Smack My Bitch Up

"Smack My Bitch Up" is a song by English rave group The Prodigy. It was released in November 1997 as the third and final single from their third album, ''The Fat of the Land'' (1997). In 2013, ''Mixmag'' readers voted it the third greatest dance track of all time.

The song caused considerable controversy because of its suggestive title and explicit music video, which depicted scenes of drunken and drug-fuelled sexual assault and violence. The refrain, which consists only of the line "Change my pitch up/Smack my bitch up" was sampled from the song "Give the Drummer Some" by the Ultramagnetic MCs, and it also contains a brief medley of an unidentified female singer vocalising alap. In 2010, the song was voted as the most controversial of all-time in a survey conducted by PRS for Music.

Prior to the release of the single, Liam Howlett was presented with three remixes of the title song, one by Jonny L, one by DJ Hype and one by Slacker. Howlett chose the DJ Hype remix to be released on the single. The Jonny L remix was released through a free CD that came along with an issue of ''Muzik'' magazine, while the Slacker remix was never officially released, although it surfaced on a rare and limited set of white labels.

Composition

The lyrics "Change my pitch up / Smack my bitch up" are repeated through the whole song. The vocals are sampled and altered from the Ultramagnetic MCs song "Give the Drummer Some"; the original lyrics, performed by rapper Kool Keith, are: "Switch up change my pitch up" / "Smack my bitch up, like a pimp". Kool Keith had previously been sampled by the Prodigy in the track " Out of Space". The female vocals in "Smack My Bitch Up" were performed by Shahin Badar. Badar's vocals and harmonies are based on "Nana (The Dreaming)" performed by Sheila Chandra. Initially Liam Howlett used a direct sample of Chandra's song, but later had the vocal resung after sample clearance issues. The track also contains samples from "Funky Man" by Kool & the Gang, "In Memory Of" by Randy Weston, "Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against the Machine and "House of Rising Funk" by Afrique.

Critical reception

British magazine ''Music Week'' gave "Smack My Bitch Up" five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week.

Chart performance

The song reached the top 15 in several countries, such as Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The song performed best in Finland, securing the Prodigy their third Finnish number-one hit alongside " Firestarter" and " Breathe". Although not reaching the top 20 in those countries, "Smack My Bitch Up" was a hit in the Netherlands peaking at No. 22, in Australia reaching No. 41, and in the United States reaching No. 89. The single also returned to the ''Billboard'' charts after Flint's death, entering number 23 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales chart in its 16 March 2019 issue.

Music video

Director Jonas Åkerlund's music video for "Smack My Bitch Up" was rarely seen on television due to its controversial subject matter. The video, filmed entirely in first-person perspective, depicts a drug-and-alcohol-fueled night out through the eyes of a mostly-unseen character, and utilizes different camera movements, through a 35-mm film camera attached to director of photography Henrik Halvarson's head, corresponding with the protagonist's altered state of mind. This character first showers and dresses, then drinks vodka and sniffs cocaine before going out. At a bar, the protagonist has several more drinks, sexually assaults multiple women, violently attacks several men, and destroys the DJ's equipment before running to the restroom to vomit and inject intravenous drugs, resulting in a shaky and disoriented vision. Later, at a strip club, the protagonist drinks more alcohol while watching nude dancers, and eventually brings one stripper home to have sex. Finally, after they have sex, a look in the mirror reveals the protagonist to have been a young, blonde woman; as the song ends, she passes out on her bed.

Liam Howlett noted:

"There's a realness to that video. Most people have had nights out like that, off their head on coke and drink… It's not to everyone's taste, but not everything we do is. No radio station was gonna play the song, so we thought we'd make a video that no one would play either."

Controversy

Lyrical controversy

The song's lyrics, often held as misogynistic, were defended by the band, saying that the lyrics were being misinterpreted and the song actually meant "...doing anything intensely..."

"Smack My Bitch Up" was banned by the BBC
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