"Lean Back" is a song by American hip hop group Terror Squad. It was released as the second single from their second studio album, '' True Story'', on June 1, 2004. An uptempo hip hop song built for the club environment, it features

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a so ...

with

Remy Ma Reminisce Mackie ( Smith; born May 30, 1980), known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper. Discovered by Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad. In 2006, she released her debut st ...

handling the second verse. It topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks, starting on August 21, 2004, and topped the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 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 for seven weeks. Worldwide, the song reached the top 20 in several other countries, including Denmark, where it peaked at number five.

Music video

Fat Joe described the dance in the video as throwing back the right shoulder to the beat of the song. The video features cameos from

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

, N.O.R.E., Tego Calderon,

Tony Sunshine Antonio Cruz (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent, famous for his affiliation with New York City hip hop group Terror Squad. He sang on tracks such as Cuban Link's "S ...

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums. After winning s ...

, and

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cr ...

, as well as the production-duo

Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

Critical reception

Jason Birchmeier of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

called the song "a perfect club-ready duet between Joe and Remy Ma that boasts a trademark Scott Storch beat and a memorable singalong hook and dance-along step". ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

'' called the song a "summer classic". In 2008, the song was ranked at number 55 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".

Remixes

The official remixed version of the song, featuring

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, and

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Se ...

is available on

's 2005 album ''

All or Nothing All or Nothing may refer to: Film and television * ''All or Nothing'' (film), a 2002 film by Mike Leigh * ''All or Nothing'' (game show), a 2004–2005 Russian game show based on ''Deal or No Deal'' * ''All or Nothing'' (sports docuseries), ...

'' and Lil Jon's ''

Crunk Juice ''Crunk Juice'' is the fifth and final studio album by American hip hop group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. It was released on November 16, 2004, under BME Recordings and TVT Records. The production was primarily handled by Lil Jon himself, ...

'' remix disc. The official remix is more uptempo and contains a new beat with a

crunk Crunk is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more dance and club oriented subgenres. An archetypal crunk track fre ...

–like feel to it. However, there are two different versions of the remix. The ''

'' version, the main remix, features an additional verse by

and was released in July 2004. The ''

'' version features Lil Jon's vocals throughout the song, omitting Remy Ma's verse. On both versions, Mase's verse is in line with his then-clean style of rapping (as heard on '' Welcome Back'').

also released a remix in tribute to his Puerto Rican ancestry, featuring Tego Calderon and

Tony Touch Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance ...

. Other remixes of the song are performed by

Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He was the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click from 2001 until the group split in 2005. He began hi ...

, in '' The Mixtape Messiah'' titled "Body Rock",

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

Max B Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo ''Public Domain'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' series of mixtapes, and introdu ...

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with B ...

U.S.D.A. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

, and

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released ...

. Also,

mashup Mashup may refer to: * Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture * Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting * Mashup (mus ...

artist Girl Talk layered "Lean Back" over

Spacehog Spacehog are an English rock band formed in 1994 in New York City. Their music is heavily influenced by David Bowie, Queen, and T. Rex. The band's best known single is "In the Meantime". History Though all the band members are from Leeds, We ...

's " In the Meantime" in his album ''

All Day All Day may refer to: Music * All Day (Girl Talk album), ''All Day'' (Girl Talk album), 2010 album * All Day (The Pietasters album), ''All Day'' (The Pietasters album), 2007 album by The Pietasters ** All Day (The Pietasters song), "All Day" (Th ...

''. Houston rapper

Lil' Flip Wesley Eric Weston Jr. (born March 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper. He embarked on his musical career as a freestyle and battle rapper before earning a record deal with Suckafree Records in 1999. Lil' F ...

did a freestyle over the song as a diss towards Atlanta rapper T.I.

Track listings

US 12-inch single :A1. "Lean Back" (clean) – 4:12 :A2. "Lean Back" (instrumental) – 4:12 :B1. "Lean Back" (dirty) – 4:11 :B2. "Lean Back" (acappella) – 4:01 UK 12-inch single :A1. "Lean Back" (explicit) – 4:07 :B1. "Yeah Yeah Yeah" – 3:07 :B2. "Lean Back" (instrumental) – 4:12 UK and Australian CD single # "Lean Back" (clean) – 4:11 # "Lean Back" (explicit) – 4:07 # "Yeah Yeah Yeah" – 3:07 # "Lean Back" (video) European CD single # "Lean Back" – 4:07 # "Yeah Yeah Yeah" – 3:07

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 singles 2004 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Fat Joe songs Hip hop dance Island Records singles Music videos directed by Jessy Terrero Novelty and fad dances Song recordings produced by Scott Storch Songs written by Fat Joe Songs written by Remy Ma Songs written by Scott Storch SRC Records singles Tego Calderón songs Terror Squad (group) songs Universal Records singles

Music video

Critical reception

Remixes

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

References