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"No Diggity" is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen in her first recorded appearance. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 in the UK. It ranked at #91 on Rolling Stone and MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs. It sold 1.6 million copies in 1996, and won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was nominated for Best R&B Song. It ranked at #32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s. In 2010, the song was re-recorded with the new members with a remastered instrumental.^[1]

Between Blackstreet's sung verses are rap verses performed by Dre, Teddy Riley and Queen Pen, in that order, as well as backing vocals from Shaquana Elam. Despite the fact that some of Dr. Dre & Queen Pen's lyrics are censored, there are no "dirty" versions of the song. Also, there is a radio version that excludes both rappers and features Blackstreet only, tailor made for airplay on Top 40 Pop and Adult R&B stations.

The song's musical backing track is an altered sample from the beginning of "Grandma's Hands" by R&B hitmaker Bill Withers. Dr. Dre originally intended the beat to be for 2Pac. However when he left Death Row Records he sold the instrumental to Blackstreet, causing 2Pac to have to change the beat for Toss It Up, but still using the same sample; he then added the second verse to the song dissing Dre.

The music video [link]

The video is directed by Hype Williams and features said artists in front of a beachhouse standing in the sand, dancers in a wet road surrounded by black limousines, and a marionette resembling former Nike spokesman Lil' Penny playing the piano sample in a club. It was nominated for Best R&B Video and Best Rap Video on 1997's MTV Video Music Awards. Video production and casting was handled in house by Future Recording Studios manager Tony Brown who also worked closely with puppeteers to develop marionettes of Teddy Riley and Chauncey Black.

On November 9, 1996, "No Diggity" overtook "Macarena" for the Billboard 100 Single's number one spot.

Australian CD Single [link]

1. "No Diggity" (LP Version)
2. "No Diggity" (Clean Version)
3. "No Diggity" (Billie Jean Remix)
4. "No Diggity" (All Star Remix)
5. "No Diggity" (Instrumental)

Versions [link]

• A1 Billie Jean (Remix) (5:38)
  • Producer - Blackstreet, Teddy Riley
• A2 Billie Jean (Instrumental) (5:38)
  • Producer - Blackstreet, Teddy Riley
• A3 No Diggity ("Will" Remix) (4:26)
  • Producer - Teddy Riley, William "Skylz" Stewart
• B1 No Diggity ("All-Star" Remix) (4:44)
  • Producer - Allstar
• B2 No Diggity ("All-Star" Remix Instrumental) (4:44)
  • Producer - Allstar
• B3 No Diggity (A Cappella) (4:42)
  • Producer - Teddy Riley, William "Skylz" Stewart

Personnel [link]

Published by Donrill Music/Zomba Enterprises, Inc. (ASCAP/Chauncey Black Music for Smokin' Sounds [ASCAP]/Queenpen Music (ASCAP)/Sidi Music (BMI)/Sony Songs Inc./Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But Fuckin' (ASCAP)

Track recorded by George Mayers, John Hanes, Serban Genea and Sean Poland for Future Recording Studios, Virginia Beach, VA. Track mastered by Herb Powers at Hit Factory, New York, NY.

Queen Pen appears courtesy of Funky Mama Productions/Interscope Records. Dr. Dre appears courtesy of Aftermath Entertainment.

Track contains portions of "Grandma's Hands" written by Bill Withers and published by Interior Music Corp./Avant Garde Music Publishing, Inc. performed by Bill Withers, used courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment" Billie Jean" written by Michael Jackson.

All-Star Remix contains a sample of "As Long As I've Got You", written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter & performed by The Charmels Will Remix contains a mimic of "Cell Therapy", written by Barnett, Burton, Gip and Knighton & performed by Goodie Mob.

Charts [link]

Cover versions [link]

• 2Pac used the sample on his song Toss it Up. Both songs came out around the same time.
• Paddy Casey and the Dublin Gospel Choir on Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 2
• Klaxons on Radio 1 Established 1967
• Virginia Coalition on OK to Go
• The song was sampled in 2001 by German singer Sarah Connor. However, the song was misquoted in her albums liner notes as "No Daggity."
• English rock band Rooster covered the song live and appears as a b-side on their fourth single "Deep and Meaningless".
• The song is sampled on Girl Talk's mash-up album entitled "Feed the Animals" (2008)
• The song is sampled in a song titled "Strange Diggity" in which it is mashed with Reba McEntire
• British Blues singer/guitarist Oli Brown released a cover version in 2010.
• Washington State produced a cover version "Dog Doogity" encouraging dog owners to pick up their pets' waste.^[7]
• Ole covered the song in the first season of The Voice of Germany
• Cher Loyd covered this song on X-Factor (2010)
• Australian indie artist Chet Faker recorded a cover that appeared on his 2012 EP 'Thinking In Textures'

See also [link]

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1996 (U.S.)
• R&B number-one hits of 1996 (USA)
• List of number-one singles in 1996 (New Zealand)

References [link]