"Cars with the Boom" (also titled "Cars That Go Boom") is a song 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- ...

duo

L'Trimm L'Trimm was a Miami bass hip-hop duo composed of Bunny D and Lady Tigra. Originally from Coconut Grove, Florida (origin neighborhood of the City of Miami), they recorded three albums for Atlantic Records: '' Grab It!'' in 1988 (which is certi ...

, released in 1988 by Time-X and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

as the third single from their debut studio album ''

Grab It! ''Grab It!'' is the debut album by the American hip hop duo L'Trimm, released in 1988. It was originally released by Time-X Records before being licensed to Atlantic Records. The album peaked at No. 132 on the ''Billboard'' 200. "Cars with the B ...

'' (1988). The song was produced by David Stone Klein and is their most successful, peaking at number 54 on the US ''

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 ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and number 39 on the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart.

Composition

"Cars with the Boom" is a

Miami bass Miami bass (also known as booty music or booty bass) is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexual ...

song that finds L'Trimm rapping about their love for men who have cars with

subwoofer A subwoofer (or sub) is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce low-pitched audio frequencies, known as bass and sub-bass, that are lower in frequency than those which can be (optimally) generated by a woofer. The typical frequency range that is ...

Critical reception

Chris Willman of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' said of "Cars with the Boom": "One of the dumber rap songs to come down the pike lately, this ode to noise pollution is also the most irresistible." The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' regarded it as the duo's "finest" song. Abel Folgar of ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

'' praised the song, writing that "the fact stands, there's something almost benign and cute about this affair ... 'Trimm'sdelivery, and it's all based on their delivery, is fun and childish". Travis M. Andrews of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' declared that "the song stands out in the landscape of hip-hop for being so unapologetically light". "Cars with the Boom" was ranked number 95 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop" in 2008 and number 100 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'''s "Top 100 Hip Hop Songs of All Time" in 2017. It was also ranked number ten in ''Complex'''s "The 50 Best Miami Rap Songs" in 2011, number 141 in ''Rolling Stone''s "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in 2022, and in 2024, ''Miami New Times'' included it in their list of the "10 Greatest Miami Bass Songs of All Time".

Other versions

American rapper

Brianna Perry Brianna Perry (born January 11, 1992), also known as Lil' Brianna, is an American rapper and actress from Miami-Dade County, Florida. She was the youngest act signed to Missy Elliott's label The Goldmind Inc. Perry made her debut on Trina's al ...

released a remake of "Cars That Go Boom", simply titled as "Cars".

TikTok virality

The song renewed popularity in mid-2020 due to widespread use in dancing and lip-syncing trends on the video-sharing app

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

Charts

References

{{reflist 1988 singles 1988 songs Atlantic Records singles American hip-hop songs Miami bass songs Songs about cars