"Who Dat" is a song by the 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- ...

recording artist

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born in a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his d ...

. It was released as a single in the United States on May 31, 2010. Despite initially being meant to be the lead single from Cole's first album '' Cole World: The Sideline Story'' (2011), "Who Dat" was ultimately cut from the album's standard track listing after underperforming on the charts. It does, however, appear as a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

on the

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 ...

edition of the album.

Background and composition

Produced by J. Cole and

Elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

, "Who Dat" contains samples of "Godofallofus" as performed by New Hope and a line from "SpottieOttieDopalicious" by

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

, in which

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benj ...

raps "Now who else wanna fuck with Hollywood Cole?". Explaining why he chose "Who Dat" to be his first single, Cole said, "It's really about the beat and the raps and not much more. It's an introduction to those that were unfamiliar and also something for my fans to brag about as opposed to hearing it on the radio and being like 'Ehhh.'" He also described the song as "raw" and stated that it reminded him of his older sound. While the song does not appear as a standard track on his first studio album '' Cole World: The Sideline Story'' (2011), Cole kept the song as a

because " tconnects the past two years to everything."

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 ...

for "Who Dat" was directed by BBGun – a duo composed of Maxim Bohichik and Alex Bergman – and shot in J. Cole's hometown of

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...

, during the final week of May 2010. The video is one continuous shot of Cole walking, surrounded by local college cheerleaders from

Fayetteville State University Fayetteville State University (FSU) is a public historically black university in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History The second olde ...

and the E. E. Smith High School high school marching band. Fayetteville State University took objection to the song's profane and sexually explicit lyrics and attempted to have the video removed from the Internet and major music networks. School superintendent Frank Till Jr. stated: "I think it shows the school and the city in a negative light. I think it was a legitimate mistake on the school's part. We don't allow that kind of language in our school. Why would we allow our students to do something like this?"

Who Datt Pt. 2

On September 7, 2011, a

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 ...

was released titled "Who Datt Pt. 2" featuring Spencer Datt (SD) and

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

. The song appears on the

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding, a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge fund. WQHT's st ...

radio personality

Peter Rosenberg Peter Elliot Rosenberg (born July 23, 1979)Chris Richards''Washington Post'', May 31, 2013. is an American radio disc jockey, television show host, and professional wrestling personality. He is a co-host of two New York City radio programs: '' E ...

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

''What's Poppin' Volume One''. Rosenberg revealed on his website that Spencer Datt, an aspiring

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, was his

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

who had died in a car crash, a month after he proposed to his sister. Rosenberg put the remix together in his honor and persuaded two of Datt's favorite rappers J. Cole and Donald Glover a.k.a. Childish Gambino to record new verses for him.

Chart performance

Release history

References

External links

J. Cole official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Who Dat (J. Cole Song) 2010 singles Roc Nation singles J. Cole songs Song recordings produced by J. Cole Songs written by J. Cole Songs written by André 3000 Songs written by Big Boi 2010 songs Songs written by Elite (record producer)