"Word to the Mutha!" | ||||
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Single by Bell Biv DeVoe featuring Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill | ||||
from the album WBBD-Bootcity!: The Remix Album | ||||
Released | 1991 | |||
Recorded | 1990 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 6:38 (WBBD-Bootcity! Version) 5:00 (Video Mix/Radio Edit) | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Bell Biv DeVoe singles chronology | ||||
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Bobby Brown singles chronology | ||||
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Johnny Gill singles chronology | ||||
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Ralph Tresvant singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Word to the Mutha!" on YouTube |
"Word to the Mutha!" is a song co-written[1] and performed by American contemporary R&B group Bell Biv DeVoe and co-written and produced by Wolf & Epic (Richard Wolf and Bret "Epic" Mazur).[1] It originally appeared on their debut studio album Poison under the title "Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph and Johnny (Word to the Mutha)!",[3] but the title was shortened and a remixed version of the song was issued as the only official single from the group's remix album WBBD-Bootcity!: The Remix Album. The song features vocals from Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill. It was the first recorded song to feature all six members of New Edition.[4] Brown, Tresvant and Gill are credited separately on the single, rather than collectively as New Edition.[5]
The song samples "A Star in the Ghetto" by Average White Band and "The Jam" by Graham Central Station.[6]
A music video was filmed in and around the Orchard Park Housing Projects, in the Roxbury section of Boston, where five of the six (excluding Johnny Gill) New Edition members grew up.
Chart (1991-1992) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA)[7] | 151 |
New Zealand (RIANZ)[8] | 11 |
US Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard)[9] | 37 |