"Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" is a song by British
boy band
A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...
Five, released in late 1997 by
BMG and
RCA
RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
as the first single from their
self-titled debut album (1998). Featuring a blend of pop and rap, the single was written and produced by Jake Schulze,
, and
Denniz Pop
Dag Krister Volle (26 April 1963 – 30 August 1998), better known as Denniz Pop (stylized ''Denniz PoP''), was a Swedish DJ, music producer, and songwriter. He was a member of the DJ collective SweMix and later co-founded the recording studio ...
. It contains a sample of "Clap Your Hands" by
Herbie Crichlow
Herbert Crichlow (born 26 November 1968) is a British music producer and songwriter based in Sweden. Born in England and raised in Barbados, he is best known for his multiple diamond, platinum and gold awarded works. He is also known for his wr ...
. The single reached number 10 on the
UK Singles Chart and was certified Silver.
It was also released in the United States and New Zealand, where it reached number 86 and number 22, respectively. In the US, the song was chosen as the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
's theme song. In other countries, Five's first single was "
When the Lights Go Out". The song was featured on the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
to the TV series ''
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appea ...
'' and the
Disney Channel Original Movie
Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...
''
Smart House''.
During the band's greatest hits tour in 2013,
Scott Robinson Scott Robinson may refer to:
* Scott Robinson (jazz musician) (born 1959), American jazz musician
* Scott Robinson (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian National Hockey League player
* Scott Robinson (singer) (born 1979), English singer in the boy ban ...
and
Abz Love
Richard Abidin Breen (born 29 June 1979), better known as Abz Love, is an English singer, rapper, and songwriter. Abz is a member of the boy band Five and was also a member of the supergroup Boyz on Block.
In 2003, he released his debut so ...
changed the lyrics of the song. Instead of the first verse's line "when the 5 of us make 1", Robinson would sing "when the 4 of us make 1"; and the third verse's line "We got J, A.B., Rich, Sean and Scott" was changed to "We got Abz on the mic Rich, Sean and Scott", acknowledging the fact that
Jason "J" Brown
Jason Paul "J" Brown (born 13 June 1976) is an English singer and rapper. He is best known as a member, singer and rapper of boy band Five.
Career
In 1997, Brown auditioned for Five, a new boy band-style group with "attitude and edge" and was e ...
did not reunite with the band earlier in the year. Upon Love's departure from the group,
Ritchie Neville changed the first verse's line to "when the 3 of us make 1"; while rapping duties were handed to Robinson, who changed the third verse's line once again to "We got Rich and Sean and Scott La rock".
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
from
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
complimented the song as a "expertly constructed" single, that is "delivered professionally" by the group. He also declared it as "infectious, catchy, perfect for the radio."
Larry Flick
Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...
from ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' described it as a "funky-esque pure-pop ditty that tries to conjure a hipper, "streetier" vibe". Scottish ''
Daily Record'' stated that the song is a "must tune for the office Christmas party". David Brinn from ''
Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...
'' felt it "is typical of the sugar-coated white man's overbite rap that the boys churn out. Expect to know all their names soon." A reviewer from ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...
'' gave "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" five out of five and named it Single of the Week, adding, "After months of careful preparation the new boy band emerge with a solid, storming funk/pop/rap song. A certain hit, but lacking the wide appeal of a Christmas number one." Dave Fawbert from ''
ShortList
A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...
'' commented, "Every single second of this - audio and video - is amazing, including some phenomenal ‘boyband walking down a corridor’ footage. Of course it was written by
like 97% of all amazing pop music ever."
Music video
Two different music videos were made to promote the single; one for the UK and another for the US market.
Track listings
* US CD single
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Radio Edit) - 3:38
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (NBA Edit) - 2:30
* US CD maxi single
# "Slam Dunk Da Funk" (Extended Mix) - 7:06
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Candy Girls Radio Mix) - 3:52
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Future Funk Radio Mix) - 4:30
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Sol Brothers Radio Mix) - 3:57
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Bug Remix) - 6:36
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (NBA Edit) - 2:30
# "
When the Lights Go Out" (Loop Da Loop Full Vocal Mix) - 4:50
* UK CD1
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Radio Edit) - 3:38
# "Straight Up Funk" - 4:00
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Candy Girls Vocal Club Mix) - 6:31
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Video) - 3:41
* UK CD2
(Includes Limited Edition Poster)
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Radio Edit) - 3:38
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Candy Girls Club Mix) - 5:16
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Future Funk Mix) - 6:35
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Sol Brothers Mix) - 8:57
# "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" (Bug Remix) - 6:36
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
References
External links
Slam Dunk (Da Funk)(UK release) at discogs.com
Slam Dunk (Da Funk)(European release) at discogs.com
*
''Top of the Pops'' performance
{{Authority control
1997 songs
1997 debut singles
Five (band) songs
Songs written by Jake Schulze
Songs written by Denniz Pop
Songs written by Max Martin
Songs written by Herbie Crichlow
Song recordings produced by Max Martin
Song recordings produced by Denniz Pop