"Snake" is a song by the American recording artist R. Kelly, featuring Big Tigger, from his fifth studio album, '' Chocolate Factory''. The remix features

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...

. It was released on February 25, 2003, by

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

as the second single from the album. The R&B song with Latin music inspiration was written and produced by R. Kelly, and co-written by Darian Morgan, as a tribute to

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's musical experimentation. The song also inspired the dancehall reggae riddim called Baghdad. "Snake" achieved moderate success, reaching number sixteen at the United States'

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, and the tenth position on the United Kingdom. A special double-A-side edition with "

Thoia Thoing "Thoia Thoing" is an R&B single by R. Kelly from his 2003 album '' The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1''. It peaked at number 6 on the R&B chart and number 13 on the Hot 100. In the UK, the song was a double A-side with " Step in the Name of Lov ...

" was also released. The maxi-single charted at number ten in the Netherlands, number thirty in France, number sixteen in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and at number eighteen in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. A remix with actor and musician

was also released.

Background and composition

"Snake" was written and produced by R. Kelly, and co-written by Darian Morgan. It is an R&B song with Latin music inspiration, and elements of urban pop and

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...

. "Snake" is four minutes and fifty-one seconds long. It is composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

A♭ major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, ...

and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 92 beats per minute. R. Kelly vocal range spans from C₄ to F₅. Andrew McGregor of the BBC revealed that "Snake" was written in "tribute to Stevie onders musical experimentation".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

describes the song as an "Orientalist sex fantasy".

Music video

The music videos for both the original and the remix were directed by Little X.

Promotion

R. Kelly and Big Tigger performed the song together during many live performances (including at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in New York on the penultimate concert) during his 2003 tour and during the 2003 BET Awards. "Snake" received a special double A-side edition with "

". The maxi-single charted at number ten in the Netherlands, number thirty in France, number sixteen in

and at number eighteen in

. A remix with

was also released.

Remix controversy

Cam'ron took R. Kelly to court in 2005 claiming that he did not receive proper credit for his work on a remix of the song. Cam'ron filed a federal

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

in New York. He had apparently written the introduction to the remix, as well as a part of the third verse but his songwriting contribution was not mentioned in the copyright when the song was included on '' The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1'', a greatest-hits album.

Track listing

*European CD single #"Snake" (Radio Edit) – 4:20 #"Snake" (Remix Featuring Big Tigger and Cam'ron) – 4:40 #"Dream Girl" – 3:57 #"Snake" (Music Video) – 4:14 *12" Vinyl #"Snake" (Radio Edit) – 4:20 #"Dream Girl" – 3:57 #"Snake" (Remix Featuring Big Tigger and Cam'ron) – 4:40 *CD single #"Snake" (Radio Edit) – 4:20 #"Snake" (Radio Edit Without Rap) – 3:34 #"Snake" (Instrumental) – 4:52

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Credits and personnel

* R. Kelly – vocals, audio mixing, producer, songwriter * Big Tigger – vocals * Darian Morgan – songwriter * Donnie Lyle – instruments * Rodney East – instruments * Abel Garibaldi – programming * Andy Gallas – programming * Ian Mereness – programming * Jason Mlodzinski – programming * Nathan Wheeler – programming * Steve Bearsley – programming * Larry Phillabaum – engineering * Tim Roberts – engineering * John Hanes – engineering * Serban Ghenea – audio mixing * Swizz Beatz – audio mixing Credits adapted from CD single liner notes.

References

{{Cam'ron 2003 singles R. Kelly songs Songs written by R. Kelly Song recordings produced by R. Kelly Music videos directed by Director X