| "Work It" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byMissy Elliott | ||||
| from the albumUnder Construction | ||||
| B-side | "Pussycat" | |||
| Released | September 16, 2002 (2002-09-16) | |||
| Studio | Hit Factory Criteria (Miami)[1] | |||
| Length |
| |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
| |||
| Missy Elliott singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Work It" onYouTube | ||||
"Work It" is a song by American rapperMissy Elliott. It was written and produced by Elliott and frequent collaboratorTim "Timbaland" Mosley for her fourth studio albumUnder Construction (2002). The song's musical style, and production by Timbaland, were heavily inspired byold school hip hop from the early 1980s. It samplesRun-DMC's "Peter Piper" andRock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three's "Request Line," while the synth pattern in the rhythm track samples the intro of "Heart of Glass" byBlondie.
The song received widespread acclaim for its inventive production, playful eroticism, and Elliott's commanding presence, with critics ranking it among the best songs of the 2000s and of her career. Released as the album's first single on September 16, 2002, "Work It" became a major international commercial success, peaking at number two on the USBillboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, while also reaching the top ten or top twenty across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
"Work It" earned major awards including aGrammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, aBillboard Music Award for Top Rap Song, and multiple ASCAP, NAACP, and Teen Choice honors, alongsideBrit Award nominations. TheDave Meyers-directed video, featuring breakdancers and tributes toAaliyah and"Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, premiered onMTV'sTotal Request Live and wonVideo of the Year at the2003 MTV Video Music Awards, receiving additional nominations for direction and technical categories.
"Work It" was written and produced by Elliott and longtime collaboratorTimbaland and recorded at theHit Factory Criteria inMiami, Florida. According to Timbaland, the song underwent multiple revisions before reaching its final form.[2] Elliott and him recorded at least five versions, experimenting with different lyrics and flows, but none fully satisfied him.[2] The breakthrough came during the last attempt, when Elliott proposed reversing the line "I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it." Upon hearing the reversed vocal, he immediately recognized it as the definitive version of the song.[2] Timbaland challenged Elliott to deliver a strong and distinctive set of lyrics.[3] Uncomfortable recording vocals in front of others, she worked in a separate room and then played her takes back for his evaluation, an experience she compared to presenting a report card. After several attempts, he ultimately approved the performance.[3]
"Work It" prominently incorporates elements from American old school rap groupRock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three's "Request Line" (1984), particularly the opening vocal scratches and the call-and-response phrase "Is it worth it? Let me work it,"[4] which serves as a rhythmic and textural component.[4] In addition, "Work It" utilizes elements from hip-hop groupRun-D.M.C.'s song "Peter Piper" (1986), which contribute to the percussive framework and rhythmic drive of the composition.[4] Beyond these primary references, the track also incorporates subtler interpolations from American jazz keyboardistBob James's instrumental cover of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (1975) and American rock bandBlondie's "1978 number one hitHeart of Glass," adding melodic and harmonic layers.[4]
A portion of the song's lyrics helped popularize the slang termbadonkadonk among mainstream audiences, describing the movement of the singer’s buttocks and challenging the listener.[5] During the chorus, the lyric "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it" is immediately followed by the same line playedin reverse, and later in the song, the phrase "Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards" is also reversed.[2] "Work It" additionally employs creative sound effects to convey sexual innuendo. An elephant trumpeting is used in the chorus to obscure a sexual reference, present in both explicit and edited versions. Onomatopoeic expressions such as "ra-ta-ta-ta" and "buboomp buboomp boomp" simulate sexual bodily movements.[6]
NME editor Alex Needham described "Back in the Day" as "marvellously louche" and write: "It transpires that Missy's become more of a celery stick and glass of Evian type of person, the sex in "Work It" presumably to be fitted in between treadmill sessions. Fortunately Missys musical talents haven’t gone the way of her booty. She just seems to have lost some of her… Missyness,"[7] while his colleague Victoria Segal called the song an "incredible single," noting its "hilarious squirt of erotic nonsense" on a record full of "shocks and surprises."[8] In review forUnder Construction,Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani singled out "Work It" as one of the "funky, freaky, and fun" tracks. He felt that the song was picking up stylistically where Elliotty's earlier hit "Get Ur Freak On" left off.[9] John Bush ofAllMusic described the song as "turn[ing] the tables on male rappers, taking charge of the sex game, matching their lewdest, rudest rhymes, and also featuring the most notorious backmasked vocal of the year." Bush cited the song as an example of Elliott's "artistic progression, trying to push hip-hop forward [...] neatly emphasizing her differences from other rappers by writing tracks for nearly every facet of the female side of relationships."[10]Drowned in Sound described "Work It" as having a "filthy, irresistible, old-school groove."[11]
Rolling Stone ranked "Work It" 25th in its list "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" and number 56 on its list "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[12][13] In 2003,The Village Voice named "Work It" the best single of 2002 on their annual year-end critics' pollPazz & Jop; "Get Ur Freak On", a previous Elliott single, topped the same poll a year earlier.Stereogum andPaste ranked the song number two and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Missy Elliott Songs.[14][15] In 2025, the Australian edition ranked ofRolling Stone ranked "Work It" 101th in its list of "The 250 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century So Far," writing: "To push music forward, Missy Elliott had to go backward. The buzzy, burbling "Work It" beat [...] was, even by their standards, so intergalactically freaky that Eliott needed a few tries at writing a song over it before she found the right approach."[16]
