It's the end of the week, and I want to send everyone off into the weekend with the best vibes possible. That’s why the Daily Music Picks newsletter features a weekly segment called Fun Song Fridays! Regardless of era, genre, or style, the criterion is simple: it must deliver the joy and excitement we all need in our lives.
You can access the entire Fun Song Fridays archive here. A playlist featuring the songs covered with this segment is coming soon!
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Best Music of All Time newsletter!
Today’s music pick is one of hip-hop’s all-time party starters, courtesy of the King of Crunk.
Genre: Hip-Hop, Crunk
Label: TVT
Release Date: February 18, 2003
Vibe: 🍑🍑
Few tracks get the party started—anywhere, anytime—quite like “Get Low.”
Back in the day, you could make a similar argument of the hip-hop subgenre commonly referred to as crunk. Combining the laid-back cool of Sourthern rap with the club-ready chants and grooves of Miami Bass, crunk dominated the upper echelon of the Hot 100 for the first half of the 2000s. Tracks like “Salt Shaker,” “Goodies,” and “Freek-a-Leek” all popped off in a major way, thanks in no small part to an element they all have in common: a Lil Jon producer credit. Though he’s been featured on several club anthems since that peak period, he hasn’t been able to top the infectiousness of “Get Low.”
He told Fatman Scoop that the song’s beat was inspired by DMX’s 1999 hit “Party Up (Up In Here).” The instrumental then sat on a shelf for over a year until Lil Jon was in the studio with the Ying Yang Twins, working on the duo’s next album. When D-Rock came up with the call-and-response refrain “To the window/to the wall,” both men knew they were onto something. “I was like, ‘that’s s***’s f****** crazy, bro,’” Lil Jon recalled. After finishing off the song in Miami, Lil Jon described its unprecedented success as a “rocketship” that “lasted two years.” “Get Low” would eventually peak at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, kept out of the top spot by Beyoncé and Sean Paul’s “Baby Boy.” It also paved the way for another smash the following year, scoring a producer and feature credit Usher’s “Yeah!,” which stayed at No. 1 for 12 weeks.
Lil Jon’s voice, flow, and beatmaking style are all instantly recognizable. Some would say iconic. Others might say modern hip-hop party anthems wouldn’t exist without his Midas touch. Whatever camp you fall into, there’s no denying that “Get Low” continues to amaze with its staying power. Even the Smithsonian is impressed.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