"Touch It" is a song by American rapper

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

. Released on December 13, 2005, it was the first single from Rhymes'

Aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an America ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

debut, '' The Big Bang''. The song reached number one in New Zealand, and number six in the United Kingdom. The song features a minimalistic beat provided by

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...

, and a sample from the song "

Technologic "Technologic" is a song by French duo Daft Punk from their third studio album, '' Human After All'' (2005). It was released as the second single on 14 June 2005. The music video for "Technologic" was directed by Daft Punk. Composition In the son ...

" by electronic duo

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

. "Touch It" in turn was incorporated into Daft Punk's live album, ''

Alive 2007 ''Alive 2007'' is the second live album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 19 November 2007 by Virgin Records. It features Daft Punk's performance at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy arena in Paris on 14 June 2007 durin ...

''.

Chart performance

The release date for the single in the UK was 15 May 2006. However, due to UK chart rules allowing songs to chart on download sales alone, one week before the single's physical release, "Touch It" managed to make the top 40, entering at #23 on download sales only. After the physical single release, the song climbed to #6, its peak position. The song had a strong chart run initially, spending seven weeks inside the top 30 there, however, because the physical copies of the single were deleted, the single was withdrawn from the chart due to new chart rules stating that singles could only remain in the chart for two weeks after their physical deletion. This is why the record seemingly fell from the UK top 75 from the top 30. The song was also popular on the charts in the U.S., peaking at #16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topping the chart in New Zealand.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Touch It (Remix)

After the release of "Touch It", a series of remixes were set into play. The main remix features

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

Rah Digga Rashia Tashan Fisher (born December 18, 1974), known professionally as Rah Digga, is an American rapper and actress. She is best known as a longtime member of the Flipmode Squad, a hip hop group led by Busta Rhymes. Her debut album, '' Dirty H ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

Lloyd Banks Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip-hop, East Coast hip hop group G-Unit, which he formed with childhood friends ...

Papoose Papoose (from the Narragansett ''papoos'', meaning "child") is an American English word whose present meaning is "a Native American child" (regardless of tribe) or, even more generally, any child, usually used as a term of endearment, often in ...

and DMX. The result was five popular versions of the song and a video, each featuring different well-known hip-hop artists. An EP was released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

featuring four of the remixes on March 7, 2006. The final full-length

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

had an accompanying video.

Remix video

In the opening of the video, the head

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ent ...

and the rest of the women are in burgundy and silver outfits. Busta Rhymes then arrives and decides who runs the city. Upon the entrance of each performer, they mention something positive happening. After Bust and Spliff finish their battle (freestyle), the cheerleaders sing and step to the "Touch It" beat. An electronic machine makes a zapping-sound and a bolt of green lighting appears in the background. In each scene, all the rappers wear colors that match the background. Usually, after one rapper finishes their verse the others appear and start strutting and dancing on beat. The screen shows two or more sides of the other backgrounds and their rappers. After Busta Rhymes, the other rappers appear in this order:

in white,

in pink,

in purple,

in blue,

in green and DMX in black (he has his hood up). Busta Rhymes and his friend,

Spliff Star William A. Lewis (born April 18, 1971), professionally known as Spliff Star, is an American rapper and record producer from Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. He's best known for his work with Busta Rhymes. Both ''Vibe'' and ''Complex'' listed Spliff ...

, appear in red at the beginning and in yellow at the end. Each singer appears with different outfits, such as Busta's white T-shirt, Papoose's, DMX's, Lloyd Banks' jackets, and the ladies'

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

coats. During Mary J. Blige's part, her

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

, Brooke Lynn, appears dressed in a matching white costume. Other cameo appearances in the music video are of

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

DJ Kay Slay Keith Grayson (August 14, 1966 – April 17, 2022), professionally known as DJ Kay Slay, was an American disc jockey (DJ) from New York City. He is referred to by ''The New York Times'' as "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults". He released fou ...

, Deelishis, producer

Winky Wright Ronald Lamont "Winky" Wright (born November 26, 1971) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2012. He is a two-time light middleweight world champion and was the last to hold the undisputed title at that weight until ...

Félix Trinidad Félix Juan Trinidad García (born January 10, 1973), popularly known as "Tito" Trinidad, is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes and is considere ...

Black Rob Robert Ross (June 8, 1968 – April 17, 2021), known professionally as Black Rob, was an American rapper who was signed to Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment. He was best known for his 2000 single " Whoa!", which peaked at number 43 on ...

and Spliff Star. At the 2006

BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...

, Busta performed the Video Remix live on stage, along with

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

, Elliott, Banks, Blige, Papoose, and Rah Digga. DMX was absent for the performance, but his part was played on the screens onstage. The performance also featured a surprise final verse by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

, who began with some of Busta's lines from

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

's "

Scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; from Italian , "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and actio ...

Official remixes and versions

*Touch It (Remix Version) eaturing Mary J Blige, Missy Elliott, Rah Digga(Dirty) – 3:57 *Touch It (Remix Version) eaturing Mary J Blige, Missy Elliott, Rah Digga(Clean) – 3:57 *Touch It (Remix Version) eaturing Lloyd Banks, Papoose(Dirty) – 3:57 *Touch It (Remix Version) eaturing Lloyd Banks, Papoose(Clean) – 3:57 *Touch It (Remix) eaturing DMX(Dirty) – 3:55 *Touch It (Remix) eaturing DMX(Clean) – 3:55 *Touch It (The Remix) eaturing Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Rah Digga, Lloyd Banks, Papoose and DMX(Dirty) – 4:00 *Touch It (The Remix) eaturing Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Rah Digga, Lloyd Banks, Papoose and DMX(Clean) – 4:00 *Touch It (Remix) eaturing Arcángel and De La Ghetto">Arcángel.html" ;"title="eaturing Arcángel">eaturing Arcángel and De La Ghetto] – 3:32

Controversy and dedication

Busta Rhymes' bodyguard and entourage member, Israel "Izzy" Ramirez, was fatally shot outside the set of the music video for "Touch It" during filming in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

on February 5, 2006. The case remains unsolved. The video for the remix is dedicated to Ramirez's memory, and includes a slideshow featuring images of him.

Nominations and success

Along with the video for the original version of the song, a new video was created, featuring abridged versions of all six guest artists' verses. The video also includes cameos from

Brooke Valentine Kanesha Nichole Brookes (born October 5, 1984), better known by her stage name Brooke Valentine, is an American actress, model, singer, songwriter, and television personality. Her single " Girlfight" peaked on U.S. music charts in 2005, paving ...

, and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

champions

and

, who had fought in May 2005. It was nominated for Best Male Video, and Best Rap Video at the

2006 MTV Video Music Awards The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from June 11, 2005, to June 26, 2006. The show was hosted by Jack Black (actor), Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The 2006 in music ...

. Busta Rhymes himself placed it # 1 on his

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 ...

Top 25 countdown. It debuted on ''BET 106 & Park'' in the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

and received major airplay. The remix was also nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

References

External links

Touch It Remix Lyrics
* * * {{Authority control 2005 songs 2005 singles Busta Rhymes songs DMX songs Lloyd Banks songs Mary J. Blige songs Missy Elliott songs Music videos directed by Benny Boom Number-one singles in New Zealand Song recordings produced by Swizz Beatz Songs written by Swizz Beatz Aftermath Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Thomas Bangalter Songs written by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Songs written by Busta Rhymes