"Grindin'" is the debut single from

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

duo

Clipse Clipse, also known as The Clipse, is an American hip hop duo, chiefly active from 1994 to 2010. It consists of brothers Gene "No Malice" and Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during the group's early years, while No Mal ...

. The song was produced by

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, ...

, and featured on the Clipse's debut album, ''

Lord Willin' ''Lord Willin is the major label debut and second studio album by hip hop music, hip hop duo Clipse. The album was released on August 20, 2002 in the United States by Star Trak Entertainment, Star Trak and Arista Records, Arista. Recording sessi ...

''. The song became a summer Top 40 hit, reaching number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the issue dated August 10, 2002. The song's beat was far more sparse in its percussive drum and woodblock arrangement than most popular hip-hop tracks at the time, predating later sparse Neptunes productions like

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

's " Drop It Like It's Hot" that would further capitalize and expand on this style. There were two official remixes released: one featuring new verses by Pusha T and Malice featuring Noreaga, Birdman and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

, and the other, a selector remix featuring

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

artists

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

Bless In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...

and Kardinal Offishall. Both remixes feature the same instrumental but a different verse performed by Pusha T. Pusha T stated that Pharrell nearly gave the beat to

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

. The song is featured in the popular video games ''

Saints Row ''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...

'' and ''

NBA 2K15 ''NBA 2K15'' is a 2014 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the sixteenth installment in the ''NBA 2K'' franchise and the successor to ''NBA 2K14''. It was released in October 2014 for Mi ...

''. The intro was also used in the 2003 comedy film '' Malibu's Most Wanted''. The song's instrumental was sampled in

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

's 2019 song "Sorry Enough", and later in the ensemble track "Friday Night Cypher" by

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

, as one of the 7 beats used (this sample was used twice in the track).

Reception

'' Pitchfork'' ranked the song at number 27 in "The Top 500 of the Tracks of the 2000s". The song was also listed at number 84 in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

s best songs of the 2000s and at number 281 on their top 500 best songs of all time. Hip-hop writer

Shea Serrano Shea Serrano is an American author, journalist, and former teacher. He is best known for his work with the sports and pop culture websites, ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer'' and ''Grantland'', as well as his books, including ''The Rap Year Bo ...

listed the song as the most important rap song of 2002 in his book ''The Rap Yearbook''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

2002 singles Clipse songs Song recordings produced by the Neptunes Songs written by Pusha T Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Chad Hugo {{2000s-hiphop-single-stub