Check Yo Self

"Check Yo Self" is the second hit single from Ice Cube's third solo album The Predator. It was released in July 1993 and features New York City rappers Das EFX. It topped both the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts while also reaching number 20 on the Hot 100 chart.^[1] The song retains two main versions, the original and a remix which utilizes the same beat as Grandmaster Flash's "The Message", titled "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)". The original mix includes a sample from the intro of The Beastie Boys' track "The New Style", which uses the phrase "check it" throughout the chorus.

The song is featured on Ice Cube's Bootlegs & B-Sides album and was later released on his Greatest Hits album. The clean version of "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)" can be found in the video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on the West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos and in the soundtrack of the movie Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. A new recording, based on the original version of the song, featuring Chuck D was featured in the 2010 film Due Date. In January 2010, Snoop Dogg released a cover version of the song. Guitarist Wayne Krantz included an instrumental version of the song (based on the "message remix" version) on his 2012 album Howie 61.

Music video

The music video for "Check Yo Self" uses the remix version. Similar to the video for his previous single "It Was A Good Day", most of the scenes follow and illustrate respective lyrics of the song. The video continues where "It Was A Good Day" left off, with Ice Cube's home being surrounded and invaded by the LAPD before he is handcuffed and taken under arrest, presumably for murder. Ice Cube is then brought to L.A. County jail where he spends the majority of the video experiencing the conflict described in the lyrics, such as disputes between cellmates and breaking up with his girlfriend. Cube also references his role in Boyz n the Hood "Oh boy, I make dough, but don't call me Doughboy, this ain't no fucking motion picture". After six months pass Ice Cube is able to win over the female guard watching him who helps him break out by dressing him up in a uniform. The two make their way outside to a police cruiser and drive off into the night.

Track listing

Check Yo' Self (radio remix "The Message")
Check Yo' Self (remix instrumental)
It Was a Good Day (radio remix edit)
It Was a Good Day (remix instrumental)
24 with an L

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[1]	20
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles^[1]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks^[1]	1
UK Singles Chart	36

Year-end charts

Chart (1993)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[2]	86
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles^[3]	57

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)^[4]	Platinum	1,000,000^[5]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^{^}shipments figures based on certification alone

Samples

Original version:

"I'm Blue" by The Sweet Inspirations
"The New Style" by Beastie Boys

Remix version:

"The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
"Deeez Nuuuts" by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dat Nigga Daz, Nate Dogg and Warren G

References

1 2 3 4 Ice Cube - Billboard Singles. Allmusic.
↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1993". Archived from the original on 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
↑ "The Year in Music: R&B" (PDF). Billboard. BPI Communications. 105 (52): YE-29. December 25, 1993. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
↑ "American single certifications – Ice Cube – Check Yo Self". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
↑ "Best-Selling Records of 1993". Billboard. BPI Communications. 106 (3): 73. January 15, 1994. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.

External links

Ice Cube

Studio albums	AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted Death Certificate The Predator Lethal Injection War & Peace Vol. 1 War & Peace Vol. 2 Laugh Now, Cry Later Raw Footage I Am the West

Extended plays	Kill at Will

Compilations	Bootlegs & B-Sides Featuring...Ice Cube Greatest Hits In the Movies The Essentials

Singles	"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)" "Steady Mobbin'" "True to the Game" "Wicked" "It Was a Good Day" "Check Yo Self" "Really Doe" "You Know How We Do It" "Bop Gun (One Nation)" "What Can I Do?" "The World Is Mine" "We Be Clubbin'" "Men of Steel" "Pushin' Weight" "Hello" "You Can Do It" "Until We Rich" "$100 Bill Y'all" "Why We Thugs" "Go to Church" "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It" "Do Ya Thang" "I Rep That West" "Sic Them Youngins On 'Em"

Other songs	"No Vaseline"

Related articles	Discography N.W.A Westside Connection C.I.A. Da Lench Mob Lench Mob Records

Das EFX

Krazy Drayz Skoob

Studio albums	Dead Serious Straight Up Sewaside Hold It Down Generation EFX How We Do

Other albums	The Very Best of Das EFX Rhino-Hi-Five: Das EFX

Singles	"They Want EFX" "Mic Checka" "Straight Out the Sewer" "Freakit" "Baknaffek" "Kaught in da Ak" "Real Hip Hop" "Microphone Master" "East Coast Husslaz"

Featured artist	"Check Yo Self" "Rugged-n-Raw"

Related articles	Discography Hit Squad

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.