"Hey! DJ" is a song by The World's Famous Supreme Team. Writing is credited to Larry Price (Sedivine the Mastermind), Ronald Larkins Jr. (Just Allah the Superstar), and Malcolm McLaren and it was produced by

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

. Released on 12" in 1984 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, there were three mixes included. The song refers to McLaren's previous hit "

Buffalo Gals "Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White". Whilst the song is often attributed to John Hodges it is likely to have a history that pre-dat ...

", which the group featured on. "Hey DJ" peaked at number fifteen on the US soul chart.

Release

"Hey D.J." was released in Europe on

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van d ...

in February 1984. The song was released in the United States through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Jim Zebora of '' Record-Journal'' described the song as "one of the better raps to hit vinyl in recent memory" and a must-have for any record collector who "still spins '

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 rap song that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop trio the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's " King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper ...

' and ' The Breaks'." Musician

Limahl Christopher Hamill (born 19 December 1958), known professionally as Limahl ( , an anagram of Hamill), is an English pop singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Kajagoogoo beginning in 1982, before embarking on a solo career, garnering t ...

reviewed the single in ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'', noting that, despite them not working with

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...

, the single has "got some really nice original bits and a lovely girl's voice ..should be huge in the clubs." In April 1989, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' placed the song at number 64 on their list of their 100 greatest singles of all time.

Music track listing

* Side 1.: # Hey DJ (Extended Version). - 06:10. * Side 2.: # Hey DJ (Edit). - 04:08. # Hey DJ (Extended Instrumental Version). - 04:45.

Credits

Credits adapted from the cover sleeve of the single. *

– producer * Walter Turbitt – engineer * Nick Egan – cover design * David Witchard – assistant cover design

Chart performance

Cover versions and samples

*In 1994, the rap duo

A Lighter Shade of Brown A Lighter Shade of Brown (LSOB) is an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from Riverside, California. The duo consisted of rappers DTTX (rapper), Robert "Don't Try To Xerox (DTTX)" Ramirez (September 26, 1969 – July 13, 2016) and Robert "One ...

recorded a version of the song, which was included in the film ''

Mi Vida Loca ''Mi Vida Loca'' (also known as ''My Crazy Life'') is a 1993 United States, American Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age drama film directed and written by Allison Anders. It centers on the plight of Chola (Mexican subculture), cholas (the femal ...

''. This version peaked at number sixty-seven on the soul chart and number forty-three on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. It peaked at number 12 on the Australian

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. *The song was sampled on

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

's 1997 hit single, "

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

". Carey has stated that "Hey DJ" was always one of her favorite songs. *The song was also sampled in the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

song "Alright Hear This", from 1994's

Ill Communication ''Ill Communication'' is the fourth studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on May 31, 1994, by Grand Royal and Capitol Records. Co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr., it is among the band's most varied rel ...

, and "Hey Ladies" from 1989's

Paul's Boutique ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers, the album's composition makes extensive use of samples ...

. * AZ sampled the song for "Hey AZ" featuring SWV. *

Silkk the Shocker Vyshonn King Miller (born June 18, 1975), better known by his stage name Silkk the Shocker (formerly Silkk), is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. The brother of Master P, Miller signed with his record label No Limit Records, an im ...

used interpolations for his song "All Night" on his album Charge It 2 da Game *The song was heavily sampled in

Japanese pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

musician Toshiki Kadomatsu's song "Secret Lover", included in his 1985 album "

Gold Digger A gold digger is a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional sexual relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold di ...

". *Warren G uses a sample of this song on his song "To all DJ´s" *

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

's 2022 single "

About Damn Time "About Damn Time" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, released on April 14, 2022, by Nice Life Recordings and Atlantic Records as the lead single from her fourth studio album '' Special'' (2022). The song reached number one in the U ...

" uses compositional elements from the song.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hey Dj 1984 singles 1984 songs Island Records singles Song recordings produced by Stephen Hague Songs written by Stephen Hague Songs written by Malcolm McLaren