Back That Thang Up


"Back That Thang Up" is a song recorded by American hip-hop artist Juvenile featuring American hip-hop artists Mannie Fresh & Lil Wayne, being the latter's first single. It was released on June 11, 1999 as the second single from his 1998 album 400 Degreez. The song was Juvenile's biggest hit single until the release of "Slow Motion" in 2004, peaking at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Content

Also performing a verse on "Back That Thang Up" is the song's producer, Mannie Fresh, and Juvenile's fellow Hot Boy, Lil Wayne performs the outro. Wayne's lyrics popularized an expression for a certain type of sexually suggestive dance; the expression was later re-popularized by Snoop Dogg with his number-one hit "Drop It Like It's Hot". Lil Wayne's verse was repeated on his 2008 single, "Lollipop". Drake samples the song for his song "Practice" from his 2011 album Take Care. American R&B singer Jonn Hart did a remake of the song.
Both the song and its music video were omnipresent in media venues for much of 1999 and early 2000. "Back That Thang Up", Lil Wayne's "Tha Block Is Hot", and B.G.'s "Bling Bling" were the three hits that launched Cash Money into the pop mainstream.
Based on the content of the song, there were three edited versions of the song, which allowed for radio stations to choose between playing "Back That Thang Up" and the edited version of "Back That Azz Up". Johnny Kenaya was in the studio with Juvenile and Mannie Fresh while the record was playing. He gave the green light on the project to go on. The former had redone amended lyrics, while the latter was edited as is. Also, the edited album version had "ass" backmasked along with other expletives. "Back That Thang Up" only came out on the single, the compilation Universal Smash Hits in 2000, and Juvenile's Greatest Hits in 2004.

Live performances

In February 2020, Juvenile performed "Back That Azz Up" with businessman Tom Steyer at Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina during Steyer's Democratic Party presidential primary campaign. While Juvenile performed the lyrics, Steyer danced onstage alongside his wife and daughter before delivering a speech targeted to youth and minority voters. Steyer withdrew from the presidential race the day after the performance.

Court ruling

In Positive Black Talk, Inc. v. Cash Money Records, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded that the song did not infringe the copyright of DJ Jubilee's song "Back That Ass Up".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts