Let Your Backbone Slide

"Let Your Backbone Slide" is the debut single by Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 from his first album, Symphony in Effect. In Canada, over 50,000 copies of the single were sold, making Maestro the first Canadian rapper to have a gold single.[1] It also reached #1 on The Record Singles Chart, in April 1990.[2] In the United States, 25,000 copies were sold in its first few weeks of release.[3] It remained the best-selling Canadian hip hop single of all time until 2008,[4] when it was eclipsed by Kardinal Offishall's "Dangerous".

"Let Your Backbone Slide"
Single by Maestro Fresh-Wes
from the album Symphony in Effect
Released1989
Recorded1989
GenreCanadian hip hop
Length4:58
LabelAttic/LMR
Songwriter(s)W. Williams
Producer(s)Peter & Anthony Davis
Maestro Fresh-Wes singles chronology
"Let Your Backbone Slide"
(1989)		 "Drop the Needle"
(1990)

In a 2000 poll conducted by the music magazine Chart, Let Your Backbone Slide was voted the 11th greatest Canadian song of all time.[5]

The song contains samples of "The Champ" by The Mohawks, "Funky Drummer" by James Brown, "Set It Off" by Strafe, "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick, "One, Two, Three" by The B-Boys and "Rebel Without a Pause" by Public Enemy.

Music video

The music video, directed by Joel Goldberg was shot in Toronto, with most of it taking place in a club. In the video's first few seconds, presenter Dwight Drummond plays the role of a cameraman. It received rotation on MTV and BET.[3]

Track listing

12" single

A-side

  1. "Let Your Backbone Slide" (Power Mix)
  2. "Let Your Backbone Slide" (Bonus Beat)
  3. "Let Your Backbone Slide" (A cappella version)

B-side

  1. "Let Your Backbone Slide" (Radio Edit)
  2. "Let Your Backbone Slide" (Club Mix)

Chart positions
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[6] 10
Canadian RPM Canadian Content Chart[7] 1
Canadian The Record Singles Chart[2] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles[8] 14

Decade-end charts
Decade-end charts for "Let Your Backbone Slide"
Chart (1990s) Position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[9] 100

References
  1. "Fresh rapped Maestro". Jam! Music. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  2. LeBlanc, Larry (31 October 1998). "Maestro's Attic Bow is 'Built to Last'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 66. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. McKinnon, Matthew (March 22, 2005). "Border Block: Canadian Hip Hop vs. America". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on March 23, 2005. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
  4. "Hip hop comes of age in Canada". Toronto Sun. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  5. "Top 50 Canadian Songs Of All-Time (Part Two)". Chart Attack. June 30, 2000. Archived from the original on June 23, 2003. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  6. Top Singles, RPM, Volume 51, No. 20, March 31, 1990. Accessed on June 22, 2010.
  7. Canadian Content (Cancon) - Volume 51, No. 12 Feb 03, 1990, RPM, Accessed on June 22, 2010.
  8. Maestro Fresh-Wes > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles, Allmusic. Accessed on May 15, 2010.
  9. Lwin, Nanda. "Top 100 singles of the 1990s". Jam!. Archived from the original on August 29, 2000. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
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