| "Money Maker" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byLudacris featuringPharrell | ||||
| from the albumRelease Therapy | ||||
| Released | July 17, 2006 (US radio) | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Dirty rap | |||
| Length | 3:50 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | The Neptunes | |||
| Ludacris singles chronology | ||||
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| Pharrell singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Money Maker" onYouTube | ||||
"Money Maker" is a song by American rapperLudacris featuringPharrell Williams. It was released to the radio on July 17, 2006 as the first single from Ludacris' fifth albumRelease Therapy. Produced by Williams andChad Hugo (known collectively asThe Neptunes), the song is a reimagining of the 1961Elmore James blues song "Shake Your Moneymaker". The single became Ludacris' third number-one song on the USBillboard Hot 100, while also topping theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs andHot Rap Tracks charts.
Released on August 17, 2006, the song's music video premiered onMTV'sMaking the Video and later managed to reach the number-one spot onBET's106 & Park, where it remained for several days. The single had a major promotional campaign and huge airplay on radio around the U.S., Canada and other countries around the globe, while the video received strong airplay on BET, MTV, andCanada'sMuchmusic. The song was performed on the 2006MTV Video Music Awards and later wonBest Rap Song at the49th Grammy Awards.
American R&B singer,Amerie, recorded ananswer back (remix) to the single. The song was included on her first mixtape,Because I Love It Volume 1 (the mixtape that was released to accompany her third studio albumBecause I Love It). The song however did not appear on the final album.Because I Love It was released to international markets only.
"Money Maker" was obviously intended as a summer smash, as it more than satisfies the requirements: lame yet memorable pick-up lines ("I'm a bedroom gangsta"), disorganized, rambunctious production, and an accompanying big-budget video. Overall, it's a major setback in Ludacris' campaign to claim theSouthern rap throne.
Atlanta really did need another strip-club anthem. So Ludacris and Pharrell deliver "Money Maker", roasting aNellyesque sing-rap over steamy tropical percussion, a relentless knock that re-imagines "Can I Get a..." played with pots and pans. Fleshed out with deep, one-two bass punches and organs that trickle before bursting, it sounds faintly sinister. The hook boasts a lowering blend of Eros and economics: Luda's soliciting followed by Skateboard's stage-whispered counsel to "Shake your moneymaker / Like somebody 'bout to pay ya."
"Money Maker" debuted at number 96 on theBillboard Hot 100 the week of August 26, 2006.[1] It moved seventeen spots to number 79 the week of September 2, 2006[2] and another eighteen spots to number 61 the week after.[3] Two weeks later, it entered the top 40 at number 15 the week of September 23, 2006.[4] It moved thirteen spots to number two the week after with gains in airplay and digital sales,[5] but was kept off the top spot for four weeks byJustin Timberlake's "SexyBack".[6] It reached number one the week of October 28, 2006 and held that spot for two weeks before losing it again to Timberlake with "My Love",[7] remaining on the chart for a total of twenty-five weeks.[8] The song gave Ludacris his second number-one hit as lead artist and third overall, as well as Pharrell's second number-one hit.
The song appeared at number thirty-five on theBillboard Year-End chart of 2006, and number ninety-two in 2007.
It peaked at number one on theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for one week,[9] theRhythmic chart for five weeks,[10] and theHot Rap Songs chart for seven weeks.[11] On December 6, 2006, the song was certifiedPlatinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 1,000,000 copies in the United States.[12]
Directed by Melina Matsoukas (who directed R&B singerShareefa's "Need a Boss") and released on August 17, 2006, premiering on various music channels includingBET,MTV, andMuchMusic, the video for "Money Maker" consists of Ludacris rapping with girls dancing around him against a basically-colored background of orange, green and black. He has a counting machine that counts how many times he gets a girl to shake her rear end (called "money maker") for him. Pharrell appears during the chorus with girls and stacks of money. There is also aChrysler ME Four-Twelve and large speakers in the background that vibrate throughout the video, which are actually salad bowls, as Ludacris explains in "Making the Video".Allen Iverson, Shareefa,Bobby Valentino, & Lil Fate make cameo appearances. The video notably features Ludacris debuting a fade haircut on camera, having shed his trademarkcornrows to mark a new image.
The credits for "Money Maker" are adapted from the liner notes ofRelease Therapy.[13]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[12] Digital | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[12] Mastertone | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
