It's Tricky Explained

It's Tricky
Cover:Its Tricky.jpg
Alt:Penn & Teller wearing Run-DMC costumes performing in a stage.
Type:single
Artist:Run-DMC
Album:Raising Hell
B-Side:Proud to Be Black
Released:1987
Genre:
Label:Profile
Prev Title:You Be Illin'
Prev Year:1986
Next Title:Christmas in Hollis
Next Year:1987

"It's Tricky" is the fourth single released from Run-DMC's third album, Raising Hell. It was released early in 1987 through Profile Records and was co-produced by Rick Rubin and the group themselves. The song peaked at  57 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In the UK, the song reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1998, American producer Jason Nevins remixed the song under the amended title "(It's) Tricky". This version peaked at No. 74 in the UK while Nevins' remix of Run-DMC's song "It's Like That" spent its fifth week at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Nevins' remix also achieved top-40 placings in continental Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Two decades after the song's release, the Knack sued Run-DMC on the grounds that "It's Tricky" sampled their song "My Sharona" without permission.

Background

Run-D.M.C's previous studio album King of Rock had established the group's fusion of hip-hop and hard rock, which blossomed further on Raising Hell. This was due in part to the presence of producer Rick Rubin, who utilized his knowledge of both rap and metal music to develop a track that combined elements of both genres. Rubin was also responsible for introducing samples of the Knack's "My Sharona", which AllMusic Stephen Thomas Erlewine identified as a factor that enhanced the song's commercial viability. In addition to sampling "My Sharona", "It's Tricky" interpolates the entire vocal structure of "Mickey" by Toni Basil. The Knack sued Run-DMC over the track in 2006, and the lawsuit was settled out of court.[1] [2] One notable element of the song was its anti-drug lyrics such as "We are not thugs, we don't use drugs."[3]

Critical reception

Rolling Stone writer Mark Kemp remarked, "'It's Tricky' cribs the guitar part from the Knack's 'My Sharona,' a fatuous New Wave song, and turns it into vital street art."[4] Pitchforks Tom Breihan claimed, "Run and DMC had also stepped their rap game up; "It's Tricky" is basically as good as the two of them ever got, spitting quick-tongue witticisms and yelling booming threats with equal abandon."[5] Time writer stated the song serves "to prove their ferocity."[6] Commenting on the crossover appeal, AllMusics stated, "Rubin loved metal and rap in equal measures and he knew how to play to the strengths of both, while slipping in commercial concessions that seemed sly even when they borrowed from songs as familiar as 'My Sharona.'"[7]

Music video

The music video features Penn and Teller hustling a group of people with a game of three-card Monte[8] in front of the Rialto Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Run-DMC are called and shut their business down by winning every hand they play. Penn then asks the group if they can teach them to dance, which they do after insisting that Penn and Teller change their clothes. Six months later, Run-DMC show up for their gig in Japan, but are denied entry as Penn and Teller are already on stage impersonating them.

Usage in media

The song is used in the promotional clip for the FX television series Snowfall, which began airing in July 2017.[9] The original song appeared in the movies Road Trip, Can't Hardly Wait, Turbo, White Chicks, The Bounty Hunter, , Sonic the Hedgehog 2, In the movie Jack and Jill, and in the television shows One Tree Hill and King of the Hill, and in the video games WWE 2K16, Forza Horizon 3, and SSX series, SSX Tricky in particular, being named after the song.[10] [11] In 2021, the song was sampled by Crazy Frog.[12]

Track listing

7-inch

12-inch

Charts

Weekly charts

Jason Nevins remix

Chart (1998)Peak
position
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[14] 25
Hungary (Mahasz)[15] 2
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[16] 13

Year-end charts

Jason Nevins remix

Notes and References

  1. Web site: "My Sharona" Writers Sue Run DMC For Sampling "It's Tricky" . https://web.archive.org/web/20120812001229/http://www.chartattack.com/news/2006/09/18/my-sharona-writers-sue-run-dmc-for-sampling-its-tricky/. usurped. August 12, 2012. September 18, 2006 . Chartattack.com . July 15, 2010.
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=nOWdriHLHgQC&dq=it%27s+tricky+hey+mickey&pg=PA32 Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling
  3. News: A trial in Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay's 2002 killing is starting, and testing his anti-drug image. Jennifer. Peltz. Associated Press. January 27, 2024. January 29, 2024.
  4. Kemp. Mark. Run-D.M.C.: Raising Hell. Rolling Stone. New York. September 5, 2002. December 2, 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20041107213117/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/148182. November 7, 2004.
  5. Web site: Breihan. Tom. Run-D.M.C.: Run-DMC / King of Rock / Raising Hell / Tougher Than Leather. Pitchfork. September 22, 2005. February 8, 2011.
  6. Light . Alan . Raising Hell . https://web.archive.org/web/20070216124812/http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/0%2C27693%2CRaising_Hell%2C00.html . dead . February 16, 2007 . Time.com . 2006-11-02 . 2011-12-02.
  7. Web site: Erlewine. Stephen Thomas. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Raising Hell – Run-D.M.C.. AllMusic. February 8, 2011.
  8. Web site: Penn & Teller hit 21 at the Rio, and so do we. 20 January 2022.
  9. News: Jeng. Jonah. FX Crack Cocaine Drama Snowfall Receives Two Exuberant New Promos. Paste. May 11, 2017. June 21, 2017.
  10. Book: Bennett. Rebecca Jane. Jones. Angela Cresswell. 2015. The Digital Evolution of Live Music. Cambridge. Chandos Publishing. 104. 978-0-0810-0070-0. April 24, 2022. Google Books.
  11. Web site: Eustice. Kyle. November 30, 2020. How A 33-Year-Old Hip Hop Classic Became The TikTok Generation's 2020 Holiday Soundtrack. HipHopDX. April 24, 2022.
  12. Web site: Langford . Jackson . Crazy Frog makes its return with Run-DMC mashup 'Tricky' . NME . 10 December 2021 . 14 December 2021.
  13. European Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 4. 24. 15. June 20, 1987. May 11, 2021.
  14. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 15. 18. 11. May 2, 1998. May 11, 2021.
  15. Top National Sellers. Music & Media. 15. 18. 13. May 2, 1998. May 11, 2021.
  16. News: Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (14.5. – 21.5. 1998). Dagblaðið Vísir. is. 22. May 15, 1998. May 11, 2021.
  17. Web site: ARIA Top 100 Singles for 1998. Australian Recording Industry Association. May 24, 2020.