It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock song)

"It Takes Two" is a song by New York hip hop duo Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock that became a top 40 hit single and was later certified platinum by the RIAA. Since its release in 1988, the song has been covered and sampled by various recording artists. The music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide said: "There are many critics and listeners who claim that Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock's 'It Takes Two' is the greatest hip-hop single ever cut. It's hard to disagree with them."[1]

"It Takes Two"
Single by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
from the album It Takes Two
ReleasedAugust 2, 1988 (1988-08-02)
Recorded1988
GenreHip hop
Length
  • 5:00 (album version)
  • 4:32 (radio edit)
LabelProfile
Songwriter(s)James Brown, Robert Ginyard
Producer(s)
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock singles chronology
"It Takes Two"
(1988)		 "Get on the Dance Floor"
(1988)

Composition and background

The song contains the "Woo! Yeah!" sample from Lyn Collins' 1972 song "Think (About It)".[2]

Music video

The music video "It Takes Two" was edited by Peter Lauer and Pam Thomas, who worked in MTV's promotions department alongside Peter Dougherty, Ted Demme, and Mark Pellington.

The music video was filmed in 16mm by Steven Gladstone and Ilona Lieberman. Most of it was shot on a variety of 16mm Fuji Film stocks, using two standard 16 Bolex cameras that shared a single constant-speed electric motor.

The first scene, in which the DJ and the little boy are talking, was shot in a record store in Harlem called Bobby's Happy House.[3]

The interior dance sequences were not part of the original production. The entire film "budget" was four 100-foot rolls of 16mm film, which did not result in there being enough coverage. This explains the use of the xerography, and the insertion of the shots from the dance hall that do not match the video.

The shot of a lone figure in a graveyard introducing the song (before the music starts) was indeed taken in a cemetery. There was no lighting budget, so the director of photography's Volkswagen Bus, which had suffered a collision during travel to the shoot location, was driven to the gate of the cemetery, and the vehicle's headlights were used to illuminate the shot. While the artist is reported to have paid the "producer" $5,000 for the video, the production crew remains unpaid to this day, and it is unclear how much, if any, of the $5,000 was actually spent on making the video.[3]


Charts
Chart (1988) Peak
position
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 24
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 36
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[5] 3
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[6] 17

See also

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock: It Takes Two: Composed by Robert Ginyard: Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  2. Lester, Paul (11 July 2012). "New band of the week Maxsta (No 1,306)". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  3. Steven Gladstone, Director of Photography for the music video of "It Takes Two"
  4. "Rob Base - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  5. "Rob Base DJ E-Z Rock Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  6. "Rob Base DJ E-Z Rock Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  7. "Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock: It Takes Two in Sisters Movie". InSoundtrack.com. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  8. "Google — Year in Search 2020 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
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