"4, 3, 2, 1" is a song by Queens rapper

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

featuring

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of t ...

, Redman,

Canibus Germaine Williams (born December 9, 1974), better known by his stage name Canibus, is an American rapper and actor. He initially gained fame in the 1990s for his ability to freestyle, and eventually released his debut album Can-I-Bus in 1998. ...

and DMX from LL Cool J's seventh album

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. It was released on December 9, 1997, for

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

and was produced by LL Cool J and

Erick Sermon Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968) is an American rapper, musician, and record producer. He is best known as one-third—alongside PMD & DJ Scratch—of 1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for his production work. Career Sermon started prof ...

. The single featured an extended version not featured on the album featuring an additional verse from Southern hip hop rapper

Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...

. Both the original song (without Canibus) and the extended cut (with Canibus and Master P) had accompanying music videos (directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome) is an American music video director and choreographer. Awards Diane Martel was nominated for the Video of the Year for her work in "Blurred Lines" – Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell & T.I. in 2013. Film ...

). The song peaked at number 75 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 10 on the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

and number 24

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

Controversy

The song is notable for starting the LL Cool J vs. Canibus feud, LL took offense to the lines, "L, is that a mic on your arm? Let me borrow that", which referenced his tattoo of a microphone on his arm – and which Canibus claimed was his own way of showing the rap veteran respect – and wrote an indirect diss to Canibus: ''"The symbol on my arm is off limits to challengers / You hold the rusty sword, I swing the Excalibur"'' And also: ''"Now let's get back to this mic on my arm / If it ever left my side, it'll transform into a time bomb / You don't wanna borrow that, you wanna idolize / And you don't wanna make me mad, nigga, you wanna socialize."'' Before the song was released, LL Cool J asked Canibus to change his lines. Canibus claims that LL Cool J vowed to modify his own lines as well, but the latter denied this and pointed out that nobody would know who he was talking about if only Canibus's line was changed. The original version eventually leaked, and fans started to piece the lines together. In 1998, Canibus would later respond to the diss with " Second Round K.O.". LL Cool J would then respond to that diss with the "Ripper Strikes Back". On his 2000 '' G.O.A.T.'' album, LL Cool J thanked Canibus for inspiration. In addition, despite appearing on the song, Canibus was omitted from the original music video for the song due to the feud, but was later included in the music video for the remix version.

Samples

This song features a vocal

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

from LL Cool J's 1985 song "

Rock the Bells Rock the Bells was an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert featured a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a mor ...

" off LL's album "Radio". Another prominent sample featured in the song is from a

The Beastie Boys ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

song "

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" (shortened to "Fight for Your Right" on album releases) is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single released from their debut album ''Licensed to Ill'' (1986). ...

". And "Superrappin’" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5.

Track listing

A-side

#"4, 3, 2, 1" (Radio Edit) #"4, 3, 2, 1" (Regular Version) #"4, 3, 2, 1" (Instrumental)

B-side

#"4, 3, 2, 1" (Radio Edit) #"4, 3, 2, 1" (Regular Version) #"4, 3, 2, 1" (A Cappella)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:4, 3, 2, 1 (Ll Cool J Song) 1997 singles DMX (rapper) songs LL Cool J songs Master P songs Method Man songs Redman (rapper) songs Song recordings produced by Erick Sermon Songs written by LL Cool J Def Jam Recordings singles 1997 songs Songs written by Method Man Songs written by DMX (rapper) Songs written by Redman (rapper) Hardcore hip hop songs Posse cuts Music videos directed by Diane Martel