"The Time Is Now" is a song by

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied w ...

. It is the current

entrance theme The use of music at sporting events is a practice that is thousands of years old, but has recently had a resurgence as a noted phenomenon. Some sports have specific traditions with respect to pieces of music played at particular intervals. Others ...

used by Cena in WWE. Cena recorded the song in 2005 for his debut studio album, ''

You Can't See Me ''You Can't See Me'' is the debut studio album by WWE's wrestler John Cena and his cousin, Tha Trademarc. It was released on May 10, 2005, by WWE Music Group and Columbia Records. The album features guest appearances from Esoteric and Bumpy Knuck ...

''. The song was released on March 17, 2005, as the lead single from the album on Columbia and

WWE Music Group WWE Music Publishing, Inc.; trade name WWE Music Group, LLC., is an American record label funded and operated by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was manufactured and co-marketed by Columbia Records and was distributed by Sony Music. The ...

. The song was released as a single on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on June 20, 2011. The song is widely known as being part of the

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

Unexpected John Cena Unexpected John Cena, also known as simply Unexpected Cena or And His Name is John Cena, refers to an Internet meme and a form of Internet troll, trolling involving videos that first garnered popularity on video-sharing services such as Vine (ser ...

Background

Cena made his television debut answering an open challenge by

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...

on June 27, 2002.Hamilton, Ian. ''Wrestling's Sinking Ship'' (p.67) In October, Cena and

Billy Kidman Peter Alan Gruner Jr. (born May 11, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He is currently employed by WWE as a producer. As a wrestler, Kidman is best known for his work with World Champi ...

took part in a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

tournament to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions of the

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, losing in the first round. The next week, Cena turned on and attacked Kidman, blaming him for their loss, becoming a

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

. Shortly after the Kidman attack, on a

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

themed episode of ''SmackDown'', Cena dressed as

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

performing a

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

. The next week, Cena received a new

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

: a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

who cuts promos while rhyming. He performed his own

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

, "Basic Thugonomics", and it was featured on the WWE soundtrack album ''

WWE Originals ''WWE Originals'' is a soundtrack album by WWE. Released on January 13, 2004 by Columbia Records, it features original songs recorded by various WWE wrestlers. The album was a commercial success, reaching number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Re ...

''. He also recorded a song, "Untouchables", for the company's next soundtrack album '' WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6''. He collaborated on the song H-U-S-T-L-E remix along with

Murs Murs may refer to: People * Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist * Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter * Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper Places * Murs, Indre, France * Murs, Vaucluse, Fr ...

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, a ...

, and

Chingo Bling Pedro Herrera III (born August 23, 1979 in Houston, Texas), better known by his stage name Chingo Bling, is an American rapper, producer, and comedian of Mexican descent. Early life and education Chingo attended Peddie School, a private college ...

. Cena's debut album, ''

'', was recorded with his cousin Tha Trademarc.

Composition

"The Time Is Now" was composed by Cena along with his cousin, Marc Predka (better known by his stage name Tha Trademarc). Having recorded the album with Cena, Predka was featured on virtually every track of the album. Production was handled by

Jake One Jacob Brian Dutton (born May 11, 1976), known professionally as Jake One, is an American record producer and songwriter.Palermo, Thomas (2008)Jake One Readies New Album, XLR8R, September 5, 2008Matos, Michaelangelo (2004)Rocketship Blowing Up, Se ...

. The song contains samples of " Ante Up" by

M.O.P. M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The song " Ante Up", was released on their ''Warriorz'' album in 2000. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premi ...

which in turn samples "Soul Sister, Brown Sugar" by

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

, and Pete Schofield and The Canadians' rendition of "

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" is a Southern Gothic murder ballad, written in 1972 by songwriter Bobby Russell and first recorded by his then wife, singer, comedian, and actress Vicki Lawrence. Lawrence's version, from her 1973 alb ...

" originally by

Vicki Lawrence Vicki Ann Lawrence ( Axelrad; born March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence originated multitudes of charact ...

. On October 14, 2008, M.O.P. filed suit in a New York Federal Court against

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

, Stephanie Music Publishing, Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, WWE and John Cena. The group alleged that Cena and the WWE stole parts of their song "Ante Up" for his theme song, arguing that the song was unlawfully sampled and clearly repeated three times, during the introduction, the second and third chorus. M.O.P. sought the destruction of the song and $150,000 in damages. They dropped the lawsuit two months later.

Usage in video games

The song was used in the video games ''

WWE Day of Reckoning 2 ''WWE Day of Reckoning 2'' is a professional wrestling video game released for the GameCube by THQ. It is the sequel to ''WWE Day of Reckoning''. The soundtrack features music by industrial metal group A Dark Halo, who performed two songs in th ...

'', '' Scooby Doo: WrestleMania'', '' SmackDown! vs RAW 2006'', '' SmackDown vs RAW 2007'', '' SmackDown vs RAW 2008'', '' SmackDown vs RAW 2009'', '' SmackDown vs RAW 2010'', '' SmackDown vs RAW 2011'', ''

WWE All Stars ''WWE All Stars'' is a professional wrestling video game published by THQ and developed by THQ San Diego for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems and Subdued Software for the PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 2 systems. ...

'', ''

WWE '12 ''WWE '12'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. It was released on November 22, 2011, in North America, November 25 in Europe, and on January 26, 2012, in Japan. ...

'', ''

WWE '13 ''WWE '13'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. It was released on October 30, 2012, in North America and November 2, 2012, in United Kingdom. It is the fourteenth ...

'', ''

WWE 2K14 ''WWE 2K14'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released on October 29, 2013, in North America, October 30, 2013, in Japan, October 31, 2013, in Austr ...

, WWE 2K15,

WWE 2K16 ''WWE 2K16'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It is the sequel to '' WWE 2K15'', and was succeeded by ''WWE 2K17''. ...

WWE 2K17 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

,'' ''

WWE 2K18 ''WWE 2K18'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It is the nineteenth installment in the WWE game series (fifth under the ''WWE 2K'' banner) and a follow-up to ''WWE 2K17''. It was released worl ...

'', ''

WWE 2K19 ''WWE 2K19'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 9, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twentieth overall game in the ''WWE' ...

'',''

WWE 2K20 ''WWE 2K20'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 22, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twenty-first installment of ...

'', WWE 2K Battlegrounds, and

WWE 2K22 ''WWE 2K22'' is a 2022 professional wrestling sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the twenty-second overall installment of the video game series based on WWE, the ninth game under the ''WWE 2K'' banne ...

References

External links

John Cena's WWE Profile

John Cena's Official Entrance Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Time Is Now (John Cena Song) 2005 songs 2005 debut singles 2011 singles Internet memes introduced in 2015 Sampling controversies