"Murder She Wrote" is a song by Jamaican

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

duo Duo may refer to: Places *Duo, West Virginia, an unincorporated community and coal town in Greenbrier County, West Virginia *Duo, Tampere, a shopping centre in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland * DUO, a twin-tower development in Singapore Arts, enterta ...

Chaka Demus & Pliers, from their 1993 album '' Tease Me''. It was first released as a single in 1992 and again in late 1993, reaching number 27 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 ...

in early 1994, and number 57 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, spending 17 weeks there. The song was certified gold in the UK in 2022. The music to the song is based on

the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

' 1966 song "Bam Bam", while the lyrics discuss

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

(as revealed in the third verse). The song became a staple for weddings, BBQs, and clubs and has been called one of the best and most important

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 ...

tracks of all time. The tag team effort of call and response verses with melodic choruses introduced a new format of toasting from Jamaica, influencing

pan-Caribbean The concept of a "pan-Caribbean" culture area refers to recent proposals by an international group of archaeologists to the effect that contacts among Pre-Columbian peoples of the Yucatán Peninsula, the Antilles, Central America, and northern Sout ...

culture and crossing over globally. It went on to impact other stars of the genre like

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

and Sean 'YoungPow' Diedrick. Sampling wise, the song was included in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s list of the "Best Song Interpolations of the 21st Century", having been interpolated in Omarion's " Post to Be", and in '' XXLs list of "20 of the Most Iconic Reggae Samples in Hip-Hop", being sampled in

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

's "

Freaks Freak has several meanings: a person who is physically deformed or suffers from an extraordinary disease and condition, a genetic mutation in a plant or animal, etc. Freak, freaks or The Freak may also refer to: Fictional characters * Freak (Ima ...

". The song was also interpolated in

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

's "

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", in

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

's " Too Hot", and in the remix version of

Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...

' " Ritmo" featuring Jaden Smith, as well as having been sampled and interpolated in many other songs.

Writing and composition

The song is about abortion, as revealed in the third verse. Pliers wrote the song reflecting on being the age of 19. At the time, he was dating a girl named Maxine who told him she was pregnant, but after 6 months there was no sign of the pregnancy, waiting until 9 months and 10 months without any result of a child. The song title came from the detective series ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'' which was a TV show Pliers used to watch and was a fan of. The song was recorded over a 5 year span starting in 1987 with attempts from 6-7 different producers. The first version was released in 1987 by Pliers under his real name Everton Bonner, using the "Fresh" riddim sampled from Shabba Ranks' "(Original) Fresh", which was produced by Harry J for Harry J Records. A second Pliers version was released in 1988, titled "Murder We Wrote", produced by Clifton "Specialist" Dillon. Another version was then released with Jack Scorpio, and then in a separate attempt with a different group from England. In 1992, Pliers then went to Sonic Sounds, where engineer Jason Lee was recording Sly on drums and Lloyd 'Gitzy' Willis on guitar. Chaka had recorded his part for a different song with Bobby Digital, after which the songs were combined to make "Murder She Wrote". Instead of the duo going into the recording booth, they stood over the mixing board and passed the microphone to each other; vocally it offered a new fusion with toasting on verses and melodic vocals for the hooks. The production duo

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

had mainly been in the analog sphere of reggae, recording live instruments in more relaxed dub stylings, and entering dancehall music had them offer a digitized and energized sound with their final version of the song having been produced over a simple four-bar loop known as the "Bam Bam" riddim. Two music videos were made, one with

Dancehall Queen ''Dancehall Queen'' is a 1997 indie Jamaican film written by Suzanne Fenn, Ed Wallace and Don Letts, starring Audrey Reid, who plays Marcia, a street vendor struggling to raise a bad-tempered daughter, Tanya (Cherine Anderson). Directed by Don L ...

Carlene Smith Carlene Smith (born 1 May 1973), also known as Dancehall Queen Carlene, is a Jamaican former dancer and socialite. Beginning her career in the early 1990s, Smith is credited as Jamaica's first Dancehall Queen. Biography Career Smith was crowned Da ...

, and one without. The videos cost $50,000 and $2,500 respectively to produce.

Critical reception

Neil Spencer from ''

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'' complimented "the metronomic pulse" of "Murder She Wrote". Tom Doyle 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 ...

'' gave the song three out of five, saying, "Chaka and his pal go for some proper

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Sm ...

with this

rocker like the make 'em in ole

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

town. It's about some girl called Maxine who bubble-bubble-ribbit-bubble-wiggle-and-wriggle. Or something. Not a bad tune, especially since it might have been inspired by some ropey TV whodunnit with

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

Legacy

In 2007, the group performed the song alongside

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

at the 2007 American Music Awards, and 6 years later at the 2013 BET Awards alongside

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

. In 2022,

DJ Cassidy Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell (born 1981), known as DJ Cassidy, is an American DJ, record producer and MC. With his trademark boaters, cricket sweaters, bow ties, color-blocked tuxedos, and 24-carat-gold microphone, Cassidy became known f ...

's ''Pass the Mic'' series had the duo perform a rendition of the song. The song was interpolated in

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's second medley performance at the

2016 MTV Video Music Awards The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Sunday night, August 28, 2016 at 9:00–11:54pm EDT at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Adele's "Hello" was the most nominated video with seven categories. This marked the 33rd edition of the live b ...

, as part of her

Video Vanguard Award The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, also known as the Video Vanguard Award or the Lifetime Achievement Award, is a merit given to recording artists and music video directors at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), a ceremony that was establis ...

win. Actress

(who starred in the TV series of which the song was named after), after hearing the song finally in 2019 at the age of 93 commented "Oh, reggae! Oh, I'm thrilled to be part of reggae. Of course."

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1987 songs 1992 singles 1993 singles Chaka Demus & Pliers songs Mango Records singles Song recordings produced by Sly & Robbie