Posse on Broadway

"Posse on Broadway" is a hip hop song first recorded by Sir Mix-a-Lot on his 1988 debut album ''Swass''. He also released a music video.

The single is regarded as Mix-a-Lot’s career breakthrough and the first golden age hip-hop record from outside the well-established East Coast, West Coast, and Southern scenes to be nationally embraced.

Background

The song is a day in the life inspired by “an actual night that we actually had” where Mix-a-Lot and his friends cruise their hometown of Seattle, WA. The Broadway in the song is the main drag in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, a street on which the Mix-a-Lot Posse got "lots of good grip from the 50 series tires".

The geography of the song is quite specific, going on Rainier Avenue, then east to "23rd and Jackson" (23rd Avenue S. and S. Jackson Street), a major intersection in Seattle's traditionally black Central District or "CD," then cruising east to Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. where "the set looks kinda dead" so "we need a new street," then by "23rd and Union" (23rd Avenue and E. Union Hills, North, but northwest), and then to Broadway. "The college" is Seattle Central College near the East end of the Broadway commercial strip, from which they drive to Taco Bell at the north end, which "was closed" (a local joke, as that particular restaurant had a never-lit and wholly inaccurate "Open 24 Hours" sign built into the wall) so they "go back the other way" to Dick's Drive-In, a local fast food institution and, according to the song, "the place where the cool hang out."

The track’s low-frequency bass drum sounds were created by Roland’s TR-808 drum machine referred to in the lyrics as the “808 kick-drum.” The elongated decay was difficult to capture on the 24-inch tape of the era, and Terry Date, a famous Seattle recording engineer best known for his work with grunge acts, helped achieve the effect.

Music Video

The music video was shot on location in Seattle and showcases the city’s South End, Central District and Capitol Hill neighborhoods. Dick’s Drive-In refused permission to shoot any portion of the video at their Broadway location, so the drive-in scenes were shot at Stan’s, another drive-in burger restaurant located a few miles south at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Dearborn Street.

Versions and Remixes

There are multiple versions of the song: a "Radio Edit", which was played over the radio; the "Thunder Mix, which was included on the Mix-A-Lot compilation album '' Playlist: The Very Best of Sir Mix-a-Lot''; and the "Godzilla Remix Edit", which features Godzilla's signature " roar" and a sample of the guitar riff from David Bowie's " Fame". The Godzilla Mix has slight lyrical differences, most notably Mix-a-Lot referencing the " Gatorback" tires instead of the "50-Series" tires of the original and a reference to vehicle as "the Bistro".

Charts

References

External links

* Track listing of ''Under Exposed'' by Acts 29br>Map of the song on Google MapsMap of the song's events on local.live.com

{{Sir Mix-a-Lot

1988 singles
Culture of Seattle
Sir Mix-a-Lot songs
1988 songs
Songs written by Sir Mix-a-Lot