"Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg, featuring American singer, rapper and musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (2004). The song was produced by Williams alongside Chad Hugo as the Neptunes. It is regarded as an iconic song, with Snoop performing the chorus and the second and third verses while Pharrell performs the first verse. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, making it both artists' first number one on the chart. It was also Snoop's fourth top-ten as a solo artist, first since 2003's "Beautiful" (the others being 1993's "What's My Name?" and 1994's "Gin and Juice"). The song also gave him his first number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It also peaked at number one for four consecutive weeks in New Zealand, and number ten in the UK Singles Chart. It gained some critical attention for its minimal, extremely sparse production, consisting of tongue clicks, keyboards, a drum machine beat and white noise. It was nominated at the 2005 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Two songs "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West and "Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas respectively won the former and latter awards. The single was Pharrell's biggest hit worldwide, until 2013's "Get Lucky", "Blurred Lines", and "Happy", the latter being his biggest single as a lead artist. On December 10, 2009, "Drop It Like It's Hot" was named the most popular rap song of the decade by Billboard. In 2024, the song appeared on Williams' soundtrack album Piece by Piece (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

Origin of song title

The phrase "drop it like it's hot" was already in common use before the song was released, and had been used in various songs since the 1990s. It is a metaphorical description of a dance move commonly performed by women, and is performed by various women throughout the music video. It was used in Positive K's 1992 album The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills, in the song "Ain't No Crime." FAT PAT used the phrase in his single Ghetto Dreams recorded in 1997. It was also used by Lil Wayne as a guest rapper on Juvenile's 1999 hit single "Back That Azz Up" from his album 400 Degreez, and in his own song called "Drop It Like It's Hot" from his 1999 debut album Tha Block is Hot featuring B.G. and Mannie Fresh. Clark Kent said "drop it like it's hot" in the song "Cashmere Thoughts" from Jay-Z's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt. DJ Quik used the phrase in the song "Sexuality" from his album Balance & Options. Another song with the same name is "Drop It Like It's Hot", sung by the Big Tymers, and featuring Chilli, Juvenile, and Lac. This version of the song was featured in the Big Tymers' predecessor of their debut, How You Luv That Vol. 2. Outside of hip-hop, it was also the title of a song on indie rock band Minus the Bear's 2002 EP Bands Like It When You Yell "Yar!" at Them.

Critical reception

USA Today called the song "scorching". Rolling Stone's Tom Moon said "The serpentine down-tempo single 'Drop It Like It's Hot', produced by the Neptunes, links Snoop's slyly exuberant delivery to a relentless dance-floor bounce". Steve "Flash" Juon of Rap Reviews wrote: "the stripped down sound of the Neptunes produced 'Drop it Like It's Hot' has produced one of Snoop's biggest hits to date. Ironically it may be in some ways more gangsterish than his "Deep Cover" debut in some aspects, but he's so chill about his delivery it doesn't sound the least bit menacing: That's quintessential Snoop for you - hard when you're not looking, but still velvet enough to appeal to the ladies and drive off in a fly Mercedes". Similarly, AllMusic's David Jeffries stated: "the ultrahot production team the Neptunes' contribution to the killer single 'Drop It Like It's Hot' had been duly noted, but lost in all the chatter was how inspired and on-fire Snoop sounds".

Music video

The music video of the single was released in 2004. It was directed by Paul Hunter and shot in black-and-white. It shows Snoop Dogg doing the dance step known as the Crip Walk in the very beginning and end. The video included both of Snoop Dogg's sons, Corde and Cordell. Other appearances in the video include Terry Kennedy, Lauren London, Pharrell Williams' fellow Neptunes member Chad Hugo, and Pusha T. The video won the award for the best hip hop video at the 2006 MTV Australia Video Music Awards and a MOBO Award for Best Video in 2005.

Radio edits

There are two radio edits for the song: one is a standard radio edit that removes profanities and drug references while the other is an "Extra Clean" edit that removes phrases with gun and gang references (and the word "roll" from the chorus) as well.

Commercial performance

North America

"Drop It Like It's Hot" was the highest-ranking debut for the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 2, 2004, entering the chart at number 51. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from December 10, 2004. The song also reached number one on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Rap Songs, Rhythmic Songs, Digital Songs and Hot 100 Airplay. Since its release the song has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The Mastertone (ringtone) version received certification of double platinum by the RIAA.

Europe

The single reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart, and reached the top ten in several countries.

Oceania

The song topped the Recorded Music NZ for four weeks, making it Snoop Dogg's first number one on the chart.

Track listing

Remixes

Mashups

Samples

Parodies

Covers and other media

Soundtrack appearances

Trivia

Legacy

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history