What a Man (song)

"What a Man"
Single by Linda Lyndell
from the album What a Man
Released 1968 (United States)
Format 7-inch single
Genre Soul
Label Stax
Writer(s) David Crawford

"What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached No. 50 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1968. As "Whatta Man", a version was recorded in 1993, with greater commercial success, by Salt-n-Pepa with En Vogue.

Salt-n-Pepa and En Vogue version

"Whatta Man"
Single by Salt-n-Pepa with En Vogue
from the album Very Necessary & Runaway Love
Released December 2, 1993
Format
Recorded August 1993[1]
Genre Hip hop, R&B, Funk
Length 4:42
Label Next Plateau/London
Writer(s) Cheryl James, Dave Crawford, Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor
Salt-n-Pepa chronology
"Shoop"
(1993)		 "Whatta Man"
(1993)		 "None of Your Business"
(1994)
En Vogue chronology
"What Is Love"
(1993)		 "Whatta Man"
(1993)		 "Don't Let Go (Love)"
(1996)

In 1993, En Vogue covered the song and Salt-n-Pepa rapped over the track. "Whatta Man" is the second single released from Salt-n-Pepa's 1993 album Very Necessary; it was produced by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor. The song also appeared on En Vogue's Runaway Love EP. "Whatta Man" was a major hit for both Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it was certified platinum.[2] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and the American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single. It was held from reaching #1 by Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" at 2 and Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do It" at 1.

En Vogue sang the entire vocals on all original and remixed versions of this song. While the song and video features all four members of En Vogue, Cindy Herron does not perform any of the lead vocals. While some lead vocals are performed by Maxine Jones and Terry Ellis, the song is predominantly led by Dawn Robinson.

Music video

A music video was released in 1994 to promote the single. Tupac Shakur and Treach from Naughty by Nature make cameo appearances.

The single's music video, directed by Matthew Rolston, won three MTV Video Music Awards: Best Dance Video, Best R&B Video, and Best Choreography in 1994

Reception

"Whatta Man" was named #23 on VH1's countdown of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 1990s.

Track listings and formats

Whatta Man (Maxi-Single)

  1. Whatta Man - (Video remix)
  2. Whatta Man - (Luvbug remix)
  3. Whatta Man - (12" Danny D remix)
  4. Push It - (remix)
  5. Let's Talk About AIDS

Charts

Peak positions

Chart Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[3] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 27
Canadian Top Singles (RPM)[5] 13
France (SNEP)[6] 28
Ireland (Irish Singles Chart)[7] 12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] 14
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 10
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 37
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[12] 7
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[13] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 3
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[15] 10
US Rhythmic Top 40 1

End of year charts

End of year chart (1994) Position
Canada Dance (RPM)[16] 40
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 14

Awards and nominations

Year Award
1994 Won MTV Video Music Awards for Best Dance Video, Best R&B Video, and Best Choreography for "Whatta Man".
1995 Nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Whatta Man").
1995 Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("Whatta Man").

Trivia

In the TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, a parody of this song called "Whatta Brain" by En Vogue parody En Lobe is featured on the "Brain" episode.

The song references Whitney Houston's 1991 hit "My Name Is Not Susan" with the lyrics, "And he knows that my name is not Susan."

Australian rock band New Waver covered the song in 1994 and released their cover as a Cassingle.

Funny or Die released a version of this song with Bruno Mars singing and acting out various scenes such as, arm wrestling scene with many men competitors.

"What A Man" was performed in the movie The Sapphires and appears on the soundtrack album.

It was used as Dan Wilson (baseball) intro music when he came up to bat for the Seattle Mariners

Lena version

"What a Man"
Single by Lena
from the album Good News Platinum edition
Released 2 September 2011
Format
Recorded 2011
Genre Pop
Length 2:54
Label Universal Music
Lena singles chronology
"Taken by a Stranger"
(2011)		 "What a Man"
(2011)		 "Stardust"
(2012)

The 1968 Linda Lyndell/David Crawford version of the song was also covered by German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut as the theme song to the German movie What a Man. It is featured on the Platinum edition her second studio album Good News, it will also feature on the Soundtrack for the movie. It was released on 2 September 2011 as CD single and Digital download in Germany.

Background

The single was released on 2 September 2011 for digital download on iTunes, the single included a Live version of the song "Good News". The song will be the theme song to the German movie What a Man.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "What a Man" was first released onto YouTube on 30 August 2011 at a total length of three minutes. The video features actor Matthias Schweighöfer.[18]

Track listings

Digital download[19]
No. Title Length
1. "What a Man"   2:54
2. "Good News" (Live) 3:24

Chart performance

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Germany (Media Control AG)[20] 21

Release history

Region Date Label Format
Germany 2 September 2011[19] Universal Music Digital download

References

  1. ↑ Bye-Bye, Maniacs | EW.com
  2. ↑ "American certifications – Salt 'n Pepa – Whatta Man". Recording Industry Association of America.
  3. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue – Whatta Man". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue – Whatta Man" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 59, No. 9, March 21, 1994". RPM. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue – Whatta Man" (in French). Les classement single.
  7. ↑ "Irish Singles Chart – Search for song". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 19, 1994" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  9. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue – Whatta Man" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  10. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue – Whatta Man". Top 40 Singles.
  11. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Salt 'N' Pepa feat. En Vogue – Whatta Man". Singles Top 100.
  12. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1994-04-02" UK Singles Chart.
  13. ↑ "Salt-N-Pepa – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Salt-N-Pepa.
  14. ↑ "Salt-N-Pepa – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Salt-N-Pepa.
  15. ↑ "Salt-N-Pepa – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Salt-N-Pepa.
  16. ↑ Canada Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1994
  17. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1994". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  18. ↑ Lena - What A Man YouTube
  19. 1 2 "What a Man - Single von Lena". iTunes.
  20. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Lena / Single" (in German). Phononet.Gmbh. Retrieved 2010-02-18.

External links

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