Diddy, Nelly & Murphy Lee – ‘Shake Ya Tailfeather': Throwback Video of The Day
As JAY-Z so eloquently stated in his 2002 hit "Excuse Me Miss"—"the only dudes movin' units are Em, Pimp Juice and us."
Jay wasn't lying either. He was fresh off the release of arguably his best album, 2001's The Blueprint and its follow-up The Blueprint II: The Gift and the Curse, and Eminem was riding high off the success of 2002's diamond-certified, The Eminem Show.
And then there was Nelly aka Pimp Juice, who seemed to pop up out of nowhere in 2000 with the release of his monster debut album, Country Grammar, and created an entire hip-pop lane for himself with his incredibly catchy, singing hooks. Country Grammar sold a whopping nine million records and made the St. Louis native one of the biggest stars on the planet. His 2002 follow-up, Nellyville, produced one of the catchiest songs made in the past two decades, "Hot in Herre," and sold over six million copies.
Nelly was still riding high on that wave when Diddy grabbed him in 2003 to feature on "Shake Ya Tailfeather," the lead single from one of the most anticipated films of the year, the summer blockbuster, Bad Boys II. Nelly's cohort, Murphy Lee was there too but make no mistakes, "Shake Ya Tailfeather" was all about Nelly's star power, and Diddy, who's always stayed in tune with what and who is hot, was there to capitalize on it.
The Benny Boom-directed video, which debuted on July 8, 2003, really isn't about too much—it's just Diddy, Nelly and Murphy Lee enjoying the Miami sites, which of course, includes a lot of beautiful, scantily clad women.
Esther Baxter and Playboy Playmate Hiromi Oshima make an appearance in the video, which also features Nelly, Diddy and Murphy Lee wearing straw beach hats and color coordinated jerseys. And because it's a Diddy video, a little bit of coordinated dancing happens too, interspersed with action clips from the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence buddy cop movie.
It's been 15 years since the masses first heard Nelly and the gang issue the iconic Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Chop "War Chant" on the track, and it's still just as catchy, a fun ode to the summer.
The song, produced by Nelly and Jayson "Koko" Bridges, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Nelly his third number one and Diddy his fourth. It also picked up the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 2004 awards. Never the one to let a good thing go to waste, the track was later included on Murphy Lee's debut, Murphy's Law.
All in all, "Shake Ya Tailfeather" was one of hip-hop's biggest hits that year, and remains a fun summertime jam—you can practically taste the mojitos when you watch the video.
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