F minor · Camelot 4A · 100 BPM
Get Busy
by Sean Paul
- 100
- BPM
- F minor
- Key
- 4A
- Camelot
- 74
- Danceability
- 62
- Acousticness
Steven "Lenky" Marsden, then a newcomer to production, created the jumpy handclap beat known as the Diwali Riddim, and "Get Busy" by Sean Paul became one of the many hits built on it. The Jamaican dancehall singer recorded the track for his album Dutty Rock, and it was the only Diwali song that never appeared on the "Diwali" rhythm album released by Greensleeves Records. Paul described it as "mainly a party song. It's not all about smoking weed".
The song first came out as a 7-inch single in 1999. When it was released internationally in 2003, it topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks that May. It also reached number one in Italy and the Netherlands, and became a top-10 hit in an additional 11 countries. On 10 May 2003, Paul performed it on Saturday Night Live.
The music video, directed by Little X, was shot in Woodbridge, Ontario and released in February 2003. It shows people dancing at a basement house party, with some partygoers banging on duct pipes until the homeowner comes down to warn them to stop. At the end of the video, Paul's brother Jason introduces "Like Glue" as a brand new single, and shortly into that song renewed banging on the pipes brings the homeowner back down to declare the party over. Kardinal Offishall makes a cameo appearance. The video earned two MTV Video Music Award nominations in 2003, for Best Dance Video and Best New Artist.
Get Busy runs at 100 BPM, the tempo of mid-tempo pop, dancehall and indie. In classical terms it sits in andante territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.4 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 600 ms. It is in F minor, Camelot 4A, which shares its notes with Ab major and mixes cleanly with Bb minor and C minor.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.