Doin' It (LL Cool J song) explained

Doin It
Cover:	Doin It.jpg
Border:	yes
Type:	single
Artist:	LL Cool J featuring LeShaun
Album:	Mr. Smith
B-Side:	Hey Lover
Recorded:	1995
Genre:	Dirty rap
Length:	4:54
Prev Title:	Hey Lover
Prev Year:	1995
Next Title:	Loungin
Next Year:	1996

"Doin It" is the second single from LL Cool J's sixth album, Mr. Smith, and was released on February 20, 1996 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 1988 titled "Wild Thang"), production from Rashad "Ringo" Smith and LL Cool J. In several interviews, both the artist and producer stated that the instrumental was originally meant for The Notorious B.I.G., to be used for a song and single on his Life After Death album, which was posthumously released.^[1]

"Doin It" was a success for LL Cool J, making it to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart. 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 "Go Stetsa" by Stetsasonic. Keri Hilson sampled this song in her song "Do It" featuring Tank for her debut album In a Perfect World... Rapper Fabolous sampled the song for his song "Doin it Well" featuring Nicki Minaj and Trey Songz for his mixtape Summertime Shootout.

The song has the singers rapping about their sexual desire for each other.^{[2] [3]}

Music video

The video was shot in January 1996, and it was directed by Hype Williams.^[4] LeShaun did not appear in the music video, as she was pregnant at the time, so different models took her place and lip synced her parts.

This song interpolates "Wild Thang" by 2 Much, a group LeShaun was in. The beginning of "Wild Thang" was reused as the hook for "Doin' It".

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

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Doin' It"!Chart (1996)!Position

Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[6]	77
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[7]	91
US Billboard Hot 100^[8]	61
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)^[9]	48

Notes and References

1. News: Did You Know? LL Cool J's "Doin It" Was Meant for Biggie. Djbooth .
2. 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)."
3. 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.
4. Web site: LeShaun – Still "Doin It" Well Since LL. TeamDeSymber. AllHipHop. December 2013.
5. 169.
6. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1996. Dutch Top 40. February 27, 2020.
7. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Single 1996. dutchcharts.nl. February 27, 2020.
8. Web site: Billboard Top 100 - 1996 . August 27, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090301121523/http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1996 . March 1, 2009 .
9. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 1996. Billboard. December 1, 2021. August 3, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150803035752/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1996/hot-r-b-hip-hop-songs. dead.