"Bust a Move" is a song by British-American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Young MC from his 1989 debut album, '' Stone Cold Rhymin'''. The song is built on a sample of "Found a Child" by the group Ballin' Jack. The electronic LinnDrum sound was sampled from the song "Radio-Activity" by RoyalCash. The breakdown segment contains a combination of beats sampled from the songs " Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band, and "Daytime Hustler" by

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

. "Bust a Move" also has guest vocals by Crystal Blake and

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

bassist

Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

, who both appear in the music video. Released as a single on May 22, 1989, "Bust a Move" is Young MC's biggest hit, reaching number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topping the charts in Australia in 1990. The song stayed on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 39 weeks, and 20 weeks in the top 40, winning the 1990

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality Rapping, rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after ...

. In 2008, the song was ranked number 47 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". The single was certified Platinum in the United States by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) in January 1990.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

The song is featured in the films '' Uncle Buck'' (1989), '' Dude, Where's My Car?'' (2000), '' See Spot Run'' (2001), '' Grind'' (2003), '' You, Me and Dupree'' (2006), '' The Blind Side'' and '' 17 Again'' (2009), '' The Perks of Being a Wallflower'' (2012) and '' It'' (2017).

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

sampled the song's music and hook for his song "Big Moves" on the soundtrack of the 2001 film '' Max Keeble's Big Move''. It also appears in the 2009 film '' Up in the Air'', in which Young MC has a cameo performing the song. "Bust a Move" is a playable song in the rhythm game '' Dance Central'' (2010), appears on the soundtrack of the 2016 video game '' Forza Horizon 3'', and became an available emote in '' Fortnite'' in 2023. The song was regularly used in the television show

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...

as Randy's favorite party song. It was performed by Will Schuester in the ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' episode " Mash-Up", and was sung during karaoke in ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

'' episode "The Positive Negative Reaction". The song is featured in the ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' episode "

Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" (also known as "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television") is the sixth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series '' Futurama'', and the 60th episode of the series overall. ...

", the ''

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

'' episode "Lady Parts", and the ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

'' episode “What Makes Bobby Run?”

References

External links

Entry at Discogs.com
* Review at Allmusic.com {{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Young MC Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance Music videos directed by Tamra Davis 4th & B'way Records singles Delicious Vinyl singles Island Records singles Ariola Records singles Songs about dancing