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"Just a Friend" is a song written, produced and performed by American hip hop artist
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 ...
. It was released in September 1989 as the lead single from his album, ''
The Biz Never Sleeps ''The Biz Never Sleeps'' is the second studio album by Biz Markie. It was released on October 10, 1989, on Cold Chillin'/ Warner Bros. Records and was produced by Biz, his cousin Cool V and producer Paul C, instead of Cold Chillin' in-house pro ...
''. It is Markie's most successful single, reaching number 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1990.


Background

The song interpolates the 1968 song "(You) Got What I Need" recorded by
Freddie Scott Freddie Scott (April 24, 1933 – June 4, 2007) was an American soul singer and songwriter. His biggest hits were " Hey, Girl", a top ten US pop hit in 1963, and " Are You Lonely for Me", a no. 1 hit on the R&B chart in early 1967. Life and car ...
, whose basic chord and melody provided the base for the song's chorus. Markie's lyrics describe romantic frustration after pursuing a woman who is actually romantically involved with another man who she falsely claims is "just a friend." Due to the widespread popularity of the song along with its acclaim and its influence on pop culture (and Markie's failure to have another charting Hot 100 song), Biz was classified by VH1 as a one-hit wonder, and "Just a Friend" was ranked 81st on ''VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders'' in 2000, and later as number 100 on ''VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop'' in 2008. Karma, a staff
record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
for
Cold Chillin' Records Cold Chillin' Records was a record label that released music during the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. A producer-and-crew label founded by manager Tyrone Williams and run by Len Fichtelberg (d. November 4, 2010), ...
, told ''
Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...
'' magazine in 2005 that he produced the single, but never received credit. The single was
certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
on April 12, 1990. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 480 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".


Music video

The
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 ...
, directed by
Lionel C. Martin Lionel C. Martin is an American music video director, film director and VJ (media personality), VJ from Queens, Queens, New York. While he is known primarily as a music video director, he has also film director, directed the films ''Def Jam's How ...
, chronicles the rapper/singer's woman problems. At the climax of the video, Biz Markie's character stumbles upon a girl he was trying to date – not his girlfriend – kissing another man she had previously referred to as "just a friend". It also includes a scene of Biz Markie singing the chorus dressed as Mozart in 18th-century clothing with a powdered
wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...
in a candlelit room while playing the piano.


Legacy

In November 2010, actor
Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and ''Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. ...
performed the song in a duet with Markie on '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''. The duet was highly requested by fans of the show, and was set up by Fallon and the Roots.


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Just a Friend 1989 songs 1989 singles 1980s ballads Biz Markie songs Cold Chillin' Records singles Music videos directed by Lionel C. Martin Song recordings produced by Biz Markie Songs written by Biz Markie Torch songs Songs about friendship