"Knuck If You Buck" is the debut single by American

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 (U.S. state), Georgia, Texas, ...

group

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 ...

. It was recorded at PatchWerk Recording Studios in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and released on June 29, 2004 via

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

as the first single from their eponymous debut studio album (2004). Written by members Jarques "M.I.G." Usher, Chris "Killa C" Henderson, Jonathan "Lil' Jay" Lewis, Venetia "Princess" Lewis and Brittany "

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

" Carpentero, it was produced by Lil' Jay, and features fellow rapper Lil Scrappy. The single peaked at number 76 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified Platinum 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 ...

Lyrics and composition

The song's lyrics have been described as a "celebration of elbow-throwing and fist-fighting". With the group given a $1,000 advance, an unmixed version of the song became a local hit in Atlanta.

Music video

Directed by Bernard Gourley, the music video was released in August 2004.

Critical reception

Mosi Reeves of '' Creative Loafing Atlanta'' described the song as "a raucous fire-starter" and "one of the hardest songs of the era". David Jeffries 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 ...

labeled it a "pumping party jam" and among the best tracks on the ''

'' album.

Impact

"Knuck If You Buck" has remained a nightclub staple. In 2006, during a late-night party at a Howard Johnson hotel ballroom near

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

, a fight on the dance floor began after the DJ played the song, during which 16-year-old Baron "Deuce" Braswell II, who played on the football team at Courtland High School in nearby Spotsylvania, was stabbed to death. The suspect in the stabbing was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in January 2007. Also in 2007, a fight broke out at an after-party hosted by the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Society of Black Scientists and Engineers. Police arrested two people who were not affiliated with Harvard for disorderly conduct. In 2009, ''Pitchfork'' Media named "Knuck If You Buck" at no. 381 in its list of best songs of the 2000s. ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' ranked "Knuck If You Buck" no. 16 in its 50-deep list "The Best Atlanta Rap Songs" in 2015. Two years earlier, ''Complex'' ranked the song no. 7 in its list "25 Rap Songs That Make Us Want To Punch Someone In the Face". In '' The Rap Year Book'', Meaghan Garvey considered "Knuck If You Buck" to be the most important song of 2004: "...its super-essentialized beat and evergreen 'I wish a bitch would' threats never go out of season".

Remixes, samples, and other uses

The official remix was released on Lil Scrappy's ''G's Up'' mixtape. It features verses by

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...

and Lil Scrappy and new verses by the group. In 2015, the beat of this song was used for DLow's " Bet You Can't Do It Like Me" which reached No. 45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song received renewed attention throughout 2016. Before a rally for the Donald Trump presidential campaign at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

that eventually was cancelled on March 11, 2016, protesters were heard chanting "Fuck Donald Trump!" to the tune of the "Knuck If You Buck" chorus. "The Club", a first-season episode of the TV series ''

'', used the song as background music during a scene at a nightclub. ''

The Wrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

'' reported that viewers criticized the subdued nature of clubgoers depicted when the song played. " Juju on that Beat (TZ Anthem)", a single by Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall that peaked at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, sampled the beat of "Knuck If You Buck". The single " Grandson for President", released on April 29 2020 by rapper King Von, samples the beat to "Knuck If You Buck" In 2024, the song was used in the trailer for the TV series '' Knuckles''.

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

makes a reference to the song in the chorus of her 2024 single " Enough (Miami)".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2004 debut singles 2004 songs Crime Mob songs Crunk songs Lil Scrappy songs Reprise Records singles