"Ass on the Floor" (clean version: "A** on the Floor") is a song performed by Diddy and the duo Dirty Money, lifted from their debut album, ''

Last Train to Paris ''Last Train to Paris'' is a 2010 studio album by American rapper and record producer Diddy and American R&B and hip hop duo Dirty Money, billed collectively as "Diddy – Dirty Money". It was released on December 14, 2010, by Bad Boy Records ...

''. The song features guest vocals and production from record producer

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

. It was released as the third UK single taken from the album on 18 April 2011. "Ass on the Floor" was co-written by the lead performers, as well as Leroy Watson. Incorporating pounding drums and shimmering synthesizers, "Ass on the Floor" was praised by critics as one of the best songs on ''Last Train to Paris''. Most felt that the song had the potential to be heard in clubs around the world. An accompanying music video, filmed by Colin Tilley, has a cold icy theme and features the female members of Dirty Money taking the lead as the group poses for the camera across the winter wonderland-themed landscape. "Ass on the Floor" made its chart debut on the U.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 ...

chart at number eighty-eight. It has since peaked at number eighty.

Background and composition

"Ass on the Floor" is an atmospheric dance-floor filler, first released as part of Swizz Beatz' ''Monster Mondays'' on November 29, 2010. Bradon Soderberg from ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' pointed out the song's "swooping Moroder synths", which were described by MTV's Mawuse Ziegbe as "a spacey sheen of synth chords". Ziegbe also noted that the song's production recreated the rapid-fire drums from

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after ...

's 2009 song "Pon de Floor". "Ass on the Floor"s production also consists of "pounding drums" and "glittery synthesizers" whilst the vocals focus primarily on Diddy-Dirty Money's two females, Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper. Beatz handles the chorus (as well as the

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

) while Diddy drops a verse near the end of the song. According to Zeigbe, Harper and Richard's lyrics focus on "drowning their sorrows over a frustratingly volatile relationship", Beatz acts as the intermediary "commanding the lovelorn souls to forget the drama" while Diddy's melancholy lyrics "laments potent heartbreak in his verse". On February 11, 2011, "Ass on the Floor" was added to the B-playlist on the UK's biggest Urban music radio station, BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Critical reception

Jamie from ''Freshness'' said the choice of visuals to accompany the single and "marching beat" means that the "chances are this fresh track with Swizz Beatz will be heard in clubs all over the world." Meanwhile, Jim Farber from the '' New York Daily News'' praised the song's directness saying "it puts you right there". Bradon Soderberg (of ''

'') singled "Ass on the Floor" out as one of the album's best songs. Jamie from ''Freshness'' said "With 'Ass on the Floor', the group not only opts for a heavy club vibe in terms of titling, but in sound as well... hich includes adecisive marching beat". MTV's Mawuse Zeigbe praised the song for its emotional lyrics and production value. Zeigbe said "The vibe of the song definitely stays on track with the naked emotion the Bad Boy mogul promised on the trio's long-delayed effort, ''Last Train to Paris''."

Music video

According to '' Rap-Up'' magazine, the

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pro ...

directed clip premiered on December 13, 2010. It was released in the same week that videos for "Somebody to Love Me" and " Coming Home" were released, in the week leading up to the album's release. In the "winter wonderland"-themed clip Richard and Harper take the lead while Swizz Beatz and Diddy make background appearances.

Synopsis

The video begins with a drummer beating his drum, snowflakes bounce up and down from the vibrations.

appears in a snow-filled wooden crate surrounded by icicles, to rap his verse. Images of Dawn Richard and

Kalenna Harper Kalenna Harper (; born August 13, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter, television personality, and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She perhaps is best known as a member of the musical duo Dirty Money with Dawn Richard; la ...

also flash on screen during the opening sequence. In the following scene Richard and Harper appear stood on floating blocks of ice in a cavern of water. Throughout their verses images of the drummer and Beatz in the crate also flash on screen. Some subtle camera effects such as superimposed imagery and split-screen lenses are also used. During the chorus, Beatz and Diddy appear sat on the bonnet of a white sports car as it snows around them. In the second and third verses Dirty Money and Beatz both appear in the snow filled backdrop but during Diddy's verse he appears alone in the same snow-filled crate that Beatz appeared in first. The video ends with two finals scenes, one where Diddy and Beatz appear together in the crate and one where Dirty Money appear in the snow filled landscape with heavy snow falling before the camera fades through black. Throughout the video there is a soft blue-tinged lighting effect.

Reception

Staff from

E! Online E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUniver ...

were impressed with the clip saying that "although Diddy had shot a number of videos for the band's new album, 'Ass on the Floor' is the coolest—literally and artistically." They added, "just in time for blizzard season, the video features Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper singing and dancing in the snow like ultrafoxy versions of the Snow Miser. In other words: It's icy hot!" Robbie Daw from Idolator was also impressed. He said " hesomber dance jam 'Ass On The Floor' and its frosty visual are proving that old adage that third time’s a charm, eferring to the third video Diddy had released that week Maybe the winter wonderland displayed here is just getting us into the spirit of the season?".

Promotion and remixes

Dirty Money made their debut performance of "Ass on the Floor" on the December 4, 2010 showing of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. The group were joined on stage by Swizz Beatz for the performance. They also performed the song live on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on December 17, 2010, though this time they performed with Beatz. Rapper

Trina Katrina Laverne Taylor (born December 3, 1978), known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in 1998 with her appearance on the Trick Daddy single "Nann Nigga". Trina has been described by '' XXL'' as "the most ...

recorded a remix to "Ass on the Floor" in February 2010. The remix features a new verse, rapped by Trina, and will feature on the Trina (issued Valentine's Day, 2011). American songwriting and production duo

The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, " Rid ...

and

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...

were commissioned to produce an official remix for the song. Dubbed "Ass on the Floor (Remix)", the official remix leaves all of the original vocals but replaced the melody with a more "classic R&B" production.

Track listing

*;Digital download
(as part of Swizz Beatz' ''Monster Mondays'') #"Ass on the Floor" featuring

- 4:04 *;Remix
(as part of Trina's ''Diamonds are Forever'' mixtape) #"Ass on the Floor (Remix)" featuring

and Swizz Beatz - 4:02 *;UK Digital single #"Ass on the Floor" (Explicit) - 4:04 #" Coming Home" (Dirty South Remix) - 6:56 #"Coming Home" (Dirty South Vocal Remix) - 6:57

Credits

"Ass on the Floor" was recorded at Daddy's House Recording Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, NY. *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Sean "Diddy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, Dirty Money ( Dawn Richard, Kalenna Vick), Leroy Watson *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

- Swizz Beatz *Keyboard arrangement - Tyrone Johnson *Additional keyboards -

Eric Hudson Eric Hudson (born October 15, 1986) is an American and Grammy award-winning music producer. His parents are Curtis and Phyllis Bivins-Hudson. Curtis is a songwriter and producer, and most notably the co-writer of Madonna's song "Holiday", co-writ ...

, Jeffrey "J-Dub" Walker *Engineered by Matthew Testa, Steve "Rock Star" Dickey, Pat Viala *Mixing - Jaycen Joshua, Jesus Garncia (assistant) *Lead vocals - Diddy, Dirty Money *Featured vocals - Swizz Beatz

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control American hip hop songs Sean Combs songs Songs written by Sean Combs Swizz Beatz songs Songs written by Swizz Beatz Song recordings produced by Swizz Beatz 2010 songs 2011 singles Music videos directed by Colin Tilley