"Mr. Me Too" 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

Clipse Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip-hop, hip hop duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formed in 1994, it consists of brothers No Malice, Gene "Malice" and Pusha T, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during t ...

, released on May 23, 2006 as the lead single from their second studio album '' Hell Hath No Fury'' (2006). The song features guest vocals and production by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

. It is considered to be a

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

aimed at fellow American rapper

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 ...

, after he graced the cover of ''Vibe'' magazine with

A Bathing Ape , also known as BAPE, is a Japanese fashion brand founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in Ura-Harajuku in 1993.

hoodie, a brand which was at that time popularized by Clipse. Lyrically, the song is a braggadocio rap record, where the rappers boast about their fashion and style, while denouncing imitators.

Background and composition

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 ...

, Pusha T explained the song's meaning: "It's the total disruption of radio. There's nothing on radio that will even be close to it. It just addresses Mr. Me Toos. Mr. Me Too is the person that sits there and examines your style and takes a piece of it. Also taken from the stage name Justin Meetoo. It addresses the competitive dude on the street who, when you get this or that they're like, 'Me too.'" He also said that the track also touches on some of what they went through with their label: "Briefly, 'cause we don't dwell." The song also contains a reference to record label Jive, where Pusha T apologizes for the constant album delays ("These are the days of our lives / And I'm sorry to the fans but those crackers weren't playin' fair at Jive.") There was a W.V. boy working alongside them. The "minimalist" production of "Mr. Me Too" consists of "little more than wheezing

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s" according to Nathan Rabin of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', who noted how "the track perfectly embodies Pharrell's less-is-more musical philosophy".

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 ...

was directed by Daren Jackson. The video features cameo appearances from

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 ...

, Gillie Da Kid, and Bump J of Major Figgas.

Charts

Personnel

*Written by Gene Thorton, Terrence Thornton, Ian McNeally and Pharrell Williams *Produced by The Neptunes *All instruments by The Neptunes *Original Compositions from Preacha related to 10th Ave. Productions

References

2006 singles Clipse songs Pharrell Williams songs Jive Records singles Song recordings produced by the Neptunes Songs written by Pusha T Songs written by Pharrell Williams Songs written by Chad Hugo {{2000s-hiphop-single-stub