"100 Yard Dash" is a song by American recording artist

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...

, released as a single on March 30, 2009, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

. It was the second single from Saadiq's 2008 album ''

The Way I See It ''The Way I See It'' is the third album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on September 16, 2008, by Columbia Records – his first for the label. Prior to signing with Columbia, Saadiq had independ ...

''. "100 Yard Dash" is an upbeat

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 att ...

song about love as a fast, impulsive race. Although it did not

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, the song was well received by

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Music and lyrics

"100 Yard Dash" is a short, upbeat song with a traditional

style, tambourine shakes, and a stiff

backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a p ...

. Percussionist

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934), known to his friends as Jashford, is an American musician widely known as the percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing th ...

played characteristically funky, tambourine shuffle notes on the song. The song's lyrics express playful physicality, and liken love to a fast race that impels a man's heart: "My heart is pumping but still running in place". Arts critic

Ken Tucker Kenneth Tucker is an American arts, music and television critic, magazine editor, and non-fiction book writer. Early life and education Tucker was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a ...

views "100 Yard Dash" as exemplary of "top-rate" soul songwriting, writing that, "Saadiq takes an unorthodox metaphor ... and he earns it by the variations he sustains verbally, increasing the tension in the song." Saadiq sings at an uncharacteristically high pitch, the highest of any song on the album.

Music video

A music video for the song was released on January 27, 2009. It was filmed in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

and incorporated splashes of color in graphics inspired by classic

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

and

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. ...

album covers. Saadiq wanted the video to serve as an "extension" of the song's album and evoke the music era that inspired its sound.

Live performances

Saadiq performed the song on '' Live from the Artists Den'' on December 3, 2008. He also performed the song on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' on February 10, 2009, and on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'' on May 13. Niccole Culver of ''

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'' cited the song as a "crowd favorite" in a review of Saadiq's performance at the

Variety Playhouse The Variety Playhouse (originally known as the Euclid Theatre) is a music venue in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is located on Euclid Avenue and features a variety of music acts including rock, indie, electronic, funk, country, folk, blu ...

in Atlanta.

Reception

Luke Grundy of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' called "100 Yard Dash" "irrepressibly funky", and ''

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''s Areif Sless-Kitain cited it as one of the "strongest tracks" on ''The Way I See It''. Thomas Fawcett of ''

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'' commented that it "demands a sprint to the dance floor." Misha Berson of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'' complimented "Saadiq's high, sweet voice" and the song's "slick soul arrangement," writing that it "evokes happy memories of '60s Motown stars like

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

in their prime."

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praised the song's "propulsive melody" and viewed it as "a brilliant take on Smokey Robinson and the Miracles." Michael Menachem of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' found the song to be "complemented by Saadiq's vocal, with emphasis in all the right places", and "recorded in the classic tradition of short R&B songs: It leaves listeners wanting more, so they play the record again and again." Nate Chinen of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' named "100 Yard Dash" one of the top-five singles of 2008. The single did not

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes for ''

''. *

– bells, shaker, tambourine, vibraphone * Charles Brungardt – recording engineer * Tom Coyne – mastering * Bobby Ozuna – co-producer, composer *

– composer, instrumentalist, mixing, producer,

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

, vocals

References

External links

* {{authority control 2009 singles Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Raphael Saadiq Songs written by Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq songs 2009 songs Songs written by Robert Ozuna