"White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" is a song by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

recording artist

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel or simply Melle Mel (), is an American rapper who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Career Glover began per ...

, released as a 12" in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. The song, which warns against the dangers of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, and

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

, is one of Melle Mel's signature tracks. It was written by him with Sylvia Robinson. The

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...

is taken from a performance of the Sugar Hill house band (featuring bassist

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bassist, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, G ...

) covering " Cavern", a single by the New York City band Liquid Liquid.

Overview

When originally released on Sugar Hill Records, the record was credited to ''Grandmaster & Melle Mel'' (some international issues carried the credit ''

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Robert Saddler (born January 1, 1958), known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is a Barbadian-American musician and DJ. He created a DJ technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This technique serviced the break-dancer and the rapper by el ...

& Melle Mel''). By this time, Grandmaster Flash had already stopped touring with Mel and was suing Sugar Hill Records for back royalties. The animosity between the two artists continued well into the future. "White Lines" peaked at No. 47 on the ''

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 ...

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 po ...

chart in 1983. The song fared better in the United Kingdom, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1984, spending 17 consecutive weeks in the top 40. It was the 13th best-selling single of 1984 in the UK, selling more than several number one hits that year. The song was co-written by

and Sylvia Robinson. Originally, it was intended to be an ironic celebration of a cocaine-fueled party lifestyle, but it was abridged with the "don't do it" message as a concession to commercial considerations. The lines "A businessman is caught with 24 kilos / He's out on bail and out of jail and that's the way it goes" refers to car manufacturer

John DeLorean John Zachary DeLorean ( ; January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry. He is widely known as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company, as well as for his work at General Motor ...

, who in 1982 became entrapped in a scheme to save his company from bankruptcy using drug money. Some of the lyrics in "White Lines" ("something like a phenomenon") echoed lyrics from the song "Cavern" by Liquid Liquid ("slip in and out of phenomenon"), in addition to the note-by-note appropriation of the bass line from "Cavern" with a rapping track overlaid. Sugar Hill did not get proper clearance to use "Cavern", resulting in years of lawsuits, ultimately in Liquid Liquid's favor. As a result of the $600,000 judgment against Sugar Hill, the label declared bankruptcy to circumvent paying the judgment. An unofficial

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

, then a

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

film student, and starred actor

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...

Legacy and sampling

"White Lines" had been heavily sampled in the years following with the bassline being prominently heard on

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo formed in Queens, New York (state), New York in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy (rapper), Prodigy and Havoc (musician), Havoc, they are considered to be among the pr ...

's " Quiet Storm" (1999) and 112's " It's Over Now" (2000). In 2023, rapper

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

remade the song in promotion for the film '' Cocaine Bear'', retitling it "White Lines (Cocaine Bear Remix)", keeping the chorus, but replacing the original verses with his personally written lyrics.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Duran Duran version

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "White Lines" featuring performances from Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel was released in March 1995 by EMI and

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

as the second single from English new wave band

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

's eighth studio album, ''

Thank You "Thank you" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of gr ...

'' (1995). The single reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 5 on the US

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart, No. 20 in Australia and No. 31 in New Zealand. The band continues to perform the song as a regular part of their live set. More than 20 distinct remixes and edits of "White Lines" were produced for promotional releases, many of which were crafted by DJ Junior Vasquez. Apart from the singles and the ''Thank You'' album, the song also appeared as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

on the first single from the album, " Perfect Day". A black-and-white

was shot in January 1995 by Nick Egan, featuring Duran Duran, Melle Mel, and the Furious Five performing the song accompanied by breakdancers and people in skeleton masks. On July 8, 2009, ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'' did a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

version of the Duran Duran cover featuring puppets on backing vocals.

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' wrote, "England's favorite former pretty boys have taken to the streets for the first single from their long-in-the-works album of covers entitled ''

''. To lend validity to the song the group, now a quartet, enlisted

and the Furious Five as well as

to lend background vocals. While the combination may sound frightening, the song has already picked up major adds at

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

, and following the success of their last album, should also get

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

airplay." Dave Sholin from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...

'' felt that "at first this Grandmaster Flash classic and Duran Duran seem like an unlikely pairing, but it won't after you hear the finished work. This first release from an album of covers ..is an exceptional effort." Mark Morris from '' Select'' said, "Very incongruous, but no more so that these legendary '80s jet-setters massacring Grandmaster Flash's unequivocal anti-coke anthem, 'White Lines'. An instant camp classic. Just don't try listening to it." Tony Cross from ''

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 ...

'' gave it one out of five, writing, "So if you like berks from the '80s ruining one of glam-disco rap-funk's finest moments, then go ahead and buy it."

Charts

Release history

References

External links

Group's Official Website

The Kidd Creole's Official Website
* * {{Authority control 1983 songs 1983 singles 1995 singles American hip-hop songs Capitol Records singles EMI Records singles Music videos directed by Nick Egan Music videos directed by Spike Lee Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs about cocaine Songs about crime Songs written by Sylvia Robinson Songs written by Melle Mel Sugar Hill Records (hip-hop label) singles John DeLorean Duran Duran songs