How Do U Want It

"How Do U Want It"
Single by 2Pac featuring K-Ci & JoJo
from the album All Eyez on Me
A-side"California Love"
B-side"2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted"
"Hit 'Em Up"
ReleasedJune 4, 1996
RecordedOctober 15, 1995
StudioCan-Am Studios (Tarzana, Los Angeles)
Genre
Length
  • 4:47 (album version)
  • 3:59 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Johnny "J" & Mr. Dalvin
2Pac singles chronology
"2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted"
(1996) 		"How Do U Want It"
(1996) 		"I Ain't Mad at Cha"
(1996)
K-Ci & JoJo singles chronology
"If You Think You're Lonely Now"
(1994) 		"How Do You Want It"
(1996) 		"How Could You"
(1996)
Music video
"How Do U Want It" on YouTube

"How Do U Want It" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me (1996). It was released on June 4, 1996 as a double A-sided single with "California Love" from the same album and was his final single to be released during his lifetime. The song features R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, who at the time were best known as the lead singers of the group Jodeci. The song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Death Row Records first and only chart topping single, and number seventeen in the UK in 1996. The song received a Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy nomination in 1997. [1]

Produced by Johnny "J", "How Do U Want It" samples Quincy Jones' 1974 song "Body Heat", and includes a diss towards civil rights activist and fierce rap critic C. Delores Tucker. Tucker later sued 2Pac's estate, claiming that comments in this song, and on the track "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch" from the same album, inflicted emotional distress, were slanderous, and invaded her privacy.[2] The case was later dismissed.[3] A music video was created for "How Do U Want It" and its B-sides "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" and "Hit 'Em Up".

Music videos

There were three videos filmed for this song: A dirty version[4] and a clean version,[5] both directed by Ron Hightower and produced by Tracy D. Robinson. These two versions are distinguished by music ratings (one is certified adult material). The videos portray a wild sex party with Jacuzzi, mechanical bull riding, cage dancing and pole stripping. The dirty version also features numerous porn stars, including Nina Hartley, Heather Hunter, Nadia Cassini and Angel Kelly. The third version, known as the concert version, is mostly live on stage (not from the House of Blues live performance).[6] There are cameo appearances by K-Ci & JoJo, and fellow group member of Digital Underground Shock G both in the concert and studio segments.


Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "How Do U Want It"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[25] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[26] Gold 5,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[29] 2× Platinum 1,700,000[28]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

Hot 100 number-one hits of 1996 (USA)

List of number-one singles in New Zealand (1996)

Notes

  1. ^ 39th Grammy Awards - 1997. Rock on the Net. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "Rap critic sues Shakur's estate for defamation". Los Angeles Times. August 1997.
  3. ^ "C. Delores Tucker; William Tucker, Her Husbandv.richard Fischbein; Belinda Luscombe; Newsweek Magazine; Johnnie L. Roberts; Time Inc.c. Delores Tucker; William Tucker, Appellants, 237 F.3d 275 (3d Cir. 2001)".
  4. ^ 2Pac - How Do U Want It Official Explicit Video, retrieved 2024-02-01
  5. ^ 2Pac - How Do U Want It (Official Music Video) ft. K-Ci & JoJo, retrieved 2024-02-01
  6. ^ 2Pac feat. K-Ci & JoJo - How Do You Want It [Uncut Concert Version] (Official Video) [Explicit], retrieved 2024-02-01
  7. ^ "2Pac feat. KC and JoJo – How Do U Want It". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  8. ^ "Billboard: Hits of the World". Billboard. 16 November 1996. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  9. ^ "2 Pac feat. KC and JoJo: How Do U Want It" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  10. ^ "2Pac feat. KC and JoJo – How Do U Want It" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  11. ^ "2Pac feat. KC and JoJo – How Do U Want It" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "2Pac feat. KC and JoJo – How Do U Want It". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  13. ^ "2Pac feat. KC and JoJo – How Do U Want It". Singles Top 100. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  14. ^ "2Pac feat. KC and JoJo – How Do U Want It". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  16. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  17. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  18. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  19. ^ "2Pac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  20. ^ "2Pac Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  21. ^ "2Pac > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  22. ^ "End of Year Charts 1996". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  23. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1996". Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  24. ^ "1996 The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 52. December 28, 1996. p. YE-40. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  25. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  26. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – 2Pac – How Do You Want It?". Recorded Music NZ.
  27. ^ "British single certifications – 2Pac ft K-Ci & JoJo – How Do U Want It". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  28. ^ "Best-Selling Records of 1996". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 3. January 18, 1997. p. 61. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  29. ^ "American single certifications – 2 Pac – How Do U Want It/California Love". Recording Industry Association of America.