"Work It" debuted on the USBillboard Hot 100 on chart issue dated September 14, 2002, at number 75.[17] In its second and third weeks, it leaped up to number 42 and number 24, respectively, taking the Airplay Gainer title in both weeks.[18][19] Within five weeks, it reached the top ten, at number 8, and gradually rose from there.[20] On the chart issue dated November 16, 2002, the song reached number 2, but because of the massive success of "Lose Yourself" byEminem, it never reached number one.[21] Instead, the songstayed at number two for ten weeks, a record that it shares with "Waiting for a Girl Like You" byForeigner from 1981.[21] Despite never topping the Hot 100 chart, the song topped theBillboardHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for five weeks.[22] It has since been certified 3x Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[23]
In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number six on theUK Singles Chart and reached number two on the UK Hip Hop/R&B chart.[24] It was later certified Platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting sales of 600,000 units.[25] Elsewhere in Europe, "Work It" reached number twelve on theDutch Single Top 100 and number nineteen on theDutch Top 40.[26][27] The song also peaked at number eleven in Denmark,[28] number fifteen in Sweden,[29] and number sixteen in Norway,[30] while reaching number fourteen in Switzerland.[31] In Italy, "Work It" peaked at number 23 on theItalian Singles Chart and later earned a Gold certification from theFederazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI), denoting sales of 35,000 units.[32][33] The single also reached number nineteen on theEurochart Hot 100.[34]
In Canada, the song originally reached number 35 on theCanadian Singles Chart in 2003.[35] In 2015, "Work It" re-peaked at number 31 on the chart, more than a decade after its original chart run a result of Elliott's performance at theSuper Bowl XLIX halftime show earlier in the month.[36] In Australia, the single reached number six on theARIA Singles Chart and number five on the Australian Urban chart, becoming Elliott's highest-charting solo single by then,[37] and earned a Gold certification fromAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 35,000 units.[37] In New Zealand, "Work It" peaked at number three on theNew Zealand Singles Chart, likewise becoming Elliott's highest-charting solo single in the market at the time,[38] and was later certified 2× Platinum byRecorded Music NZ, representing 60,000 units sold.[39]
"Work It" garnered multiple industry recognitions in both awards won and nominations. The song won theGrammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance at the46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004, marking Elliott's third consecutive win in the category.[40] It was also nominated in theBest Rap Song category at the same ceremony.[40] At the2003Billboard Music Awards, "Work It" won forHot Rap Track, acknowledging its strong performance on genre-specific charts.[41] In awards presented by theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), "Work It" received recognition at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards as one of the Award-Winning Songs of 2004, and at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards as a Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song and Award Winning Rap Song.[42]
In addition, the song received two nominations at theBrit Awards 2003:Best Female Hip-Hop Artist (as part of Missy Elliott’s overall recognition) andViewer’s Choice for the song itself.[43] It went on to win Best Rap/Hip-Hop Track at the International Dance Music Awards,[44] as well as Outstanding Song at theNAACP Image Awards.[45] "Work It" also won theTeen Choice Award for Choice Music Single and the2003 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year.[46]
Elliott reunited with frequent collaborator, directorDave Meyers to shoot the music video for "Work It."[47] Filmed inLos Angeles, California,[47] The visuals were choreographed by Nadine "Hi‑Hat" Ruffin,[48] and features Alyson Stoner as the lead kid dancer, selected from a pool of 400 to 500 auditioning children.[49] Elliott personally selected the breakdancers from New York and was present at every audition for the other dancers, includingStefan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente.[47] It includes visual tributes to Elliott's late friends and collaboratorsAaliyah andLisa "Left Eye" Lopes, whose images are airbrushed on the back of her jacket and hood of the car to commemorate their recent deaths.[47] Timbaland,Tweet, andEve make cameo appearances in the clip.[50]
Meyers and Elliott conceived the video as a space where anything could happen.[47] As with their previous collaborations, Elliott would propose initial ideas, such as setting portions of "Work It" in a beauty salon, after which Meyers expanded on the concepts, developing multiple visual scenarios and presenting a wide range of ideas for consideration.[51] Meyers and his production designer conceived a sequence that uses bees, while brainstorming a shocking opening for the video.[47] The scene was filmed without livehoney bees on Elliott's face, using a mannequin head previously created for her video of 2001's "One Minute Man," which was refurbished and composited with separate footage of Elliott in post-production.[47] In a restaurant scene, a glass of wine was mistakenly left in Elliott's hand instead of water, resulting in a take in which she appeared intoxicated and babbling playful nonsense when singerJanet Jackson visited the set.[47] A model was brought fromLondon to the set to appear as aHalle Berry lookalike in the scene.[47]
"Work It" premiered onMTV's countdown showTotal Request Live on September 19, 2002,[52] and wonVideo of the Year at the2003 MTV Video Music Awards.[13] At the same ceremony, Elliott received additional nominations forBest Female Video,Best Hip-Hop Video, andBest Direction along with Meyers,[13] while art director Charles Infante, editor Chris Davis, cinematograph Michael Bernard, and the staff at Realm Productions were also recognized with nominations in the categories ofBest Art Direction,Best Editing,Best Cinematography,Best Special Effects in a Video categories, respectively.[13] In 2015, Stoner reunited with former co-stars to release a tribute dance video for Elliott, responding to public curiosity about their absence from the2015 Super Bowl performance with Elliott andKaty Perry.[49] In 2018,Billboard ranked the "Work It" video second on their "The 100 Greatest Music Videos of the 21st Century" listing.[53]
US 12-inch single[54]
UK CD single[1]
| UK 12-inch and cassette single[55][56]
European CD single[57]
Australian CD single[58]
|
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
Decade-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[86] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Italy (FIMI)[33] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[39] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[25] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[23] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | September 16, 2002 | [87] | ||
| September 30, 2002 | Contemporary hit radio | [88] | ||
| Australia | November 4, 2002 | CD | [89] | |
| United Kingdom |
| [90] | ||
| New Zealand | December 16, 2002 | CD | [91] |
