Doo Wop (That Thing)

"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a 1998 number-one single by American Hip hop singer/rapper Lauryn Hill, included on her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

While not Hill's first solo single (she had previously released "The Sweetest Thing" and a cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" from separate soundtrack albums), "Doo Wop" was her first, and some consider only major solo success: it became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in the fall of 1998, and won two Grammy Awards the following February. The successes of "Doo Wop" and the Miseducation album established Hill as a success outside of her group, The Fugees.

The song is a warning from Hill to African-American men and women caught in "the struggle". Both the women who "try to be a hardrock when they really are a gem", and the men who are overly "concerned with his rims, and his Timbs, and his women", are admonished by Hill, who warns them not to allow "that thing" to ruin their lives.

"Doo Wop (That Thing)" is included as number 359 on the Songs of the Century list. At the Grammy Awards of 1999, the song won two awards: Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The song's music video won four 1999 MTV Video Music Awards for: Best Female Video, Best R&B Video, Best Art Direction, and Video of the Year.

Released: October 27, 1998
Format: CD single
Recorded: 1998
Genre: Hip hop
Length: 4:58
Label: Ruffhouse/Columbia 78868
Writer(s): Lauryn Hill
Producer: Lauryn Hill

yo, remember back on the boggie when cats use to harmonize like...
whooo, whooo whooo whooo,
yo, my men and my women,
don't forget about the deen,Sirat al-Mustaqim
yo, its about a thing, uh

If ya feel real good wave your hands in the air
and 'lick' two shots in the atmosphere...
yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah...

It's been three weeks since you've been looking for your friend
The one you let hit it and never called you again
'Member when he told you he was 'bout the Benjamin's
You act like you ain't hear him then gave him a little trim
To begin, how you think you really gon' pretend
Like you wasn't down then you called him again
Plus when you give it up so easy you ain't even foolin’ him
If you did it then, then you’d probably fuck again
Talking out your neck sayin' you're a Christian
A Muslim sleeping with the gin
Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in
Who you gon' tell when the reprocussions spin
Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend
Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again
You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine
Don't be a hard rock when you really are a gem
Baby girl, respect is just a minimum
Niggas fucked up and you still defending them
Now Lauryn is only human
Don't think I haven't been through the same predicament
Let it sit inside your head like a million women in Philly, Penn.
It's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in
Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans
Fake nails done by Koreans
Come again
Win win come again, bregdrin come again, my friend come again, yo come again

Guys you know you better watch out
Some girls, some girls are only about
That thing, that thing, that thing(2x-this line)

The second verse is dedicated to the men
More concerned with his rims and his Tims than his women
Him and his men come in the club like hooligans
Don't care who they offend popping yang like you got yen
Let's not pretend, they wanna pack pistol by they waist men
Crystal by the case men, still in they mother's basement
The pretty face, men claiming that they big men
Need to take care of their three and four kids then
They facing a court case when the child's support late
Money taking, heart breaking now you wonder why women hate men
The sneaky silent men, the punk domestic violence men
The quick to shoot the semen stop acting like boys and be men
How you gon' win when you ain't right within
How you gon' win when you ain't right within
How you gon' win when you ain't right within
Come again
Yo yo Come again, bregdrin come again, sisterin come again, come again

Girls you know you better watch out
Some guys, some guys are only about
That thing, that thing, that thing(2x-this line)