"Belly Dancer" is a song by Canadian rapper

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the countr ...

featuring American musician Pharrell Williams, the latter producing it with

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos ...

. Released on March 25, 2003, it was originally the first single from the former's unreleased album, ''Firestarter Vol. 2: The F-Word Theory''.Kardinal Offishall - Man on Fire
Exclaim!. Accessed on November 30, 2008.

Background

The song was inspired by

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

, who was in the studio while the song was recorded.Kardinall Offishall Interview (April 28, 2003)
Newrealm.com. Accessed on November 30, 2008. The single briefly appeared on the '' Billboard'' charts, and a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was shot by

Little X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian filmmaker, commercial director, music video director, and television director. Having directed more than 100 music videos, he is widely known as a pr ...

on May 7, 2003 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. However, the video remains unreleased, because Kardinal's label at the time,

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

, was absorbed into

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, leaving the single without promotion. In an interview, Kardinal stated that he does not like the song, and "it was the first thing I did that wasn't from the heart."Kardinal Offishall - Session Transcript
Red Bull Music Academy. Accessed December 3, 2008.

Track listing

12" single

A-side # "Belly Dancer" (Radio Edit) (featuring Pharrell Williams) # "Belly Dancer" (Instrumental) B-side # "Belly Dancer" (Album) (featuring Pharrell Williams) # "Sick!" (Album) (featuring

Bounty Killer Rodney Basil Price (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair f ...

) # "Sick!" (Instrumental)

Chart positions

References

2002 songs 2003 singles Kardinal Offishall songs Pharrell Williams songs MCA Records singles Song recordings produced by the Neptunes Songs written by Chad Hugo Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Kardinal Offishall Dancehall songs {{2000s-hiphop-single-stub