Posse On Broadway

Album: Swass (1988)
Charted: 70
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Songfacts®:

  • Broadway in this song isn't the one in New York City, but the one in Seattle, where Sir Mix-A-Lot is from. The song takes us through a night where he and his crew (his "posse") drive up the road, having various adventures along the way.

    They ride in style - a black Mercedes limo with Alpine speakers - and meet up with some ladies before arriving at Dicks Drive-In (a real place), where they get something to eat and deal with some haters. A Reddit user mapped out the entire journey.
  • Sir Mix-A-Lot is best known for his 1992 blockbuster "Baby Got Back," but "Posse On Broadway" was his first chart hit, going to #70 when it was released in 1988. The song is part of his debut album, Swass, released on his own label, Nastymix, on September 1, 1988. The album did big business in the Pacific Northwest and sold over a million copies. His next album, Seminar, followed in 1989, and in 1991 Rick Rubin signed Mix to his label, Def American Recordings. His first album on the label was Mack Daddy in 1992, which includes "Baby Got Back."
  • The word "Posse" was trending around this time. Beastie Boys used it on their 1986 song "The New Style" ("Coolin' on the corner on a hot summer's day, just me, my posse and MCA"), and Eric B. & Rakim in 1987 on "I Know You Got Soul" ("I want to see which posse can dance the best"). When The Arsenio Hall Show went on the air in 1989, he called his house band "The Posse."
  • Cruising the streets of Seattle was how Sir Mix-A-Lot gleaned inspiration and did market research. He'd record songs in his home studio, put them on cassette and drive around blasting them with the windows down. He could tell from bystander reactions which beats were best.

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