"Where It's At" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

musician

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...

. It was released as the first single from his fifth album, ''

Odelay ''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at num ...

'' (1996). Beck wrote the song in 1995 and premiered it at

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Mus ...

the same year, in a version very similar to its incarnation on ''Odelay''. He has performed the song often since 1995, frequently experimenting with the music and lyrics.

Production

"Where It's At" has a number of spoken samples that Beck and the

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike (Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work o ...

incorporated into it. Many of these come from an obscure

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduct ...

album titled ''Sex for Teens: (Where It's At)'', a subtitle Beck borrowed (see link below). Other vocal samples incorporated into "Where It's At" come from "Needle to the Groove" by

old-school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...

group

Mantronix Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by DJ Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) and rapper MC Tee (Touré Embden). The group is primarily remembered for its pioneeri ...

("we've got two turntables and a microphone..."), as well as

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus i ...

("that was a good drum break"). The song also references Gary Wilson, one of Beck's influences. In addition, just before the Frogs sample begins, the song incorporates a musical sample from the intro of noted

go-go Go-go is a subgenre of funk music with an emphasis on specific rhythmic patterns, and live audience call and response. Go-go was originated by African-American musicians in the Washington, D.C. area during the mid-60s to late-70s. Go-go has lim ...

band E.U.'s song "Knock Him Out Sugar Ray". Beck also pays homage to

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

by dressing as Captain Beefheart was dressed in the ''

Trout Mask Replica ''Trout Mask Replica'' is the third studio album by the American band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released as a double album on June 16, 1969, by Straight Records. The music was composed by Captain Beefheart ( Don Van Vliet) and arran ...

'' album photo sessions at 1:27 in the video. Beck earned the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. In October 2011, '' NME'' placed it at number 76 on its list of 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years.

Critical reception

Justin Chadwick from Albumism said "Where It's At" is "the most memorable" song among the singles of the ''Odelay'' album. He added, "Propelled by a cacophony of distorted melodies, oddball vocal snippets, and the unforgettable chorus chant of “Where it’s at! I’ve got two turntables and a microphone”, with a robotic echo lifted from

’s 1985 single “Needle to the Groove”, Beck gives you little choice but to wholeheartedly accept his invitation to the “destination a little up the road”." Paul Verna from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' noted that "he takes a more straightforward tack, floating stream-of-consciousness raps over sampled beats." Daina Darzin from '' Cash Box'' picked it as Pick of the Week, noting that fans of "

Loser Loser or Losers may refer to: *A person who experiences failure *The unsuccessful social class in winner and loser culture Film and television * ''Loser'', a 1996 film directed by Kirk Harris * ''Loser'' (film), a 2000 movie starring Jason B ...

" "should be equally happy with this". She wrote, "Jazzy, loopy keyboards, hip hop rhythms, psychedelic swirls of sixties-ish sound, and a happy, party-hearty groove make this a possible add for urban as well as

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

stations." In 2012, ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, A liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves a ...

'' ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Beck songs, and in 2020, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' ranked the song number seven on their list of the 30 greatest Beck songs.

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for "Where It's At" was directed by Steve Hanft. It features Beck doing a variety of things, such as cleaning up a highway for community service as a convict, singing at a car dealership, dressed as the Candyman, and line dancing. In one moment, Beck pays homage to

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpri ...

's performance of " Rocket Man" at the 1977 Saturn Awards ceremony. "Where It's At" was the first

to be broadcast on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programmin ...

on August 1, 1996. The video was awarded a MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video. The shorter version was used for this video instead of the album version.

Track listings

* US 12-inch # "Where It's At" (edit) # "Make Out City" # "Where It's At" (remix by Mario C and Mickey P) # "Where It's At" (remix by John King) # "Bonus Beats" * UK CD1 # "Where It's At" (edit) # "Where It's At" (remix by Mario C and Mickey P) # "Bonus Beats" # "Where It's At" (remix by U.N.K.L.E.) * UK CD2 and Australian CD # "Where It's At" (edit) # "Where It's At" (remix by Mario C and Mickey P) # "Bonus Beats" * Japan # "Where It's At" (edit) # "Where It's At" (remix by John King) # "Lloyd Price Express" (remix by John King) # "Dark and Lovely" (remix by the Dust Brothers) # "American Wasteland" # "Clock"

Personnel

* Beck Hansen – vocals, electric piano, guitar, bass, organ * The

– turntables * Mike Boito – trumpet, organ *

Money Mark Mark Ramos Nishita (born February 10, 1960), known professionally as Money Mark, is an American producer and musician, best known for his collaborations with the Beastie Boys from 1992 until 2011. Early life Born in Detroit to a Japanese-Hawai ...

– organ * David Brown – saxophone * Eddie Lopez – outro talking

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video 1996 songs 1996 singles Beck songs DGC Records singles Geffen Records singles Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video Song recordings produced by Dust Brothers Songs written by Beck Songs written by John King (record producer) Songs written by Michael Simpson (producer)