"Down 4 U" is the lead single from

Murder Inc. Records Murder Inc. Records, LLC. (formerly The Inc. Records) is an American record label founded by brothers Chris and Irv Gotti in 1998. The label's flagship artist is Ja Rule. According to Chris Gotti, Murder Inc. had sold over 30 million units wo ...

' compilation album '' Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc.'', released through

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 ...

and

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (born June 26, 1970), professionally known as Irv Gotti, is an American DJ, music producer, record executive, and the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records. He is best known for producing multiple number-one rec ...

. The song features rapped verses from

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with '' Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single " Holla Holla". Dur ...

Charli Baltimore Tiffany Lane (born August 16, 1974), better known as Charli Baltimore, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Her stage name is taken from Geena Davis's character in the film '' The Long Kiss Goodnight''. Career Charli Bal ...

, and Vita while Ashanti provides the chorus and sung vocals. The song is a remix as well as its music video being the sequel of Ja Rule's 2002 single, "

Down Ass Bitch "Down Ass Bitch" was the third and final single by American rapper Ja Rule, from his third studio album '' Pain Is Love'' (2001). It features then-labelmate Charli Baltimore. Music video The music video opens with two FBI detectives (played by Er ...

Background

"Down 4 U" became a hit on the US '' Billboard'' charts during mid-2002, reaching number six on the Hot 100 chart on the week of August 17, 2002, and number three on both the R&B and rap charts. The

-produced song interpolates

Roger Troutman Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known as Roger, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and heavily influence ...

's 1987 hit, " I Want to Be Your Man", for which he and his brother Larry Troutman were given writing credits. The associated music video showed the artists performing the song on a beach with cameos by Irv Gotti,

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

Clarence Williams III Clarence Williams III (August 21, 1939 – June 4, 2021) was an American actor. He played the character of Linc Hayes in the police television series ''The Mod Squad'' from 1968 to 1973. He also appeared in films such as '' Purple Rain'', '' 52 ...

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

and other members of the Inc. In addition to appearing on ''Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc.'', the song also appeared on ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'' magazine's compilation '' The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits, Vol. 6'' and as a bonus track on Ja Rule's 2002 album, '' The Last Temptation''. The song was performed live by Ja Rule and Ashanti at VH1's 6th Annual

Hip Hop Honors The Hip Hop Honors is an annual event that airs on VH1. The television special honors old school and golden age hip hop rappers and contributors for their long-term influence and importance in the history of hip hop culture. It features live pe ...

that honored

Track listings

US promo CD # "Down 4 U" (top 40 edit) # "Down 4 U" (radio edit) # "Down 4 U" (instrumental) # "Down 4 U" (call out research hook) UK 12-inch single :A1. "Down 4 U" (radio edit) – 5:16 :A2. "Down 4 U" (D'n'D vocal mix) – 5:30 :B1. "Down 4 U" (D'n'D Conemelt mix) – 5:47 UK CD single # "Down 4 U" (radio edit) – 5:16 # "Down 4 U" (D'n'D vocal mix) – 5:30 # "Down 4 U" (D'n'D Conemelt mix) – 5:47 # "Down 4 U" (video) UK cassette single # "Down 4 U" (radio edit) # "Down 4 U" (D'n'D vocal mix)

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at the Crackhouse (New York City) * Mixed at Right Track Studios (New York City) * Mastered at

Sony Music Studios Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan ...

(London, England) Personnel * Jeffrey Atkins – writing * Irving Lorenzo – writing * Ashanti Douglas – writing * Tiffany Lane – writing * L. Rayner – writing * Larry Troutman – writing ("I Want to Be Your Man") * Roger Troutman – writing ("I Want to Be Your Man") * Irv Gotti – writing (as Irving Lorenzo), production * 7 Aurelius – writing, production * Milwaukee Buck – recording, mixing * Terry "Murda Mac" Herbert – recording assistant * Naweed "Dirty" Ahmed – mastering engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2001 songs 2002 singles Ashanti (singer) songs Def Jam Recordings singles Ja Rule songs Songs written by Ashanti (singer) Songs written by Channel 7 (musician) Songs written by Irv Gotti Songs written by Ja Rule Songs written by Larry Troutman Songs written by Roger Troutman