"Let Your Backbone Slide" is the debut single by Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 from his first album, ''

Symphony in Effect ''Symphony in Effect'' is the debut album by Canadian rapping, rapper Maestro (rapper), Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 on Attic Records (Canada), Attic/LeFrak-Moelis Records, LMR Records. In Canada, the album was certified Canadian Recording I ...

''. In Canada, over 50,000 copies of the single were sold, making Maestro the first Canadian rapper to have a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

single. It also reached #1 on ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'' Singles Chart, in April 1990. In the United States, 25,000 copies were sold in its first few weeks of release. It remained the best-selling

Canadian hip hop The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained lar ...

single of all time until 2008, when it was eclipsed by

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 ...

's " Dangerous". In a 2000 poll conducted by the music magazine ''

Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

'', "Let Your Backbone Slide" was voted the 11th greatest Canadian song of all time. The song contains samples of "The Champ" by

The Mohawks William Alan Hawkshaw (27 March 1937 – 16 October 2021) was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for films and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company i ...

, "

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a song by James Brown recorded in 1969 and released as a single in 1970. Its drum break, Musical improvisation, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampling (music), sampled music recordings. Recor ...

" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, "Set It Off" by

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, "

La Di Da Di "La Di Da Di" is a song performed by Doug E. Fresh, who provides the beatboxed instrumental, and MC Ricky D (later known as Slick Rick), who performs the vocals. It was originally released in 1985 as the B-side to " The Show". The song has si ...

" by Doug E. Fresh and

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. His songs " The Show" and ...

, "One, Two, Three" by The B-Boys and "

Rebel Without a Pause "Rebel Without a Pause" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the first single from their 1988 album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The title is a reference to the 1955 film '' Rebel Without a Cause''. History "Rebel Wi ...

" by

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, directed by Joel Goldberg was shot in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, with most of it taking place in a club. In the video's first few seconds, presenter

Dwight Drummond Dwight Drummond (born September 22, 1968) is a Canadian television journalist who currently hosts CBC News Toronto. He previously hosted ''Canada Tonight'' on CBC News Network and was also the anchor of ''CBC Toronto News with Dwight Drummond'' at ...

plays the role of a cameraman. It received rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

Track listing

12" single

A-side #"Let Your Backbone Slide" (Power Mix) #"Let Your Backbone Slide" (Bonus Beat) #"Let Your Backbone Slide" (A cappella version) B-side #"Let Your Backbone Slide" (Radio Edit) #"Let Your Backbone Slide" (Club Mix)

Chart positions

Decade-end charts

References

{{authority control 1989 debut singles Maestro Fresh-Wes songs 1989 songs Music videos shot in Toronto