"Holding You Down (Goin' In Circles)" is a song by American singer

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...

. It was written by Sullivan, Cainon Lamb, and Missy Elliott for her second album, '' Love Me Back'' (2010), while production was helmed by Elliott, with Lamb credited as co-producer. The song was released as the album's leads single in July 2010. It reached number 60 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nomination 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 ...

at the

53rd Annual Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

Composition

"Holding You Down (Goin' in Circles)" features samples of several songs, including "

La Di Da Di "La Di Da Di" is a song performed by Doug E. Fresh, who provides the beatboxed instrumental, and MC Ricky D (later known as Slick Rick), who performs the vocals. It was originally released in 1985 as the B-side to " The Show". The song has since ...

" by

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...

and

Doug E. Fresh Doug E. Fresh (born September 17, 1966) is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the "Human Beat Box". The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines an ...

, " Be Happy (Remix)" by Mary J. Blige featuring Keith Murray, "

Top Billin' "Top Billin'" is a single for American hip-hop duo Audio Two, released as the B-side of the single "Make It Funky" from the album '' What More Can I Say?'' It was released before First Priority Music inked a distribution deal with Atlantic Reco ...

" by Audio Two, " Impeach the President by The Honey Drippers", "Affirmative Action" by Nas featuring AZ,

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

, and Foxy Brown, " Let Me Clear My Throat" and "20 Minute Workout" by DJ Kool, and "Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz" by

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...

.Track listing and credits as per liner notes for ''Love Me Back'' album

Music video

A music video for the song was shot in early August and directed by

Marcus Raboy Marcus Raboy (born November 30, 1965) is an American film director, film and music video director. Since the early 1990s, Raboy has amassed a large number music video credits directing music videos for Mary J. Blige, Dixie Chicks, Rihanna, Lut ...

. In the video, Sullivan is seen throwing a hip-hop house party with some familiar faces, including

Pepa Performance Evaluation Process Algebra (PEPA) is a stochastic process algebra designed for modelling computer and communication systems introduced by Jane Hillston in the 1990s. The language extends classical process algebras such as Robin Milne ...

from Salt-N-Pepa, Pete Rock, Kwamé, and producer Missy Elliott. Elliott commented on the theme and background of the video via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, saying "...she did a 90's house jump off so it was fun. Some hip hop legends was in the building that I look up too!"< On August 30, 2010m the video premiered on Sullivan's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel,

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

, and later premiered on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's music video countdown show, ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

''.

Remixes

A week prior to the song's official digital release, remixes featuring

Lloyd Banks Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip hop group G-Unit, alongside childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo. After th ...

and Fat Joe were released. Two weeks following the song's digital release, other remixes featuring Wale and

Uncle Murda Leonard Grant (born July 25, 1980), better known by his stage name Uncle Murda, is an American rapper from East New York, Brooklyn. He is Afro Panamanian of his mother's side. He is currently signed to G-Unit Records. He is known for his annual ...

were released to the public as well. On August 27, 2010, the official remix featuring

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

with additional production and vocals by

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

appeared. On September 7, a remix featuring Rick Ross was released, they later appeared on a 12" record.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. * Missy Elliott – producer, writer *Paul J. Falcone – additional engineer * Cainon Lamb – co-producer, drum programming, engineer, writer *Brandon Parks – engineer *Jazmine Sullivan – vocals, writer

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control Jazmine Sullivan songs Songs written by Jazmine Sullivan 2010 singles Songs written by Missy Elliott Hip hop soul songs 2010 songs J Records singles Songs written by Cainon Lamb