Songfacts®:

• "Run It!" was Chris Brown's first single, released when he was just 16. The song was a huge success, climbing to #1 in November 2005 and establishing Brown as a hip-hop star.
  
  While many R&B stars grew up in major cities, Brown is from a small town in Virginia. Loaded with talent and ambition, he made his way to New York City where a number of labels showed interest. He chose Jive and quickly became one of their top artists, with a run of hits as both a lead and featured artist.
• Brown addresses a girl directly in this song, which is set in a dance club (that presumably lets underage kids in). He's putting the moves on her and offering to show off his dancing.
• The title is innocent. Brown explained to MTV: "It's really a guy checking for a girl, or a girl checking for a guy, in a party setting, asking to see if they can run it. If they can be eligible to be your girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. 'Let me see if you can run it; show me what you got.'"
• Def Jam artist Juelz Santana does the rap at the beginning of the track and toward the end. Santana made waves with his debut album, From Me to U, in 2003 and put out his second album, What the Game's Been Missing!, in 2005 soon after Run It! took off, but label disputes tied him down and he never released another album.
• Scott Storch produced this track and co-wrote it with Sean Garrett. Storch used to work for Timbaland, and produced hits for Christina Aguilera ("Fighter") and Beyoncé ("Baby Boy). Garrett, who is great with lyrics and melody, was one of the writers on a similar club-ready smash from 2004: "Yeah!" by Usher.
  
  Chris Brown isn't credited as a writer on the track, but Juelz Santana has a writing credit for his contribution. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France
• This section is derived from a 1980 song by The Waitresses called "I Know What Boys Like":
  
  I know what girls want
  I know what they like
  They wanna stay up
  And party all night
  
  The Waitresses' song goes:
  
  I know what boys like
  I know what guys want
  I know what boys like
  I've got what boys like
• The music video got lots of airtime on MTV and BET. Directed by Erik White, it's age-appropriate, set in a high-school gym at what looks like the best school dance ever. It earned Brown VMA nominations for Best New Artist In A Video and Best R&B Video.