Toosie Slide

Album: Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020)
Charted: 1 1
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Songfacts®:

  • Drake's first foray into a dance record, "Toosie Slide," finds him offering direct instructions on how to do the titular moves.

    It go right foot up, left foot slide
    Left foot up, right foot slide
    Basically I'm saying, either way, we 'bout to slide, ayy
    Can't let this one slide, ayy


    Critics have described the dance as a 2020 version of DJ Caper's "Cha Cha Slide."
  • Drake likens his dance skills to those of the legendary Michael Jackson.

    Don't you wanna dance with me? No?
    I could dance like Michael Jackson (Jackson)
    I could give you thug passion (Passion)
    It's a Thriller in the trap where we from (Where we from)


    Drake previously namechecked the King of Pop during his verse on 2 Chainz's 2016 track "Big Amount."

    Michael Jackson talkin' to me in my dreams
    And he say, "You bad and you know it"


    Another Drake/Jacko connection is that the Toronto rapper borrowed some 1983 Jackson vocals for his 2018 song "Don't Matter to Me."
  • Drake named both the song and its accompanying dance after Atlanta social media influencer Toosie. The Toronto MC gave the tune early to Toosie, who came up with some moves to go with it. He teased the tune and dance online on March 29, 2020; it went viral the same day when the Michigan duo Ayo & Teo uploaded a video of them doing the "Toosie Slide." Two days later, Drake took to his social media to declare the song as his, adding he would release it soon. He kept his promise, dropping it on April 3, 2020.
  • Toosie revealed to Rolling Stone how he created the viral moves with fellow dancers Hiii Key and Ayo & Teo.

    "Drake hit me up and was like, 'Yo, I need your help,'" he explained. "So he sends the record. It was just an idea at the time. It was just the hook and a verse. I came up with this dance. [Drake said,] 'What you think? You think you can come up with a dance for this song that I made?'"

    "So I sit down, listen to it," Toosie continued. "Luckily, I'm at Ayo and Teo's house with Hii Key and all of us. We all chilling. We came up with it pretty fast. We just all pieced it together. We all contributed."
  • Ozan "Oz" Yildirim produced the track. The Swiss beatmaker has previously worked with Drake on songs like "U with Me?" and "Omertá." He also helmed Drizzy's collaboration with Future, "Life Is Good."

    Oz made the beat in about a day in mid-January 2020. He sent it on to Drake, who told him a week later he loved the instrumentation and had some ideas for it.
  • Lil Baby missed out on being part of "Toosie Slide." Baby revealed on Instagram that Drake asked him in early March 2020 to be on the song. However, he forgot to send a verse, meaning Drizzy had to release it without him.
  • Drake filmed the video throughout his Toronto penthouse. We see him wandering round his giant abode while showcasing his footwork for the "Toosie Slide" dance.
  • This landed at #1 on the Hot 100 to become Drake's seventh chart-topping single. It tied Mariah Carey's record for most songs to debut at the summit with three each. The other two Drake tunes to debut at the top position were "God's Plan" and "Nice For What."
  • Oz told Billboard the beat came before the dance.

    "I was just making beats," he said. "I knew I work on uptempo beats, but we never talked about dance or TikTok or any of that. So, I just made the beat and thought that one was good enough to send it out to Drake, so I did."

Comments: 1

  • Mark from Houston TxThis is the best new song of april 2020! Great dance. Drizzy is the goat rapper! Listen to tootsie slide now!
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