"Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenre ...

, released as the first single from their debut album, ''

Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) ''Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'' is the debut album by alternative hip hop group Digable Planets released on February 9, 1993, by Pendulum/ Elektra Records. The album has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA. Production ...

'', in November 1992. The

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

music video was directed by Morgan Lawley. The song contains a sample from "Stretching" by

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

. "Rebirth of Slick" peaked at 15 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 during the week of March 6, 1993, becoming the group's only top-40 single. During that time, the song also topped the

Hot Rap Singles Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart. The single was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) on March 16, 1993, for sales of 500,000 copies. The song won the

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was awarded between 1991 and 2011, alongside the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. The award was discontinue ...

at the

36th Grammy Awards The 36th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 1, 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston was the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year while opening th ...

. In 2021,

Cleveland.com ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

ranked the song as number 142 of the best 200 rap songs, calling it "the pinnacle of

jazz rap Jazz rap (or jazz hip hop) is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of th ...

Track listing

US 12-inch single :A1. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" (Crashing Giant Step mix) – 4:34 :A2. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" (Crashing Instymix) – 4:34 :A3. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" (7-inch mix) – 4:05 :B1. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" (Uh-Oh Planet Earth Albumix) – 4:22 :B2. "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" (Uh-Oh Planet Earth Instymix) – 4:22

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 debut singles 1992 songs Black-and-white music videos Digable Planets songs Elektra Records singles Pendulum Records singles