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- ...
group
The Beatnuts
The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez ...
. It was released by
Relativity Records
Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...
as a single with "Yeah You Get Props" as its
b-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
in 1994. The song is produced by The Beatnuts and features raps by JuJu, Psycho Les and Fashion. The lyrics are not as boastful as other Beatnuts songs, but are instead a hopeful demand to be considered good. "Props Over Here" contains a slow upbeat jazz-inspired instrumental that samples "Wee Tina" by
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...
&
Booker Little
Booker Little Jr. (April 2, 1938 – October 5, 1961) – accessed June 2010 was an American
and "The Bridge" by
MC Shan
Shawn Moltke (born September 6, 1965), better known by his stage name MC Shan, is an American rapper, singer and record producer from New York City. He is best known for his guest appearance and production on Canadian singer Snow's 1992 single " ...
. Lenny Underwood plays keyboards on the song.
Matt Jost of RapReviews.com explains that the song is well-suited as a lead single because its "rich bassline" is made for "mass consumption. Despite these "props" and the song's Abraham L. Lim-directed music video, "Props Over Here" did not make it onto the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but instead reached #39 on the
Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio statio ...
chart. The song is nonetheless one of The Beatnuts' best known songs. It is sampled on Don Scavone's song "The Force." It can be found on two Beatnuts hits compilations, '' World Famous Classics'' and '' Classic Nuts, Vol. 1''. A remix can be found on '' Remix EP: The Spot''.
Single track list
A-Side
# "Props Over Here (Clean Edit)" (4:04)
# "Props Over Here (PD/MD Edit)" (4:04)
# "Props Over Here (LP Version)" (4:04)
B-Side
# "Yeah You Get Props (Rough Mix)" (3:45)
# "Props Over Here (Instrumental)" (4:04)
# "Props Over Here (Acapella)" (3:45)