"Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring American musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004). The song was produced by Williams alongside Chad Hugo as the Neptunes. It is regarded as an iconic song, with Snoop performing the chorus and the second and third verses while Pharrell performs the first verse.
The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, making it both artists' first number one on the chart. It was also Snoop's fourth top-ten as a solo artist, first since 2003's "Beautiful" featuring Williams and Uncle Charlie Wilson (the others being 1993's "What's My Name?" and 1994's "Gin and Juice"). The song also gave him his first number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Internationally, it peaked at number one in New Zealand for four consecutive weeks and reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
The phrase "drop it like it's hot" was already in common use before Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's song of the same name was released in 2004, and had been used in various songs since the 1990s. It is a metaphorical description of a dance move commonly performed by women, and is performed by various women throughout the music video.[clarification needed] It was used in Positive K's 1992 album The Skills Dat Pay da Bills, in the song "Ain't No Crime." Fat Pat used the phrase in his single "Ghetto Dreams" recorded in 1997 from the 1998 album of the same name. It was also used by Lil Wayne as a guest rapper on Juvenile's 1999 hit single "Back That Azz Up" from his album 400 Degreez, and in his own song called "Drop It Like It's Hot" from his 1999 debut album Tha Block is Hot featuring B.G. and Mannie Fresh. Clark Kent said "drop it like it's hot" in the song "Cashmere Thoughts" from Jay-Z's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt. DJ Quik used the phrase in the song "Sexuality" from his 2000 album Balance & Options. Another song with the same name is "Drop It Like It's Hot", sung by the Big Tymers, and featuring Chilli, Juvenile, and Lac. This version of the song was featured in the Big Tymers' 1998 rerelease of their debut album, How You Luv That Vol. 2.
Outside of hip-hop, it was also the title of a song on indie rock band Minus the Bear's 2002 EP Bands Like It When You Yell "Yar!" at Them.
Critical reception
USA Today called the song "scorching". Rolling Stone's Tom Moon said "The serpentine down-tempo single 'Drop It Like It's Hot', produced by the Neptunes, links Snoop's slyly exuberant delivery to a relentless dance-floor bounce". Steve "Flash" Juon of Rap Reviews wrote: "the stripped down sound of the Neptunes produced 'Drop it Like It's Hot' has produced one of Snoop's biggest hits to date. Ironically it may be in some ways more gangsterish than his "Deep Cover" debut in some aspects, but he's so chill about his delivery it doesn't sound the least bit menacing: That's quintessential Snoop for you - hard when you're not looking, but still velvet enough to appeal to the ladies and drive off in a fly Mercedes". Similarly, AllMusic's David Jeffries stated: "the ultrahot production team the Neptunes' contribution to the killer single 'Drop It Like It's Hot' had been duly noted, but lost in all the chatter was how inspired and on-fire Snoop sounds".
Music video
The music video of the single was released in 2004. It was directed by Paul Hunter and shot in black-and-white. It shows Snoop Dogg doing the dance step known as the Crip Walk in the very beginning and end. The video included both of Snoop Dogg's sons, Corde and Cordell Broadus. Other appearances in the video include Terry Kennedy, Lauren London, Pharrell Williams' fellow Neptunes member Chad Hugo, and Pusha T.
There are two radio edits for the song: one is a standard radio edit that removes profanities and drug references while the other is an "Extra Clean" edit that removes phrases with gun and gang references (and the word "roll" from the chorus) as well.
Commercial performance
"Drop It Like It's Hot" was the highest-ranking debut for the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 2, 2004, entering the chart at number 51. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from December 10, 2004. The song also reached number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Hot Rap Tracks, and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. Since its release the song has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The Mastertone (ringtone) version received certification of double platinum by the RIAA.
Worldwide, The single reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 10 in several other European countries countries. In New Zealand, the song topped the RIANZ Singles Chart for four weeks, making it Snoop Dogg's first number one on the chart.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
The official remix features new verses from Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, and a verse from Jay-Z dissing R. Kelly for suing him, which appeared on the bonus CD of the 2005 Boss'n Up DVD.
Lil Wayne released a remix of the song, titled "Nah This Ain't the Remix", on his 2005 mixtape The Dedication. He takes shots at Snoop Dogg for using his line, with lines like "don't touch my shit nigga" and "I rock a red flag.." However, he claimed that he was not mad at Snoop, saying in the song, "When I first heard this I got a little upset but then I thought to myself, what haven't I done yet?" and later, "Nah, I ain't hatin', don't get me wrong, I made it a hot line, you made it a hot song. Peace." It can be taken as a reference to Jay-Z's song dissing Nas, "Takeover", in which Jay-Z says: "I sampled your voice, you was usin' it wrong, you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song."
A mashup by an unknown artist was featured in the 10th Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2005. It is mashed with the song "Plaine Ma Plaine" by French composer Paul Mauriat. The mashup was uploaded to the streaming platform SoundCloud in 2013 by Kurt Mamisao; however, he is not considered the artist who originally made the mashup.
MADtv did a parody music video of "Drop It Like It's Hot" called "Smokin' Too Much Pot." (The real song also contains references to marijuana.)
British comedian Lenny Henry performed an elaborate parody of the song, complete with a music video closely mimicking that of the original, on the second episode of his 2005 comedy series, The Lenny Henry Show.
The song appears in the game Dance Central for Kinect on the Xbox 360, in a commercial for the soft drink Sun Drop, the 2013 animated film Turbo and its soundtrack (using the clean radio version) and the 2019 animated film The Addams Family (In which Snoop Dogg also starred).
A remixed version of the song is available as downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band. The song features the original vocal track (censored to maintain an ESRB "Teen" rating) with an added electric guitar and bass line, as well as an expanded drum pattern.
The hand motioned dance featured near the beginning of the music video became an internet meme and has been used in numerous internet videos from well-known online creators.
