Work It

Elliott and Timbaland wrote and produced it and recorded it at the Hit Factory Criteria in Miami. It samples Run-DMC's Peter Piper and Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three's Request Line, and its synth pattern samples the intro of Blondie's Heart of Glass. Timbaland said they recorded at least five versions before the last attempt, when Elliott proposed reversing the line "I put my thang down, flip it and reverse it." He knew at once that was the one. She worked in a separate room and played her takes back to him, which she compared to presenting a report card.

Released on 16 September 2002, it stayed at number two on the Hot 100 for ten weeks, held from the top by Eminem's Lose Yourself, and led the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for five weeks. It reached number six in Britain. It won the Grammy for Best Female Rap Solo Performance in 2004. Dave Meyers directed the video, which included tributes to Aaliyah and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and it won Video of the Year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

Reception

Pitchfork's review asked whether anyone needed to talk about Work It, and said anyone who did not know it was the greatest pop single and video of the year should turn on MTV. The Guardian described its pattering, housey percussion, comic sound effects, backmasking and virtuoso rhyming, and called it a Tex Avery cartoon made music. Flo's 2023 single Fly Girl interpolates it.