My Boo

Album: So So Def Bass All-Stars (1996)
Charted: 27
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Songfacts®:

  • "If your game is on, give me a call boo."

    In this song, the girl is challenging her man to step up and make his move. She's willing and able, but needs him to bring it strong.
  • Ghost Town DJ's were an Atlanta-based hip-hop group active between 1995 and 1997. This Miami bass influenced song about a girl's desire for a guy was their debut single. Released on Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, it peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune proved to be their only hit.
  • Jermaine Dupri called this song "one of the first crunk records." His A&R man at So So Def Records was Lil Jon, who brought us crunk classics like "Get Low" and "Yeah!"
  • This was written and produced by Carlton "Carl-Mo" Mahone and Rodney "Kool Kollie" Terry. Both are from Atlanta; Mahone went on to co-write the Outkast hit "The Way You Move."

    Terry, like Lil Jon, was working at So So Def records. The song started with a beat Mahone came up with on his keyboard, and the original plan was for him to sing it as well. They ended up using a female singer named Virgo Williams after the first girl they tried didn't work out.
  • This got a big boost from Greg Street, a popular DJ at the radio station V-103 in Atlanta, who played the song on his show.
  • Two decades after the song's original chart run, there was a resurgence in its popularity driven by the Running Man Challenge viral meme. The song re-entered the Hot 100 in May 2016, this time making it to #27.
  • New Jersey high school students Kevin Vincent and Jeremiah Hall originally posted The Running Man dance. Inspired by Vincent and Hall's video, two players from the University of Maryland Terrapins college basketball program, Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley, issued the #runningmanchallenge. Their video became a viral sensation as athletes from various sports, celebrities and the general public all showcased their own takes of the dance.
  • The term "boo" derives from the french word "beau," meaning beautiful. The term became popular around the time of this song; a track called "You Could Be My Boo" was a minor hit for The Almighty RSO in 1996.
  • In 2004, a different song called "My Boo" was a #1 hit in the US. That one was a duet between Usher and Alicia Keys. It was produced by Jermaine Dupri, who released the Ghost Town DJ's track on his label So So Def's Bass All-Stars Compilation album in 1996.
  • Ciara's 2013 single "Body Party" features interpolations of the song.

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