Peak
1
Weeks
21
Score
4,582
Chart Year
1998
The song's music video was Directed by Monty Whitebloom & Andy Delaney, Bigtv, and filmed in Manhattan's Washington Heights in New York City, with the video showing two Hills singing side by side at a block party. On the left side of the split screen, the 1967 Hill dressed in full retro-styled attire, complete with a beehive and a zebra-printed dress, she pays homage to classic R&B and doo wop, and on the right side of the screen, the 1998 Hill is shown in a homage to hip hop culture.[45] Slant Magazine's Paul Schrodt praised the "Doo Wop (That Thing)" music video, stating "The resulting split-screen music video is the most flabbergasting testament to what the neo soul movement is all about."[46] 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; with her win for Video of the Year, "Doo Wop (That Thing)" became the first hip hop video to win the award,[9] and made Hill the first solo black artist to win, and second overall following TLC (1995).[47][48] At the Soul Train Music Awards, the video was awarded the Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video.
Written by Lauryn Hill, this was the singer's debut single. The song is a warning against guys who are more interested in frivolous, expensive things than their girlfriends or families. Hill had some difficult relationships that may have inspired this; she dated Wyclef Jean from her group Fugees and was once engaged to Rohan Marley, son of Bob Marley. This won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance. Hill also won for for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. The album received 11 nominations, making it the first hip-hop record to receive that many. It won five, making Hill the first female artist to win that many. The album was named after The Mis-Education Of The Negro, a book by Professor Carter G. Woodson, an American black history expert, and The Education of Sonny Carson, an autobiographical film about the title controversial activist. The album, which was written, arranged and produced entirely by Hill, was about the education one receives after leaving school, the life learning process. With this song, Hill became the first woman since Debbie Gibson to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a song she wrote, recorded, and produced on her own. Gibson did the same with "Foolish Beat" in 1989. It was an accomplishment Hill was not encouraged to make. "For some reason, women aren't taken seriously as thinkers and creators and arrangers and producers," she told Playboy. "The industry thinks there always has to be some man somewhere puppeteering the whole situation. It doesn't make you feel good as an artist when you are having conversations about your music and people don't take it seriously." Hill wanted to prove that a female artist could use her brains to have a chart-topper rather than her body, unlike fellow performers like Lil' Kim. She told Details magazine: "I'm not dissing them, I'm dissing their mind-set. My music talks about a certain way of thinking, and if the cap fits, you know? I knew girls like Kim growing up - I might have even been one at certain age - and there's a huge lack of self-esteem behind that thinking. I mean, when I was 14 I thought that if a guy didn't whistle at me, that meant I wasn't pretty. But either you mature past that or you get caught in the concept of, 'Oh, I have to show some ass, 'cause that's the only way I can feel beautiful.' Sex is cool, but it's only part of the story." The music video, shot in Manhattan's Washington Heights, uses a split-screen to show two different Hills performing the song. On the left, she's decked out like a '60s-style R&B star, while on the right she's a modern hip-hop performer. This was used on the MTV animated series Daria in the 1999 episode "Through a Lens Darkly." Glee's Amber Riley and Naya Rivera covered this on the 2014 episode "Back-Up Plan."
Girls, you know you'd better watch out Some guys, some guys are only about That thing (my men and my women) That thing (don't forget about the deen) That thing (the Sirat al-Mustaqim) That thing (yo) That thing (it's about a thing) That thing (uh, yo) If ya feel real good wave your hands in the air (yo, what? What? What?) And lick two shots in the atmosphere (uh, yeah, yeah) (Uh, uh, uh, put 'em up, put 'em up) yeah, a-yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, a-yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah) (put 'em up) Yeah, a-yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah) It's been three weeks since you were looking for your friend The one you let hit it and never called you again (uh) 'Member when he told you he was 'bout the Benjamins? (Uh-huh, yeah) You act like you ain't hear him, then give him a little trim To begin, how you think you're really gon' pretend (pretend) Like you wasn't down and you called him again? (Again) Plus, when (when) you give it up so easy you ain't even foolin' him (him) If you did it then, then you'd probably- again (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 repercussions spin? Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinkin' 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 (girl), respect is just a minimum (minimum) N- and you still defending 'em (defending 'em) Now, Lauryn is only human (human) Don't think I haven't been through the same predicament (I been in) Let it sit inside your head like a million women in Philly, Penn It's silly when girls sell their souls because it's in Look at where you be in, hair weaves like Europeans Fake nails done by Koreans come again Yo, a-win, win, come again (yeah, yeah) Uh, bredrin come again (yeah, yeah) My friend come again (yeah, yeah) (Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, yo) Yeah, yeah Guys you know you'd better watch out (yeah, uh) 'Cause girls, some girls are only about (some guys, some guys are only) That thing, that thing, that thing That thing, that thing, that thing (one thing, one thing) (Yo, yo) The second verse is dedicated to the men (men) More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women Him and his men come in the club like hooligans Don't care who they offend, poppin' yang (like you got yen) Let's stop pretend, the ones that pack pistols by they waist men Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement The pretty face men claiming that they did a bid men Need to take care of they three or four kids (man) And they facin' court case when the child support late Money taking and heart breaking, now you wonder why women hate men And the sneaky, silent men The punk, domestic violence men And quick to shoot the semen, stop acting like boys and be men (be men) How you gon' win, when you ain't right within? (How you gonna win?) How you gon' win, when you ain't right within? (Bredrin) How you gon' win, when you ain't right within? (Be men) Uh, uh, come again, uh (uh, uh) (Come again) Yo, yo, come again (yeah, yeah) Yo, bredrin come again (yeah, yeah) And sistren come again (yeah, yeah) (Yeah) yeah, yeah Watch out, watch out Look out, look out Wa-watch out, watch out Look out, look out Watch out, watch out Look out, look out Wa-watch out, watch out Look out, look out Girls you know you'd better watch out (uh, huh) Some guys, some guys are only about That thing, that thing, that thing That thing, that thing, that thing Guys you know you'd better watch out 'Cause girls, some girls are only about That thing, that thing, that thing That thing, that thing, that thing Girls you know you'd better watch out (some guys, some guys are really not ready) Some guys, some guys are only about (yeah, some girls, some girls are only, uh) That thing, that thing, that thing (we taking it back, yo, way back, yo) That thing, that thing, that thing
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 14, 1998 | 1 | 125 |
| 2 | Nov 21, 1998 | 1 | 125 |
| 3 | Nov 28, 1998 | 2 | 124 |
| 4 | Dec 5, 1998 | 4 | 122 |
| 5 | Dec 12, 1998 | 4 | 122 |
| 6 | Dec 19, 1998 | 5 | 121 |
| 7 | Dec 26, 1998 | 7 | 119 |
| 8 | Jan 2, 1999 | 7 | 119 |
| 9 | Jan 9, 1999 | 8 | 118 |
| 10 | Jan 16, 1999 | 9 | 117 |
| 11 | Jan 23, 1999 | 9 | 117 |
| 12 | Jan 30, 1999 | 12 | 114 |
| 13 | Feb 6, 1999 | 21 | 105 |
| 14 | Feb 13, 1999 | 28 | 98 |
| 15 | Feb 20, 1999 | 30 | 96 |
| 16 | Feb 27, 1999 | 39 | 87 |
| 17 | Mar 6, 1999 | 44 | 82 |
| 18 | Mar 13, 1999 | 41 | 85 |
| 19 | Mar 20, 1999 | 44 | 82 |
| 20 | Mar 27, 1999 | 47 | 79 |