Smack My Bitch Up

The lyrics "Change my pitch up / Smack my bitch up" are repeated through the whole song. The vocals are sampled and altered from the Ultramagnetic MCs song "Give the Drummer Some"; the original lyrics, performed by rapper Kool Keith, are: "Switch up change my pitch up" / "Smack my bitch up, like a pimp". Kool Keith had previously been sampled by the Prodigy in the track "Out of Space". The female vocals in "Smack My Bitch Up" were performed by Shahin Badar. Badar's vocals and harmonies are based on "Nana (The Dreaming)" performed by Sheila Chandra. Initially Liam Howlett used a direct sample of Chandra's song, but later had the vocal resung after sample clearance issues. The track also contains samples from "Funky Man" by Kool & the Gang, "In Memory Of" by Randy Weston, "House of Rising Funk" by Afrique, "Like This" by Mixmaster Gee and the Turntable Orchestra and "Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against the Machine. ==Critical reception==

British magazine Music Week gave "Smack My Bitch Up" five out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. ==Chart performance==

In the UK the song peaked at No. 8, ultimately spending 16 weeks in the top 100, despite limited air time. The song reached the top 15 in several countries, such as Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. The song performed best in Finland, securing the band their third Finnish No. 1 hit alongside "Firestarter" and "Breathe", while also topping the charts in Spain. Although not reaching the top 20 in those countries, "Smack My Bitch Up" was a hit in the Netherlands peaking at No. 22, in Australia reaching No. 41, and in the United States reaching No. 89. The single also returned to the Billboard charts after Flint's death, entering number 23 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales chart in its 16 March 2019 issue. ==Music video==

Director Jonas Åkerlund's music video for "Smack My Bitch Up" was rarely seen on television due to its controversial subject matter. The video, filmed entirely in first-person perspective, depicts a drug-and-alcohol-fueled night out through the eyes of a mostly-unseen character, and utilises different camera movements, corresponding with the protagonist's altered state of mind. This character first showers and dresses, then drinks vodka and sniffs cocaine before going out. At a bar, the protagonist has several more drinks, sexually assaults multiple women, violently attacks several men, and destroys the DJ's equipment before running to the toilets to vomit and inject intravenous drugs, resulting in a shaky and disorientated vision. Later, at a strip club, the protagonist drinks more alcohol while watching nude dancers, and eventually breaks into and steals a car to bring one stripper home to have sex. Finally, after they have sex, a look in the mirror reveals the protagonist to have been a young blonde woman; as the song ends, she passes out on her bed. It was Åkerlund's first video outside his native Sweden, and he noted that his video for the Per Gessle song "Kix" was what Howlett showed to the band upon his invitation. While he first cancelled the commitment due to a lack of ideas, Åkerlund went out with a friend to party in Copenhagen, and one of the few things he remembered from the experience, kicking down a bathroom stall door to find someone already there, brought the inspiration to ask for the job back. The ending came simply because "it would be an unexpected twist if this crazy party person was a woman and not a man". The band and the label hated a rough cut and said Åkerlund was fired and did not have to keep working, but this actually motivated him to finish the video and send it to Keith Flint, which wound up getting the band's approval. Åkerlund summed up the video in that "It was supposed to be outrageous and over the top, and we considered it comedy when we watched it later." ==Controversy==

Lyrical controversy The song's lyrics, often held as misogynistic, were defended by the band, who said that the lyrics were being misinterpreted and the song actually meant "doing anything intensely". "Smack My Bitch Up" was banned by the BBC and only an instrumental version was played on BBC Radio 1. On the chart rundown, other tracks from the single release were played, and the title "Smack My Bitch Up" was not mentioned. On the BBC World Service radio chart run down it was mentioned as "Smack" and was not played. Yet on the first episode of Top of the Pops in which it charted, the DJ Hype remix was played over the top 20 countdown, including the offending lyric of "Change my pitch up, smack my bitch up." On his 25 April 2009 Radio 1 Essential Mix, producer Sub Focus included his own drum and bass remix of "Smack My Bitch Up" which also included this lyric, though a warning preceded the track. ITV Chart Show refused to display the name of the song when the video was played during one of their episodes. Usually aired at 11.30 a.m., the show displayed the on-screen graphic as simply "The Prodigy"; the title of the song would usually appear underneath. This also meant they avoided playing a part of the song that used the offending lyric when playing the customary music video clip. "Smack My Bitch Up" received daytime airplay on London indie station XFM and reached No. 1 in their Top 30 chart. In 2016, a DJ for the Chicago Cubs played "Smack My Bitch Up" as pitcher Aroldis Chapman left the mound. Chapman had served a 29-game suspension under Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. The Cubs apologised for the music choice and announced that they had fired the DJ. Video , drug use, violence (including street fighting and a hit-and-run incident), vandalism, nudity and sex, and also drew criticism for misogyny, particularly from feminist groups such as the US National Organization for Women (NOW), accusing it of encouraging violence against women. On 22 December, MTV removed the video from rotation; a statement was posted on the network's official website the same day, which stated that protests from feminist organisations had nothing to do with the decision. ==Track listing==

XL Recordings • 12-inch vinyl record • "Smack My Bitch Up" – 5:42 • "No Man Army" – 4:44 • "Smack My Bitch Up" – 7:17 • "Mindfields" – 4:34 • CD single • "Smack My Bitch Up" – 4:45 • "No Man Army" – 4:44 • "Mindfields" – 4:34 • "Smack My Bitch Up" – 7:17 Maverick Records • 12-inch vinyl record "Black sleeve" :A1. "Smack My Bitch Up" – 5:43 :A2. "Mindfields" – 4:35 :B1. "Smack My Bitch Up" – 7:17 • 12-inch vinyl record :A1. "Smack My Bitch Up" – 5:42 :A2. "No Man Army" – 4:44 :B1. "Mindfields" – 4:34 :B2. "Smack My Bitch Up" – 7:17 • Digipak • "Smack My Bitch Up" – 4:45 • "No Man Army" – 4:44 • "Mindfields" – 4:34 • "Smack My Bitch Up" – 7:17 • The digipak was released in cooperation with Sire. ==Charts==

In 2000, it was featured in the movie 'Charlie's Angels', which was later spoofed in the 2001 movie 'Scary Movie 2'. In 2012, a parody video, by the now defunct YouTube channel TheCube95, went viral. The video featured a cat exhibiting similar reckless behavior to that of the woman in the original music video. In 2013, the song appeared in Season 9 Episode 6 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia when Mac is fighting off Yakuza robbers in a convenience store. In 2020, the game Cyberpunk 2077 featured a scene where the main character, V, in the "Chipin' In" main quest, goes to clubs, gets tattoos, does drugs and drinks alcohol while being controlled by the character of Johnny Silverhand. The cutscene is in first-person perspective (just like most of the game) and has a corresponding song on the soundtrack titled "Smack My Chip Up", a clear reference to "Smack My Bitch Up". Released the same year, ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla'' includes a sidequest called "The Prodigy", where the player character boxes a clergyman, prompting a character named Keith to sing, "Smack my bishop!" The song appeared in an episode of the 5th season of the crime drama series Fargo. The song appeared in Top Gear as background music in Season Four fourth episode, during the Porsche Carrera GT's test. ==References==