"Bodyrock" is a song by American

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

musician

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

. It was released as the third single from his fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

'' on July 12, 1999. Heavily inspired by

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

, the song incorporates vocal samples from "Love Rap" by

Spoonie Gee Gabriel Jackson (born May 27, 1963), better known by his stage name Spoonie Gee, is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of the few to have released rap records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term hip hop and some of ...

and the

Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ D ...

. The single peaked at number 38 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and composition

"Bodyrock" incorporates vocal samples from "Love Rap" by American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

artists

and the

. Moby sampled the song from his first

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

, "maybe in 1981, off of the Mr. Magic Show on

WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio format, formatted FM broadcasting, FM radio station, city of license, licensed to New York, New York. It is currently owned and operated by Mediaco Holding, along with sister station WQHT (97 ...

." The main guitar line on "Bodyrock" was inspired by that of "What We All Want" by British

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

. Moby's production also incorporates orchestral elements, and he found it "kind of funny to have an orchestral chorus on what is essentially a hip-hop song." American rapper

Nikki D Nichelle Dayveena Strong (born September 10, 1968), known by her stage name Nikki D is an American rapper. Career Strong signed with Def Jam in 1989 and released her debut single "Lettin' Off Steam" the following year. It was produced by Sam S ...

performs additional vocals on the song. In a review of ''Play'', John Bush of

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 ...

notes "Bodyrock"s

big beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

elements and writes that its "similarities to contemporary dance superstars like

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

and

Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands in Manchester in 1992. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. Originally known as The Dust Brothers, th ...

are just a bit too close for comfort." Moby later recounted that both of his managers tried to convince him not to include the song on the album, as they found it "really tacky" and "thought it sounded like a Fatboy Slim ripoff—which I guess it kind of did," but that he himself liked the song due to the personal significance of the "Love Rap" sample to him.

Music videos

Three music videos were produced for "Bodyrock". The version released in the United Kingdom, directed by Fredrik Bond, features a man frenetically dancing in an urban setting while Moby looks on. During the video, Moby acts as an effects man, turning on a wind machine and later a flame bar, accidentally blowing up a nearby car. An alternate second cut was later released, featuring audition footage of dancers supposedly auditioning for the video; the video can be seen two ways: one with only the dancers, and one

intercutting Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simulta ...

to Moby. The third version, directed by

Steve Carr Steven Harold Carr (born April 7, 1965) is an American film director, music video director, and film producer from Brooklyn, New York. After studying fine arts on a full scholarship to Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, Carr founded design ...

and released in the United States, features Moby wearing a special pair of

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...

that allows him to see dancers wherever he goes. Hip hop group

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the mos ...

make a cameo appearance in the Carr-directed version.

Track listing

* CD single # "Bodyrock" – 3:22 # "Sunspot" – 6:46 # "Arp" – 6:30 * CD single – remixes # "Bodyrock" ( Olav Basoski's Da Hot Da Funk Freak Remix) – 6:24 # "Bodyrock" (

Hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

's Bodyshock Remix) – 7:44 # "Bodyrock" ( Rae & Christian Remix) – 5:33 * 12-inch single # "Bodyrock" (Olav Basoski's Da Hot Da Funk Freak Remix) – 6:24 # "Bodyrock" (B&H's Bodyrob Mix) – 4:42 # "Bodyrock" (Dani König Remix) – 8:36 * CD single # "Bodyrock" (Dean Honer Mix) – 3:21 # "Bodyrock" (Olav Basoski's Da Hot Da Funk Freak Remix) – 6:24 # "Bodyrock" (Rae & Christian Remix) – 5:33 # "Bodyrock" (B&H's Bodyrob Mix) – 4:42 # "Bodyrock" (Dani König Remix) – 8:13 # "Bodyrock" (album mix) – 3:34 # "Sunday" – 5:01 # "Sunspot" – 6:46 * 12-inch single # "Bodyrock" (Olav Basoski's Da Hot Da Funk Freak Remix) – 6:24 # "Bodyrock" (Rae & Christian Remix) – 5:33 # "Bodyrock" (Dani König Remix) – 8:13 # "Bodyrock" (Dean Honer Mix) – 3:21

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 1999 singles Moby songs Music videos directed by Steve Carr Mute Records singles Song recordings produced by Moby Songs written by Moby 1999 songs Big beat songs Songs about dancing