| Happy People | |
| Cover: | Prince_Ital_Joe_and_Marky_Mark-Happy_People.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Prince Ital Joe and Marky Mark |
| Album: | Life in the Streets |
| Released: | November 1993 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 3:59 |
| Label: |
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| Producer: |
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| Next Title: | United |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
"Happy People" is a song by Dominican-American reggae/ragga recording artist Prince Ital Joe featuring American rapper Marky Mark. It is their first single as a duo, released in November 1993 by EastWest and Ultraphonic as the lead single from the duo's first and only album, Life in the Streets (1994). Written by Ital Joe and Mark, and produced by Alex Christensen and Frank Peterson, the song became a hit all over Europe, peaking at number four in Germany. It sold over 400.000 copies there,[1] earning the duo a gold record. Additionally, "Happy People" was a top 10 hit in Finland (8) and a top 30 hit in Austria (23), Sweden (24) and Switzerland (22). Its accompanying music video was A-listed on Germany's VIVA in February 1994.[2]
Pan-European magazine Music & Media said, "The busy signal of a telephone drives you wild before the chorus starts, where "all the lonely people" out of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" suddenly become "happy"."[3] An editor, Miranda Watson, wrote, "'Happy People' is a strongly raggainfluenced track with a driving dance beat, a solid hook balanced by rapping from Marky Mark."[1] Leesa Daniels from Smash Hits gave it one out of five, adding, "Yet another rap tune with a message."[4]
| Chart (1993-1994) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | 22 | |
| Europe (European Dance Radio)[5] | 19 | |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] | 8 | |
| UK Club Chart (Music Week)[7] | 69 |