"Doin It" is the second single from LL Cool J's sixth album, '' Mr. Smith'', and was released on February 20, 1996 for

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 l ...

. Based on a sample of Grace Jones' "

My Jamaican Guy "My Jamaican Guy" is a single by the Jamaican singer and actress Grace Jones, released in 1983. Background "My Jamaican Guy" was the third single to Grace Jones' 1982 album ''Living My Life'', her third and last album recorded in the Compass Po ...

", it also featured LeShaun (who previously released a song with the same sample and theme in 1988 titled "Wild Thang"), production from Rashad "Ringo" Smith and LL Cool J. In several interviews, both the artist and producer stated that the instrumental was originally meant for The Notorious B.I.G., to be used for a song and single on his ''

Life After Death The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

'' album, which was posthumously released. "Doin It" was a success for LL Cool J, making it to number 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 7 on the

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 ...

''Billboard'' chart. On the B-side was the previous single, " Hey Lover". The remix featured on the soundtrack to '' The Nutty Professor'' samples the

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...

's " Moments in Love." The crowd noise played throughout the song, shouting "Go Brooklyn", is sampled from "Go Stetsa" by

Stetsasonic Stetsasonic is an American hip hop band. Formed in 1981 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Stetsasonic was one of the first hip hop acts to perform with a full band and use live instrumentation in their recordings, paving the way for future ...

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for ...

sampled this song in her song "Do It" featuring

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

for her debut album '' In a Perfect World...'' Rapper

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

sampled the song for his song "Doin it Well" featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

and

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...

for his mixtape Summertime Shootout. The song has the singers rapping about their sexual desire for each other.S2S Magazine - "Jamie Foster Brown - 1996 Page 22-"LL Cool J: Sexually explicit? All right, if you want to call it that. Jennifer: You don't agree? LL Cool J: I mean, not particularly. I think that some of it is adult oriented, but that's the nature of that particular song, "Doin It." That's the only song.

Music video

The video was shot in December 1995, and it was directed by

Hype Williams Harold Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video director, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens, New York. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adel ...

. LeShaun did not appear in the

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, as she was pregnant at the time, so different models took her place and

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

ed her parts. This song interpolates "Wild Thang" by 2 Much, a group LeShaun was in. The beginning of "Wild Thang" was reused as the hook for "Doin' It".

Track listing

A-side

#"Doin It" (LP Version)- 4:40 #"Doin It" (Unarmed Version)- 4:05

B-side

#" Hey Lover" (Street Version)- 4:04 #"Hey Lover" (Street Instrumental)- 4:04

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{authority control 1996 songs 1996 singles LL Cool J songs Def Jam Recordings singles Dirty rap songs Music videos directed by Hype Williams Songs written by LL Cool J Songs about casual sex