"U Know What's Up" is a song by American R&B singer

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up", " Where I Wanna Be", and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". Jones' first studio alb ...

. It was written by Edward "Eddie F." Ferrell,

Darren Lighty Darren Lighty (born April 6, 1969 in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American hip-hop and R&B record producer and songwriter. Lighty got his initial start in the industry as part of the group The Flex, which also included his brother Cliff Lighty ...

, Clifton Lighty,

Balewa Muhammad The Clutch was an American collective of songwriters and record producers based in Atlanta, consisted oCandice Clotiel "Gg" Nelson Ezekiel "Zeke" Lewis, Patrick Michael "J. Que" Smith, Balewa Muhammad and Keri Hilson. They are responsible for ...

, Anthony Hamilton, Clifford Harris, and Veronica McKenzie for his second studio album, '' Where I Wanna Be'' (1999), while production was helmed by Ferrell and Darren Lighty for Untouchables Entertainment. Released as the album's lead single, the song became Jones' biggest hit, reaching the top 10 in Ireland and on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was most successful in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In addition, "U Know What's Up" topped ''Billboard''s

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

for eight consecutive weeks, his only single to do so to date. A remix version featuring

Left Eye Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besid ...

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

was used for the accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

Music video

The video features rapper

YoungBloodZ YoungBloodZ is an American Southern hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia composed of J-Bo (born Jeffrey Raymond Grigsby on October 4, 1977) and Sean P (born Sean Paul Ryan Joseph on March 7, 1978). The duo was signed to LaFace Records. They are o ...

, T.I., Usher and

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a member of the southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside André 3000. ...

of OutKast, all of whom were (including Jones) part of the

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

label. At the beginning of the video, there is a sign that says ''La Face Place'', in reference to the record label. The clip premiered on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

on the week ending September 12, 1999. The video begins with Left Eye at her apartment receiving a phone call, presumably from Jones, informing her that the music video for the song is being aired on TV. She turns to the TV screen behind her playing the video, which shows Jones at a hotel party, and proceeds to watch it. As it turns out, Left Eye is not the only person watching the video, as the video pans across the building showing Usher and his girlfriend at his apartment, and Big Boi hosting a music video premiere at his apartment. Midway through the video, Left Eye leaves her apartment and recites her verse in the song while walking across the corridor, presumably to join Jones at a similar party at the back of the building, which is revealed as the camera pulls back from the corridor. At the end, the video pulls back to reveal Jones watching it at his apartment with his girlfriend.

Track listings

US CD and cassette single # "U Know What's Up" (album version) – 4:02 # "Shorty (Got Her Eyes on Me)" (excerpt) – 2:05 # Album snippets – 5:46 US 12-inch single :A1. "U Know What's Up" (clean version edit) – 4:02 :A2. "U Know What's Up" (instrumental) – 4:02 :A3. "U Know What's Up" (clean acapella) – 3:45 :B1. "U Know What's Up" (clean version) – 4:02 :B2. "U Know What's Up" (album version) – 4:02 :B3. "U Know What's Up" (dirty version) – 4:02 Australian CD single # "U Know What's Up" (clean version) – 4:02 # "U Know What's Up" (album version featuring Left Eye) – 4:03 # "U Know What's Up" (instrumental) – 4:02 # Album snippets – 5:46 UK CD1 # "U Know What's Up" (album version) – 4:01 # "U Know What's Up" (album version featuring Left Eye) – 4:03 # "U Know What's Up" (video version) – 3:55 UK CD2 # "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B radio edit) – 3:36 # "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B main mix) – 7:04 # "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B The Edge dub) – 7:20 UK 12-inch single :A1. "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B main mix) – 7:04 :A2. "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B main instrumental) – 7:04 :B1. "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B The Edge dub) – 7:20 :B2. "U Know What's Up" (album version) – 4:03 UK cassette single and European CD single # "U Know What's Up" (album version featuring Left Eye) – 4:03 # "U Know What's Up" (Jeremy B radio edit) – 3:36

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Lisa Lopes 1999 songs 1999 singles Arista Records singles Donell Jones songs LaFace Records singles Lisa Lopes songs Songs written by Lisa Lopes Songs written by Balewa Muhammad