"You Be Illin' " is the third single released by Run–D.M.C. from their third album, '' Raising Hell''. It was released in 1986 through

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. H ...

as the follow-up to the rap rock crossover hit, "

Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...

", and was produced by Run-D.M.C.

Background

The slang term ''illing'' means to "be uncool and unrelaxed", "be acting crazy", "be 'tripping' or 'bugging' ", or "be acting 'wack' ". The song describes some examples of "illing" and chides a fictitious individual for his "illing" behavior. Such examples include a man ordering a

Big Mac The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced in the Greater Pittsburgh area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's flagship products and signat ...

and french fries at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, calling out "

Touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

!" at a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

game, repelling a woman at a party with drunken behavior and

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, and being oblivious to the fact he is eating

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for dinner.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' called it "a humorous poke at social faux pas and has the earmarks of becoming a huge novelty hit."

Track listing

A-side

#"You Be Illin' " – 3:26

B-side

#"Hit It Run" – 3:10

Charts

The song peaked at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 12 on the

Hot Black Singles 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 p ...

chart.

Cover versions

*In 2012, The

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covered "You Be Illin' " on a bonus track of their album, '' Leaving Eden''.

References

1986 singles Run-DMC songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Darryl McDaniels Songs written by Joseph Simmons 1986 songs Profile Records singles Songs written by Jam Master Jay {{hiphop-song-stub