"Shake Your Thang" is a 1988 single released by American R&B and hip-hop group

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

. The single was released as the first single taken from their second studio album ''

A Salt with a Deadly Pepa ''A Salt with a Deadly Pepa'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa, released on August 2, 1988, by London Records and Next Plateau Records. The album reached number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number eight on the ...

''. It features the Washington, D.C.-based go-go musical band,

E.U. The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

The song samples "

It's Your Thing "It's Your Thing" is a funk single by The Isley Brothers. Released in 1969, the anthem was an artistic response to Motown chief Berry Gordy's demanding hold on his artists after the Isleys left the label in late 1968. The lyrics of the chorus, w ...

" by

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

and "

Funky President Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid ...

" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. The music video features Salt 'N Pepa being arrested for "dirty dancing". At the police station they are questioned by cops played by Hurby Luv Bug and

Kid 'n Play Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City that was most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The duo was composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eas ...

. There are scenes of them dancing in an all white room with a crowd and back up dancers, additionally they dance outside on stairs and on the streets. At the end of the video they are released from the police station, this leads into the music video for their next single, " Get Up Everybody (Get Up)". In an interview,

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

explained she considers herself a feminist "in a way", emphasizing the need for women to avoid complete emotional and financial dependence on men. Songs like "Tramp" and "Shake Your Thang" express these feminist themes of female autonomy.

Track listing

; 7" single # Shake Your Thang – 3:59 # Spinderella's Not A Fella (But A Girl D.J.) – 4:27 ; 12" vinyl / CD single A1. "Shake Your Thang" (Club Mix) – 5:16
A2. "Shake Your Thang" (Radio Version) – 3:59
A3. "Shake Your Thang" (Instrumental) – 4:02
A4. "Shake Your Thang" (Acappella) – 0:28
B1. "Spinderella's Not A Fella" (But A Girl DJ) (Vocal) – 4:24
B2. "Spinderella's Not A Fella" (But A Girl DJ) (Instrumental) – 4:17
B3. "Spinderella's Not A Fella" (But A Girl DJ) (Acappella) – 0:36

Chart performance

References

1988 singles 1988 songs Salt-N-Pepa songs Experience Unlimited songs Go-go songs Songs written by Ronald Isley Songs written by O'Kelly Isley Jr. Songs written by Rudolph Isley London Records singles {{1980s-single-stub