"Dey Know" (sometimes called "They Know") 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- ...

recording artist Shawty Lo, released on December 4, 2007, as his commercial debut single. The song also serves as the lead single from Shawty Lo's debut solo album, '' Units in the City''. The track was produced by Balis Beats and Born Immaculate, who

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

Mandrill The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is Sexual dimorphism, sexually ...

's "Children of the Sun".::Hip-Hop Street::.: Mandrill - Children Of The Sun

Music video

The song's music video was directed by President Thomas Forbes. The video features

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s from

Camp 22 Hoeryong concentration camp (Haengyong concentration camp or Camp 22) was a concentration and death camp in North Korea that was reported to have been closed in 2012. The official name was Kwalliso (penal labour colony) No. 22. The camp was a m ...

, Rasheeda, Buckeey and

Crime Mob Crime Mob is an American hip hop group from Atlanta consisting of six members: M.I.G., Cyco Black, Princess, Lil' Jay, Diamond, and Killa C. The group is best known for their songs " Knuck If You Buck" and " Rock Yo Hips". After an arrest in 200 ...

Remixes

The song was officially

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed in January 2008, billed as the "Dirty South Remix". The remix features

guest A guest is person who is given hospitality. Guest or The Guest may refer to: * Guest (surname), people with the surname ''Guest'' * USS ''Guest'' (DD-472), U.S. Navy ''Fletcher''-class destroyer 1942–1946 * Guest appearance, guest actor, guest ...

verses from Shawty Lo's fellow

Southern hip hop Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee ...

artists,

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music fo ...

, Plies and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

. The song was remixed a second time featuring Young Jeezy,

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...

, Plies and

Gorilla Zoe Alonzo Keith Mathis Jr. (born ), better known by his stage name Gorilla Zoe (), is an American rapper from East Point, Georgia. He joined the Bad Boy Records hip hop group Boyz n da Hood in 2006, following the departure of its lead member, Jeez ...

. The first remix is notable for having

rap through an

auto-tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...

, which alters one's voice and makes it sound synthesized. This technique was made popular in hip-hop and R&B by

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

, and was used in many of Wayne's verses and songs from 2008 and 2009, this being one of the first. There is also an "NY Remix" featuring New York hip hop artists Maino,

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

and

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

. Several rappers have also recorded unofficial remixes as well as freestyles, including

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

, Young Jeezy, Paul Wall,

Papoose Papoose (from the Narragansett ''papoos'', meaning "child") is an American English word whose present meaning is "a Native American child" (regardless of tribe) or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of endearment, often in ...

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the Southern rap duo UGK (Underground Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work wi ...

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...

, Rock City,

Re-Up Gang The Re-Up Gang was an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in 2004, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The group was formed by Pusha T and No Malice, Malice, brothers and members of Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, alongside Philadelphia-ba ...

Crooked I Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage name Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked"; formerly Crooked I) is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He formed the hip ho ...

, Casely, Driver and

Prefuse 73 Guillermo Scott Herren is an American producer who has been based in Atlanta, Barcelona, and New York City. Herren releases music under the aliases Prefuse 73, Delarosa & Asora, Ahmad Szabo, and Piano Overlord, and is also part of the groups S ...

, among others.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

2007 debut singles Shawty Lo songs 2007 songs Asylum Records singles {{2000s-hiphop-single-stub