"Do Something" is a song by American singer

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...

from her debut studio album, ''

On How Life Is ''On How Life Is'' is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Macy Gray. It was released on July 1, 1999, by Epic Records and Clean Slate. Produced by Andrew Slater, it became Gray's best-selling album to date, selling 3.4 million ...

'' (1999). It was released on June 21, 1999, as the album's lead single.

Composition

The song samples OutKast's 1994 song "

Git Up, Git Out "Git Up, Git Out" is the third and final single from Outkast's debut album ''Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik''. A conscious Southern story-rap about the dangers of giving in to circumstances and not doing anything with one's life, the song feature ...

" and

Nice & Smooth Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays (born May 30, 1967) and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes (born August 3, 1967) plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. The duo released f ...

's 1989 song "Funky for You".

Release

"Do Something" was released as two

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

s and a

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debu ...

in the United Kingdom on June 21, 1999. One CD single contains remixes of "Do Something", including collaborators such as

Cee-Lo Cee-lo is a gambling game played with three six-sided dice. There is not one standard set of rules, but there are some constants that hold true to all sets of rules. The name comes from the Chinese ''Sì-Wŭ-Liù'' (四五六), meaning "four-fiv ...

Goodie Mob Goodie Mob is an American hip hop group based in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of CeeLo Green, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp. History The group was formed in 1991 by Cameron " Big Gipp" Gipp, Willie "Khujo" Knighton Jr., CeeLo Green (born Thoma ...

along with a non-album track, "Rather Hazy". "Do Something" peaked at number 51 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, her lowest-charting single on the chart to date. In the United States, the song failed to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but peaked at number 43 on the

Hot Dance Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, '' Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

chart and number 63 on the

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 ...

chart.

Music video

The music video for "Do Something" was directed by

Mark Romanek Mark Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American filmmaker whose directing work includes feature films, television, music videos and commercials. Romanek wrote and directed the 2002 film ''One Hour Photo'' and directed the 2010 film '' Neve ...

, who had previously directed music videos for

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards an ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. Released in 1999, the video depicts Gray in an all-white home, and surreal footage of people in the wilderness.

Accolades

Gray was nominated at the

42nd Grammy Awards The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Nominations were announced on January 4, 2000. Santana was the main r ...

for

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

. The music video was nominated for two awards at the

2000 MTV Video Music Awards The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards (stylized as MTV Video Music Awards vma.00) aired live on September 7, 2000, honoring the best music videos from June 12, 1999, to June 9, 2000. The show was hosted by Marlon and Shawn Wayans at Radio City Music Ha ...

Nigel Phelps Nigel Phelps is an English production designer, set designer and conceptual illustrator. Phelps is best known creating the drawings of Gotham City as art director on Tim Burton's '' Batman'' (1989), for which the film's art department was honore ...

was nominated for Best Art Direction in a Video, losing to the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

' "

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word), an expression that refers to the influx of Californians into various western states in the U.S. * ''Californication'' (album), a 1999 album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ** "Californication" (son ...

". It won the award for Best Cinematography in a Video.2000 MTV Video Music Awards Award Ceremony

Track listing

*UK CD single # "Do Something" (Radio Edit) – 4:10 # "Rather Hazy" – 3:10 # "Do Something" (

Organized Noize Organized Noize is an American production team from Atlanta, Georgia composed of Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown. History Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC's "Waterfalls", En Vogue's "Don't Let Go (Love)", and Luda ...

Mix featuring

) – 3:53

Charts

Release history

Media usage

"Do Something" was used in an

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

commercial advertising summer festivals throughout Europe in 1999. The song was also used in the 1999 film ''

Music of the Heart ''Music of the Heart'' is a 1999 American biographical film, biographical musical film, musical drama (film and television), drama film directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray, based on the 1995 documentary ''Small Wonders''. The film i ...

'', and in an episode of music game show ''Idol''.

References

{{Authority control 1999 debut singles 1999 songs Epic Records singles Macy Gray songs Music videos directed by Mark Romanek Songs written by André 3000 Songs written by Bernie Worrell Songs written by Big Boi Songs written by CeeLo Green Songs written by Darryl Swann Songs written by Garry Shider Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) Songs written by Jeremy Ruzumna Songs written by Macy Gray