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

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He met record producer Eddie F in the mid-1990s and signed with his record label Untouchables Entertainment, beginning his car ...

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

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 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 ...

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

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was used for the accompanying

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

Music video

The video features rapper Left Eye of

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T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

, Usher and

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), known professionally as Big Boi, is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in Atlanta, he was one half of the Southern hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper ...

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, 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

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on the week ending September 12, 1999. The video begins with Left Eye at her

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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