"I Wanna Sex You Up" is a song by American R&B group

Color Me Badd ''Color'' Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in 1985 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), tenor Mark Calderon (born September 27, 1970), second tenor Sam Watters (born July 23 ...

, released in March 1991 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their debut album, ''

C.M.B. ''C.M.B.'' is the debut album by American recording act Color Me Badd, released July 23, 1991, on Giant Records. It was produced by several record producers, including Dr. Freeze, Nick Mundy, and Howie Tee. The album received mixed reviews ...

'' (1991). The song was produced by Dr. Freeze and was also featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the 1991 film ''

New Jack City ''New Jack City'' is a 1991 American action crime film based upon an original story and written by Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper, and directed by Mario Van Peebles in his feature film directorial debut. Released in the United Stat ...

''. The single achieved commercial success in the United States, spending four weeks at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topping both the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B Singles 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 p ...

and

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, ...

charts. It also enjoyed international success, peaking atop the charts of New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Charts and rankings

The song spent three weeks at number one 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 ...

and reached number two for four consecutive weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, behind "

More Than Words "More Than Words" is a song by American rock band Extreme, released as the fifth track and third single from their second album, ''Pornograffitti'' (1990), in March 1991. It is a ballad built around acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and ...

" by Extreme, and " Rush Rush" by

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...

. It was the 10th-best-selling single of 1991 in the UK and the Number 2 song of the year in the US, and in 1992 the song won the group a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo and

Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Song of the Year This page lists the winners and nominees for the Soul Train Music Award The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and ...

. It was ranked number 40 on ''Blender'''s list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever" and VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s".

Critical reception

Alex Henderson from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

picked the song as one of the "moments" on the ''

'' album, describing it as a slow jam "which samples rapper

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 " ...

in a rather clever fashion". A reviewer from '' Cashbox'' deemed it "naughty and suggestive yet not particularly explicit R&B/ pop". James Hamilton from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update called it a "sweetly cooing young guys crooned gorgeous sineous sexy swayer". Pop Rescue commented, "This song stood out from the rest of the charts when it was released in the UK, and that along with the boys’ breathy sexy promises and the inclusion of ‘sex’ in the song title made this track a sure-fire hit. Musically it's quite a simple song, allowing the vocals to really shine here – and to their credit, their vocals worth together really well." In his review of the album, Mark Frith from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' said that

"sound excellent" when "they do manage to break into a sweat", like on "I Wanna Sex You Up". A sample of "I Wanna Sex You Up" has been used in the Kardinal Beats remix of "Tick Tock" by

Lemar Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the first series of British talent show ''Fame Academy'', he was later signed to Sony BMG ...

Track listings

* 7" single # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (master mix) — 4:05 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix) — 3:38 * 12" maxi # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix) — 3:38 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out - long version) — 5:13 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (instrumental) — 4:04 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (master mix) — 4:05 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (freeze mix) — 4:06 * CD maxi # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix) — 3:39 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix - long version) — 5:14 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (Instrumental) — 4:04 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (master mix) — 4:05 # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (freeze mix) — 4:07 * Cassette # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (master mix) # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix) # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (master mix) # "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix)

Official Versions

* "I Wanna Sex You Up" (album version) — 4:06 * "I Wanna Sex You Up" (freeze mix) — 4:07 * "I Wanna Sex You Up" (Instrumental) — 4:04 * "I Wanna Sex You Up" (master mix) — 4:05 * "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix) — 3:39 * "I Wanna Sex You Up" (smoothed out mix - long version) — 5:14

Personnel

* Co-producer : Howie Tee, Spyderman * Engineer : Angela Piva, Warren Woods * Mastered by Eddy Schreyer * Mixed by Dr. Freeze,

Howie Tee Hitman Howie Tee (born Howard Thompson) is an English-born hip-hop DJ and producer of West Indian origin, but raised in Brooklyn NY. Howie Tee is best known for his work with U.T.F.O, Chubb Rock, Special Ed and The Real Roxanne. Howie got his ...

* Producer : Dr. Freeze

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

External links

Whosampled
{{Authority control 1991 debut singles 1991 songs Color Me Badd songs Giant Records (Warner) singles Music Week number-one dance singles New jack swing songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Song recordings produced by Dr. Freeze Songs written by Dr. Freeze UK Singles Chart number-one singles