Girl, You Know You Want It!

It's time for another DJ Magic Mike single, I think. Today's is "Get On It Dog Gon' It" from 1994 on Mike's own Magic Records. That's right, no more Cheetah Records. This is the year Magic Mike struck out on his own, releasing his music on his own label. This is the single off of the album Bass Bowl, a generally disappointing album overall, going a bit overboard on the speaker-testing rumblings and light on the incredible scratches and the rhyming.

Fortunately, however, "Get On It Dog Gon' It" has both. This is one of the few tracks not produced by Mike himself, but rather one of his Royal Posse members, DJ Chief, who also provides some of the scratching (along with Mike himself). Unlike a lot of the mainly instrumental content of the album, this song is a more traditional number, with three verses by Posse member Daddy Rae, broken up with a shouted hook ("Get on it, dog gone it! Girl, you know you want it!") and some nice scratching of Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" ("Ow!"). For the most part, it's not a stand-out song in Mike's catalog... it's a very standard Miami bass cut, with very the staple samples every Miami bass artist had already been using for years... the bulk of the instrumental. In fact, is the same as The 2 Live Crew's "Move Something" but with ultrasonic bass notes. And Rae's rhymes dedicated simply asking the girls to shake their booty to the song. There's a fun moment, though, where Mike himself takes the mic to spit his own verse at the end ("I'm like Jenny Craig 'cause you know I knock off the pounds").

But the highlight comes on hook and especially the breakdowns. The cuts are are fast and furious - of the "holy shit!" variety - and he changes the flavor by bringing in some classic old school breaks. And the effect is amplified on the 12" exclusive Club Mix, which doubles the length of the song. This mix really turns a good song into a great song, sometimes just letting the beat ride, and other times providing extra cuts.

But if you're bored 'cause the beats are too familiar, the B-side has Mike's Funk Mix, which swaps out all the samples for ones you've never heard before. Personally, I prefer the original - there's a reason the old tried and true standbys became the tried and true standbys - but it's a cool alternative. The B-side also includes the instrumental of the original version.

This isn't necessarily one of Mike's best songs... the breakdowns are a real highlight but otherwise he plays it too safe. But hard drums, deep bass, competent rhymes, fast breaks and wicked cuts always add up to a winner. And Magic Mike himself must've liked this one a lot. Not only did he pick it for the single, but he returned to it a few years later with "Get On it Girl" on The Ghost Is Back album (his reunion album with Vicious Bass) and again with "Get On It ('98 Style)," on Scratch & Bass.