Tiight Up Skirt, a song recorded by dancehall deejay Red Rat 20 years ago, has been given a new lease on life. It is sampled by American pop singer Chris Brown in his latest single Privacy.
Produced by David Doman, Privacy was released on March 24.
“Ever since Chris Brown was in the studio recording the song Privacy and posted it on social media, I have been getting many calls left and right from many people asking me about my thoughts regarding him sampling Tight Up Skirt, and all I can say is, ‘Give God all the glory,’ Red Rat told Jamaica Observer from Trinidad yesterday.
“I recorded Tight Up Skirt after seeing a female walking on Mannings Hill Road in a ‘tight up skirt’ and ever since, it has been one of the most sampled songs out of Jamaica, along with Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam.
I think that because Chris Brown, who is one of the biggest pop stars globally, feeling the need to sample a piece of Tight Up Skirt only shows how much he loves and respects Red Rat and his catalogue. It also shows how much of a fan he is to the music,” he continued.
Recorded in 1997 and produced by Andrew Bradford for the Opera House label, Tight Up Skirt was number one on local charts. It was also featured on Red Rat’s debut album for Greensleeves Records, Oh, No… It’s Red Rat. Red Rat, whose real name is Wallace Wilson, emerged on the music scene in 1996 with the hit song Shelly Ann.
His other hits include Big Man, Italee, Cruise, Dwayne, and Little Youth featuring Goofy. Now residing in Florida, he spoke about his latest musical projects.
“I am currently working heavily in the Spanish market not only as a recording artiste, but also as a producer and a writer with my business partner Pascalle, as we are co-owners in the label Infinity Moguls Inc, which is an independent record label based in South Florida.
For us, the sky has always been the limit, and we will continue to do what we do best, which is writing and producing great music to appeal to the masses worldwide. One thing that I have learnt being in this game for so long is that a hit song can never be denied, so we focus on substance over hype at all times,” said Red Rat.
Tight Up Skirt was also sampled by singer Samantha J in 2013 in her song of the same name. Brown is set to release his eighth studio album, Heartbreak, later this year via RCA Records. Privacy is the second official single from the album.
So far, it has charted in several territories, including the UK (number 86), Switzerland (number 95), Scotland (number 44), New Zealand (number 4), France (number 73) and Australia (number 61).