"Whoopty" is the debut single by American rapper CJ. The song was initially

self-released Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...

on July 30, 2020, before being re-released by

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

following his signing to the label. The song reached number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in February 2021, as well as number three in the UK and the ''Billboard'' Global 200 top 10. It was produced by the Cypriot producer Pxcoyo and samples

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (; born 25 April 1987) is an Indian playback singer. A leading figure in contemporary Hindi film music, he is the recipient of several accolades including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. He was conferred the P ...

's "

Sanam Re ''Sanam Re'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Divya Khosla Kumar and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, and co-produced by Ajay Kapoor. The film stars Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam, Urvashi Rautela, a ...

" (2015). The song was officially remixed by fellow American rappers

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Moroccan Arabic, Arabic: IPA pronunciation, æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he immigrated to New York ...

and

Rowdy Rebel Chad Marshall (born November 24, 1991), known professionally as Rowdy Rebel, is an American rapper. He is a member of the Brooklyn-based GS9 collective, formed by hometown rapper Bobby Shmurda. He is best known for his guest appearance on Pop Sm ...

, titled "Whoopty NYC", and by Puerto Rican rappers

Anuel AA Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (born November 26, 1992), known professionally as Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Often called "The God of Latin trap" by himself and major Latin artists. His music often contains samples and interpola ...

and

Ozuna Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado (; born March 13, 1992), known simply by his surname Ozuna, is a Puerto Rican singer, born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. Five of his studio albums have topped ...

, titled "Whoopty Latin Mix".

Background

The song contains a sample of the Indian song "

" (2015) by

and

Mithoon Mithun Sharma, also known as Mithoon, is an Indian Hindi film music director, lyricist-composer and singer. Mithoon composed the Hindi song " Tum Hi Ho" from the 2013 Bollywood romantic film '' Aashiqui 2''. Mithoon received the Filmfare Awa ...

, a sample shared by multiple other drill songs by rappers such as

Pop Smoke Bashar Barakah Jackson (July 20, 1999 – February 19, 2020), known professionally as Pop Smoke, was an American rapper. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, he rose to fame with the release of his 2019 singles "Welcome to the Party (P ...

King Von Dayvon Daquan Bennett (August 9, 1994 – November 6, 2020), known professionally as King Von, was an American rapper and gangster from Chicago, Illinois, who was affiliated with the Black Disciples gang. He was considered a preeminent figure ...

, FBG Duck, and Lijpe. It is reminiscent of

Brooklyn drill Brooklyn drill is a regional subgenre of drill music, which is a subgenre of hip-hop music. It centered in Brooklyn, New York, that began as derivative of the drill music scene in Chicago and later became derivative of UK drill with its 808 percu ...

and marks a departure from CJ's melodic rapping. CJ said he received comparisons to late American rapper

, because of the song's drill sound. He said in an interview with ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' that Pop Smoke's absence inspired "Whoopty", who he considers the artist that popularized the music style. He attributed its popularity to the energy conveyed in the track and its video. According to CJ's uncle music executive James Cruz, he had to pay $80,000 (using money from his daughter's college fund) for the clearance of the Sanam Re sample after the track was taken down by YouTube for copyright infringement.

Critical reception

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Alphonse Pierre wrote that while the song "may be the biggest drill record of the last several months", "everything about it is so painfully unoriginal" in that it combines "

's uk drill production with

22Gz Jeffrey Mark Alexander (November 29, 1997), known professionally as 22Gz ( ), is an American rapper credited as a pioneer of the Brooklyn drill scene. 22Gz released his first major mixtape, ''The Blixky Tape'', through Atlantic Records in 2019. ...

's lingo". In an earlier piece for the same site, Pierre felt the lyrics "might as well have been spit out by a machine trained on the Raps and Hustles YouTube page" and concluded that " e only good thing to ever come out of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

remains the

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

". Tom Breihan of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' had similar critiques for the song, though he added, "The song works. It moves."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2020 songs 2020 debut singles CJ (rapper) songs Songs written by CJ (rapper) Songs written by Mithoon Warner Records singles