"How Low" is a hip hop song by American rapper

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

. It is the lead single from his seventh studio album, '' Battle of the Sexes''. The song premiered at the

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta, which took place on October 10, 2009. However, the ceremony was aired on October 27, 2009. It was performed by Ludacris as the second half of a medley that began with Lil Scrappy's "Addicted to Money", a song in which he is featured. The track was produced by Canadian producer T-Minus. The song was released via

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on December 8, 2009. The song debuted on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at 13. The music video was filmed on December 23, 2009 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and was directed by

Dave Meyers David Meyers may refer to: *Dave Meyers (director) (born 1972), American music video director *Dave Meyers (basketball) David William Meyers (April 21, 1953 – October 9, 2015) was an American basketball player who played for the Milwaukee Buck ...

. The music video leaked on the internet on January 20, 2010. The single is Ludacris’ best-selling single as a lead artist with sales of 2,216,000 units as of August, 2012, and it has been certified double platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. The official remix features American rappers

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

and

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

Background

"How Low" was officially released as the lead single from Ludacris' ''Battle of the Sexes'' album on December 8, 2009. Prior to the single's release, Ludacris performed the song live on October 10, 2009 at the BET Hip Hop Awards in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The track samples Public Enemy's "

Bring the Noise "Bring the Noise" is a song by the American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was included on the soundtrack of the 1987 film '' Less than Zero;'' the song was also released as a single that year. It later became the first song on the group's 198 ...

" as the primary vocals in the chorus, additional vocals by Carla Henderson. The song was Nominated for the Grammy's 2011 Best Rap Solo Performance but lost to

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

's '

Not Afraid "Not Afraid" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his seventh studio album ''Recovery (Eminem album), Recovery'' (2010). It was released as the album's lead single on April 27, 2010, by Interscope Records. "Not Afraid" was first r ...

Official remixes and freestyles

There are two different versions of the official remix. * The first remix, which features Rick Ross and Twista, was leaked on January 27, 2010. * The second features

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

and Pitbull. Ciara sings part of the hook on her remix and adds her own verse. The remix was scheduled for released to on February 9, 2010. It is included on the deluxe edition of the album. The remix was leaked on February 2, 2010. ;Remixes: * Ludacris feat. Yelawolf & Rock City - How Low * Ludacris feat. Rick Ross & Twista - How Low * Ludacris feat. Ciara & Pitbull - How Low (Official Remix) * Ludacris feat. Carmelo - How Low * Ludacris feat. Lil' Rob & Pitbull - How Low (Latino Remix) * Ludacris feat. Ciara & Chris Brown - How Low * Ludacris feat. Chris Brown & Twista - How Low * Ludacris feat. Pitbull, Carmelo, Twista, & Chris Brown - How Low * The-Dream & Ciara - How Low * Thieves Like Us - Silence (Dance Mix feat. Ludacris) * Rock City - How Low (Freestyle) * Chris Brown - How Low Can You Go (Freestyle) * Twista - How Low (Freestyle) * Benzmixer - LOW RIDDIM (ft Ludacris)

Music video

The video begins with three girls in a bedroom for a

sleepover A sleepover (also known as a slumber party or pajama party) is a social occasion in which a young person stays at the home of a friend. Multiple people and/or friends may sleepover at the friend's home. Typically a younger person will partake in ...

. They begin by talking directly into a

camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-sw ...

, in which they reveal that there is a rumor that if you "go low" enough in front of a mirror,

will appear. They begin dancing to the song in front of a mirror, and Ludacris' face appears in the reflection and starts rapping. The girls are visibly excited at the sight and continue dancing. The video progresses with shots of Ludacris in a club with a

black light A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp (fixture), lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet light filter, filter material, eith ...

. Back in the bedroom, Ludacris, backup dancers and masked men burst out of the mirror and into the room. The girls, scared, run downstairs and into another room to hide. Ludacris and his dancers come down the stairs and eventually find the girls. Ludacris magically tears off the girls' clothing and changes them into erotic dancers. More people begin to appear and throw a party in the house as all of the girls dance. The video then changes over to different girls, changing in a locker room. Similarly to the original girls, the girls in the locker room also state the rumor and decide to test it by dancing low in front of the mirror in the same hopes of seeing Ludacris. The following scene shows Ludacris at the original party, rapping in front of the dancing girls outside of the house. However, because the girls in the locker room have started to "go low", Ludacris begins to fade, while giving off some type of electrostatic discharge. He then appears in the mirror inside the locker room and the whole concept of the video apparently restarts. The video features a cameo from

Disturbing tha Peace Disturbing tha Peace Records (or DTP) is an American record label founded by rapper Ludacris, Ludacris' manager Chaka Zulu, and Chaka Zulu's brother Jeff Dixon in 1998. History Beginnings Disturbing tha Peace was founded in 1998 by Christ ...

artist Lil Fate.

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2009 singles 2010 singles Ludacris songs Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Songs written by Ludacris Song recordings produced by T-Minus (record producer) 2009 songs Songs written by Chuck D Songs written by T-Minus (producer) Def Jam Recordings singles Songs written by Hank Shocklee