| "99 Problems" | ||||
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| Single byJay-Z | ||||
| from the albumThe Black Album | ||||
| Released | April 27, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | July 2003 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Rap rock[1][2] | |||
| Length | 3:54 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Rick Rubin | |||
| Jay-Z singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "99 Problems" on YouTube | ||||
"99 Problems" is the third single released by American rapperJay-Z fromThe Black Album. It was released on April 27, 2004. The chorus of "I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain't one" is taken from theIce-T song "99 Problems", from the albumHome Invasion (1993).
In the song, Jay-Z tells a story about dealing with rap critics,racial profiling from a police officer who wants to search his car, and an aggressor. The song reached number 30 on theBillboard Hot 100.
The track was produced byRick Rubin, his firsthip hop production in many years. Rubin provided Jay-Z with a guitar riff and stripped-down beat that were once Rubin's trademarks. In creating the track, Rubin used some classic 1980s sample staples such as "The Big Beat" byBilly Squier, "Long Red" byMountain, and "Get Me Back On Time" byWilson Pickett. Featuring the same Billy Squier drum beat sample,Dizzee Rascal released "Fix Up, Look Sharp" in August 2003 prior toThe Black Album's release.
The title and hook are derived fromIce-T's song of the same name, from his 1993 albumHome Invasion, which featuredBrother Marquis of theMiami-based2 Live Crew. The original song was more profane and describes a wide range of sexual conquests. The hook was coined during a conversation between Ice-T and Brother Marquis.[3] Marquis also used the phrase in the 1996 2 Live Crew song "Table Dance". Ice-T would re-record his version of the song with the Rubin/Jay-Z guitar riff forBody Count's 2014 albumManslaughter in order to "reclaim" the hook from being mis-attributed to Jay-Z.[4] Portions of Ice-T's original lyrics were similarly quoted in a song by fellow rapperTrick Daddy on a track also titled "99 Problems" from his 2001 albumThugs Are Us. Jay-Z begins his third verse directly quoting lines fromBun B's opening verse off the track "Touched" from theUGK albumRidin' Dirty.
The second verse, describing Jay-Z's traffic stop, has received much more attention than the rest of the song.
The second verse was based on an actual experience of Jay-Z in the 1990s inNew Jersey. He wrote that in 1994, when he was pulled over by police while carryingcocaine in a secret compartment in hissunroof. He refused to let the police search the car and the police called for drug-sniffing dogs. However, the dogs never showed up and the police had to let him go. Moments after he drove away, he saw a police car with the dogs drive by. In a discussion at the Celeste Bartos Forum at theNew York Public Library,[5] Jay-Z described the second verse of the song as representing "a contest of wills" between the car's driver who is "all the way in the wrong" for carrying illegal drugs, and a racist police officer who pulls over the driver not for any infraction but for being African American. "Both guys are used to getting their way" and thus reluctant to back down, Jay-Z notes, and the driver "knows a bit about the law because he's used to breaking it" and asserts his legal rights.
In 2011,Southwestern Law School Professor Caleb Mason wrote an article with a line-by-line analysis of the second verse of the song from a legal perspective referencing theFourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, citing it as a useful tool for teaching law studentssearch and seizure law involvingsearch warrants,Terry stops,racial profiling, theexclusionary rule, and themotor vehicle exception.[6] Mason writes that some of Jay-Z's lyrics are legally accurate and describe prudent behavior (e.g., identifying when police ask for consent to search, specifically asking if one is underarrest, and complying with the police order to stop rather than fleeing which would certainly result in a search of the car and might authorize police to use lethal force to stop a high speed chase). However, Mason also notes the song lyrics are legally incorrect in indicating that a driver can refuse an order to exit the car[7] and that police would need a warrant to search a locked glove compartment or trunk—in fact, police would only needprobable cause to search a car.[6][8] In 2012, Professor Emir Crowne of theUniversity of Windsor Faculty of Law wrote an article concluding that Jay-Z's lyrics may be legally correct under Canadian law.[9]
Jay-Z, in his bookDecoded, clarified that the "bitch" in the chorus refers to a different subject in each verse; in the second, it refers to apolice dog, but in the third, it refers to a cowardly individual.[10]
The song garnered widespread acclaim. The song came in at No. 2 onRolling Stone's top 100 songs of the '00s. On the updated list ofthe 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the song was added and came in at No. 172.[11] In 2019, they ranked the song number four on their list of the 50 greatest Jay-Z songs.[12] The song was listed at No. 14 onPitchfork Media's top 500 songs of the 2000s (decade) and in October 2011,NME placed it at number 24 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[13]
Jack White has hailed the song, describing it as "the story of America ... in a nutshell, [it's] the story of all the struggles in America, black or white, [and of] class systems".[14]
The song wonBest Rap Solo Performance at the47th Grammy Awards.
