6. "The X-ecutioners – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for The X-ecutioners.
7. "The X-ecutioners – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for The X-ecutioners.