I Get Around (Tupac Shakur song)

"I Get Around"
25
Single by 2Pac featuring Digital Underground
from the album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...
A-side"Nothin' but Love"
ReleasedJune 10, 1993
Recorded1992[1]
GenreHip hop
Length4:19
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)The D-Flow Production Squad
2Pac singles chronology
"Gotta Get Mine"
(1993) 		"I Get Around"
(1993) 		"Keep Ya Head Up"
(1993)
Digital Underground singles chronology
"No Nose Job"
(1992) 		"I Get Around"
(1993) 		"The Return of the Crazy One"
(1993)
Music video
"I Get Around" on YouTube

"I Get Around" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his second studio album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993). It was released on June 10, 1993, by Interscope Records as the album's second single and features Shakur's mentor Shock G and Money-B of Digital Underground, Shakur's old group. It was produced by Shock G, who produced it under the alias, The D-Flow Production Squad.[2] AllMusic notes that in the song, Shakur "brags about his sexual conquests".[2] Chart-wise, it was the album's most successful single, reaching numbers eleven and nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100.

Composition and writing

According to both Money-B and Shock G, the song originated as a sample[3][4] and was originally intended to be used by Digital Underground. However, after six months the group could not compose lyrics that they felt were worthy of the sample. Shock-G initially offered the sample to bandmate Saafir when 2Pac began preparing his second studio album and needed material. Shock-G took the sample away from Saafir and gave it to Shakur, inflaming tensions between Shakur and Saafir, who had fallen out previously.[5]

Shakur had asked his former bandmates to guest star on the track, but was concerned that neither of his bandmates would have time to write their own lyrics, so Shakur ghostwrote lyrics for Shock-G and Money-B.[6][7] Shock-G's verse, as written by Shakur, would appear unaltered on the final version, but Money-B opted to write and perform his own lyrics, which Shock-G produced.[8] The original third verse (sung by Shakur) appears on a remix featured on Death Row Greatest Hits.

Commercial success

"I Get Around" peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It spent 25 weeks on the chart, and also peaked at number nine on the Cash Box Top 100 and number five on the Billboard R&B chart. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 7, 1993 and sold 700,000 copies.[9][10]

The song was then certified platinum on March 31, 2021.[11]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
The Source United States The 100 Best Rap Singles of All Time 1998 *
Ego Trip Hip Hop's 40 Greatest Singles by Year 1980-98 1999 6
Blender Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s 2005 307
Bruce Pollock The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000 2005 *
Pitchfork The Pitchfork 500 2008 *
Pitchfork Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s 2010 107

Music video

The accompanying music video for "I Get Around" was directed by American director, producer and screenwriter David Dobkin and filmed in Malibu, California on March 19, 1993.[12]

Live performances

Shakur performed the song live on The Arsenio Hall Show on July 19, 1993. He performed it on MTV Jams on July 28, 1993. He also performed the song live on January 4, 1996 at Gund Arena in Cleveland during the Tribute to Eazy-E tour.

Track listing

  • 12"
  1. "I Get Around" (LP version) – 4:19
  2. "I Get Around" (vocal version) – 6:07
  3. "Nothing but Love" – 5:04
  4. "I Get Around" (remix) – 6:06
  5. "I Get Around" (remix instrumental) – 6:04
  6. "I Get Around" (7" remix) – 3:36

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[20] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Sal Manna. "Official Biography". Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  2. ^ a b https://www.allmusic.com/album/r168663
  3. ^ Money B on Recording "I Get Around": I Told 2Pac I Killed Him and He Agreed, 24 July 2017, retrieved 2023-05-24
  4. ^ Edwards, Paul, 2009, How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, Chicago Review Press, p. 230-231.
  5. ^ Money B on Recording "I Get Around": I Told 2Pac I Killed Him and He Agreed, 24 July 2017, retrieved 2023-05-25
  6. ^ Edwards, Paul, 2009, How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, Chicago Review Press, p. 230-231.
  7. ^ Money B on Recording "I Get Around": I Told 2Pac I Killed Him and He Agreed, 24 July 2017, retrieved 2023-05-24
  8. ^ Money B on Recording "I Get Around": I Told 2Pac I Killed Him and He Agreed, 24 July 2017, retrieved 2023-05-24
  9. ^ "American certifications – 2 Pac – I Get Around". Recording Industry Association of America.
  10. ^ "Best-Selling Records of 1993". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 3. BPI Communications. January 15, 1994. p. 73. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  11. ^ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America.
  12. ^ "BEHIND THE SCENES 2PAC HD FOOTAGE : TUPAC'S I GET AROUND, JUNE 10, 1993 [2160P]". YouTube. June 10, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  13. ^ "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  14. ^ "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
  15. ^ "2Pac Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard.
  16. ^ "2Pac Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  17. ^ "Top 100 Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. LVII, no. 7. October 9, 1993. p. 10. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  18. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1993". Archived from the original on November 10, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  19. ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 1993". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  20. ^ "American single certifications – 2 Pac – I Get Around". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 28, 2020.