In 2008, the single was covered by Barry Chuckle of British children's comedy duoThe Chuckle Brothers as part of BBC Radio 1'sScott Mills show. Mills described the cover as "superior, in essence, to the original".
On January 21, 2009, Jay-Z performed the single as part of his set at the Staff Ball, the last official event ofBarack Obama'sinauguration. The ball was exclusively for 4,000 staffers who had worked on Obama'scampaign. Jay-Z tweaked the lyrics to suit the historic atmosphere, and the crowd sang along: "I got 99 problems but a Bush ain't one", replacing "bitch" with the name of theformer President.[15] At a rally for PresidentBarack Obama in November 2012 Jay-Z changed the lyrics of the song to "If you having world problems I feel bad for you son / I got 99 problems butMitt ain't one."[16] President Obama quipped in his monologue at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 27, 2013: "Some things are beyond my control. For example, this whole controversy about Jay-Z going to Cuba. It's unbelievable. I've got 99 problems and now Jay-Z is one."[17]
Eminem referenced the lyrics in his track "So Much Better" onThe Marshall Mathers LP 2 album, with the lines "I got 99 problems and a bitch ain't one/ She's all 99 of 'em; I need a machine gun".[18]
Danger Mouse remixed this track with samples from "Helter Skelter" byThe Beatles as part of his oft-bootlegged albumThe Grey Album. The track was also remixed withLinkin Park for the EPCollision Course, being mixed with the Linkin Park songs "Points of Authority" and "One Step Closer". The thrash metal groupBody Count combined the lyrics of Ice-T's "99 Problems" with the guitar riff from Jay-Z's "99 Problems" for the track "99 Problems BC" on the albumManslaughter.Big Sean referenced the lyrics inDrake's "All Me" with the line "I got 99 problems, getting rich ain't one".Iggy Azalea referenced the lyrics inAriana Grande's "Problem" with the line "I got 99 problems but you won't be one".[19] In 2009, fellow rapper and collaboratorKid Cudi, referenced the hook in the opening verse of his song "Soundtrack 2 My Life" with the line "I got 99 problems and they all bitches". The singerHugo recorded abluegrass cover in 2011, with all different lyrics except for the hook, and featured in the end credits ofFright Night as well as"Girlfriends", the fourth episode of the TV seriesReboot. There have been several remixes of the track including versions byThe Prodigy and Linkin Park. In particular, Jay-Z had been quoted as saying that The Prodigy remix is one of his favorites by keeping the main guitar riff but heavier and darker which in turn was the inspiration for The Prodigy track "Spitfire" written byLiam Howlett and released in 2005.
Themusic video premiered in April 2004 and was directed byMark Romanek. It received praises from critics such asArmond White,[20] and was nominated for four MVPA awards in 2005, of which it won three. It also won theMTV Video Music Awards forBest Rap Video,Best Director,Best Editing[21] andBest Cinematography, as well as gaining nominations forVideo of the Year andBest Male Video. It was criticized, however, by theHumane Society of the United States for scenes in the video that glorifieddog fighting.
The video accompaniedThe Black Album which, at the time, was to be Jay-Z's final release. Jay-Z has stated that he wanted the video to be as auto-biographical as the rest of the album.[22] The goal for the video was to create a portrait of where Jay-Z grew up. In a conversation with the video's director, Jay-Z stated that he wanted the video to "make a pissy wall look like art".[23] The job of directing this video was originally intended forQuentin Tarantino, howeverRick Rubin suggested that Jay-Z offer the job to Mark Romanek.[24] Due to the research and influence of Romanek and the videos cinematographer, Joaquin Baca Asay, the video borrows visual characteristics from many New York street photographers and black and white photographs (Martin Dixon andEugene Richards to name a few). The video is shot entirely onblack-and-white film. It consists mainly of scenes filmed in close proximity to Jay-Z's childhood home, The Marcy Houses in Bedford Stuyvesant. These include:
A-Side
B-Side
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Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[35] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[36] | Gold | 150,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[37] | Gold | 7,500* |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[38] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[39] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | May 24, 2004 (2004-05-24) | Rhythmic contemporary ·urban contemporary radio | Roc-A-Fella,IDJMG | [40] |
| June 8, 2004 (2004-06-08) | Contemporary hit radio | [41] |
