"We Run This" is a song by American recording artist

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 ...

. It was written by Rhemario "Rio Beats" Webber and Elliott for her sixth studio album, ''

The Cookbook ''The Cookbook'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released on July 4, 2005, by The Goldmind Inc. and Atlantic Records in Germany and the United Kingdom, and on July 5 in the United States and Japan. To date, it is her ...

'' (2005), while production was handled by the former. Released as both the album's third single in the United States and the lead single from her 2006 compilation '' Respect M.E.'', it samples elements from

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

version of

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

' song "

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

". The song peaked at number forty-eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "We Run This" was nominated for a 2007

Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously, a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. In 2003, this award was split into separate a ...

."FOX Facts: Complete List of Grammy Award Nominations"

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2006.

Background

"We Run This" was written by Elliott along with its producer Rhemario "Rio Beats" Webber. The song samples elements from the 1981 song "

" by

, itself being a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

' 1960 original.

Commercial performance

"We Run This" was released as the third and final single from Elliott's sixth studio album ''

'' (2005), the lead single from her '' Respect M.E.'' (2006) and the theme song for the American teen comedy-drama film ''

Stick It ''Stick It'' is a 2006 American teen comedy-drama film starring Jeff Bridges, Melissa Peregrym and Vanessa Lengies written and directed by '' Bring It On'' writer Jessica Bendinger; the film marks her directorial debut and to date her onl ...

'' (2006). In the United States, the song peaked at number 48 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Elsewhere, the song was released to bigger commercial success than Elliott's previous single " Teary Eyed," reaching the top 30 in both Australia and Ireland.

Music video

With an edited version of "We Run This" being used as the theme song for the film ''Stick It'' (2006) and Elliott co-scoring the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...

production, 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 ...

for "We Run This" features clips from the film. The visuals were shot with longtime collaborator Dave Meyers on January 3–4, 2006 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and features Ellitt dressed in a gold-lamé bandleader costume, geting animated as a stick figure, and rapping in a patois. ''Stick It'' actor

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

and Olympic gold medalist

Dominique Dawes Dominique Margaux Dawes (born November 20, 1976) is a retired American artistic gymnast. Known in the gymnastics community as 'Awesome Dawesome', she was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior Nat ...

make cameo appearances in the video. Elliott also does some gymnastics in "We Run This" which caused her to tear her

Achilles' tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris muscle, plantaris, gastrocnemius muscle, gastrocnemius (calf ...

while shooting her scenes. "We Run This" incorporates a mini-video for another track from ''The Cookbook'', "Bad Man," which was tacked to the beginning of the video. It features Elliot and her male dancers are dressed in gold band member uniforms while the female dancers are dressed in gold leotards, high-heeled boots and hats as they sing and dance in front of a cheering crowd on a football field.

Track listings

Digital download (original) # "We Run This" (Explicit Album Version w/o Manicure Interlude) - 3:25 Digital download (Stick It) # "We Run This" (

Edit) - 3:02 # "We Run This" (Stick It Video) - 4:14 UK CD # "We Run This" (Explicit Album Version) - 3:25 # "Teary Eyed" (Tief Schwarz Club Remix) - 7:37 UK vinylHMV.com: singles: We Run This (2006)
/ref> # "We Run This" (Explicit Album Version) - 3:24 # "We Run This" (Instrumental) - 3:24 # "We Run This" (A cappella) - 3:23 # "Teary Eyed" (Tief Schwarz Club Remix) - 7:37

Personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of ''The Cookbook''. *

– vocalist, writer * Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer *

Jerry Lordan Jeremiah Patrick Lordan (30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He had three hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting credits were the cha ...

– writer (sample) * Rhemario "Rio Beats" Webber – producer, writer

Charts

Release history

References

{{Missy Elliott singles 2005 songs 2006 singles Film theme songs Missy Elliott songs Songs written by Jerry Lordan Songs written by Missy Elliott