"Ain't No Nigga" (censored as "Ain't No Playa") is the second single from American rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

's first album, ''

Reasonable Doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of ...

'', and is featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 1996 film '' The Nutty Professor''. It was released on March 19, 1996. The track features Foxy Brown and contains uncredited vocals by Jaz-O.

Background

The song's beat is produced by Big Jaz who samples "Seven Minutes of Funk" by the funk band The Whole Darn Family. The song's chorus was sung by Jaz-O, and interpolates " Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" by the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

. The "Ain't No Nigga" single goes under the clean alias "Ain't No Playa". Foxy Brown was 17 at the time when the song was released. Citing the funky production and lyrics about unfaithful relationships, Spence D. of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

describes it as "one of the better opposite sex rap duets ever laid on wax."Spence D
"Reasonable Doubt Review"
. IGN.com. November 10, 2003. Retrieved June 25, 2007. "Ain't No Nigga" is cited as playing a significant role in securing Jay-Z's record deal"Interview With Nick Raphael"
, ''

HitQuarters HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...

'', 25 May 2005. with

Def Jam 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 ...

. According to Sony BMG A&R

Nick Raphael Nick Raphael is a music industry executive and entrepreneur born in London, England. He is a former President of Capitol Records in the UK. Career In the early 1990s, Raphael moved to Leeds, UK and organized, managed and promoted several night ...

, "Will Socolof of Freeze Records sent me a CD and a video and said to me, "This guy is incredible, but he needs a bigger label to take over. Are you interested?" The record he sent to me was "Ain't No Nigga" and I went crazy, thinking that I had to sign him!"

Music video

The music video of the song, which was shot in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, starts with a scene similar to a scene of the film '' Scarface''. It is the second time the album references the film, the first with the start of " Can't Knock the Hustle". The music video features cameos by The Notorious B.I.G., Irv Gotti, and Mic Geronimo.

Formats and track listings

Vinyl

A-Side # "Ain't No Playa (Rae & Christian Mix)" # "Ain't No Playa (Original Mix)" B-Side # "Ain't No Playa (Fresh to Def Mix)" # "Ain't No Playa (New York Street Mix)"

Vinyl (remixes)

A-Side # "Ain't No Nigga (Ganja Kru Mix)" B-Side # "Can't Knock the Hustle (Desired State Remix)"

Charts

References

{{authority control 1996 singles Jay-Z songs Foxy Brown (rapper) songs Songs written by Dennis Lambert Songs written by Brian Potter (musician) Songs written by Jay-Z Songs written by Jaz-O Song recordings produced by Jaz-O 1996 songs Roc-A-Fella Records singles Songs written by Foxy Brown (rapper)