"This Is How We Do It" is the debut single by American singer
Montell Jordan
Montell Du'Sean Barnett Jordan (born December 3, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Best known for his 1995 single "This Is How We Do It", Jordan was the primary male solo artist on Def Jam's Def Soul imprint until le ...
. It was released by
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The ...
on February 6, 1995 as the lead single from his debut album, also titled ''
This Is How We Do It
"This Is How We Do It" is the debut single by American singer Montell Jordan. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on February 6, 1995 as the lead single from his debut album, also titled '' This Is How We Do It'' (1995). The single was Def Ja ...
'' (1995). The single was Def Jam's first R&B release.
The song is representative of the
hip hop soul
Hip hop soul is a subgenre of contemporary R&B music, most popular during the early and mid 1990s, which fuses R&B or soul singing with hip hop musical production. The subgenre had evolved from a previous R&B subgenre, new jack swing, which ha ...
style popular at the time.
The song features Jordan singing over an enhanced Teddy Riley drumbeat sample of
Slick Rick
Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer.
He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...
's "
Children's Story
"Children's Story" is a song recorded by British-American hip hop artist Slick Rick. Taken as the second single from his album ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'', the song was a Top 5 hit on both the Hot R&B Singles and the Hot Rap Tracks ...
" which in turn has an added interpolation of the bass of
Bob James' "
Nautilus
The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.
It comprises six living species in t ...
".
"This Is How We Do It" peaked at number one on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 on April 15, 1995, rising from number six the previous week and displacing
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's "
Take a Bow" from the top spot. It remained at number one for seven consecutive weeks. It was also number one for seven weeks on the R&B singles chart. The single sold one million copies domestically and earned a
platinum certification
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
from the
RIAA
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 ...
.
The song earned Jordan a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nomination for
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:
*In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male
*From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...
at the
38th Annual Grammy Awards
The 38th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the main recipient, being awarded four trophies, inc ...
. The same year, the song was named Best R&B 12-inch at the
International Dance Music Awards
The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 ...
in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
.
Critical reception
Ralph Tee from British magazine ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
s ''RM'' Dance Update wrote, "This record is typical of everything that urban contemporary
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
is about with its chugging
swing/
funk
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 m ...
rhythms and intense
Aaron Hall-style vocal and it's been flying out on import lately. Its main appeal is the infectious multi-vocal chorus, blasting out the song's title to ram home its anthemic qualities." He added that "there's masses of dancefloor appeal". Another editor,
James Hamilton described "This Is How We Do It" as a "soulfully whined, chanted and rapped rolling jackswing joller".
Track listing
* CD single, Europe (1995)
#"This Is How We Do It" (LP Version) — 3:59
#"This Is How We Do It" (LP Instrumental) — 3:44
#"I Wanna" (LP Version) — 5:25
#"This Is How We Do It" (Acappella) — 3:47
* CD single, UK (1995)
#"This Is How We Do It" (Radio Mix) — 3:43
#"This Is How We Do It" (Tee's Radio Mix) — 3:46
#"This Is How We Do It" (Tee's Club Mix) — 5:19
#"This Is How We Do It" (Barr 9 Mix) — 4:05
#"This Is How We Do It" (Tee's Dub Mix) — 4:51
#"This Is How We Do It" (Wino Mix) — 3:58
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
Mis-Teeq version
In 2002, British girl group
Mis-Teeq
Mis-Teeq were a British girl group, consisting of Alesha Dixon, Su-Elise Nash and Sabrina Washington. They had two top-ten albums and seven consecutive top-ten singles, with chart-topping success on the UK Singles Chart as well as across Euro ...
released their version as a double A-side with "
Roll On", titled "Roll On / This Is How We Do It". It peaked at number 7 on the UK charts,
faring four places better than the original. The original by Jordan was featured in the 2002 film ''
Ali G Indahouse
''Ali G Indahouse'' is a 2002 British comedy film written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Mazer, directed by Mark Mylod, and starring Baron Cohen as Ali G, the character he originally played on the Channel 4 comedy series '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' ...
'', along with the
Rishi Rich
Rishpal Singh Rekhi ( Punjabi: ਰਿਸ਼ਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਰੈਖੀ, born 30 June 1976 in Croydon), better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Under ...
mix of Mis-Teeq's version, which is also on the film's
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
. "This Is How We Do It" is included on the Special Edition of the album ''
Lickin' on Both Sides
''Lickin' on Both Sides'' is the debut studio album by British R&B/UK garage group Mis-Teeq, released by Telstar Records on 29 October 2001. It was primarily produced by Stargate, with additional production from Jensen & Larsson, and Synth a ...
''.
Charts
The Party (This Is How We Do It)
Dutch DJ
Joe Stone
Maurice Oude Booyink (born 1984) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Almelo, best known under the stage names Inmado and Joe Stone.
After producing for artists such as Havana Brown and R3hab, Joe Stone has been dedicated to his personal career ...
released a remixed version of the song in 2015 with Jordan credited as the featured artist.
Background
Formats and track listings
Charts
Release history
See also
*
List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1995
*
List of number-one R&B singles of 1995 (U.S.)
References
{{Authority control
1994 songs
1995 debut singles
2002 singles
2015 debut singles
Montell Jordan songs
Mis-Teeq songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Number-one singles in Zimbabwe
Songs written by Montell Jordan
Music videos directed by Hype Williams
New jack swing songs
Def Jam Recordings singles
Telstar Records singles
Spinnin' Records singles