Hit ’Em Up Style (Oops!)
Producer
Hit ’Em Up Style (Oops!) Lyrics
(Get your hands on his cash and)
[Verse 1]
While he was schemin'
I was beamin' in the Beamer just steamin'
Can't believe that I caught my man cheatin'
So I found another way to make him pay for it all
So I went to Neiman Marcus on a shopping spree, yeah
And on my way, I grabbed Soley and Mia
And as the cashbox rang, I thought everything away
[Pre-Chorus]
(Oops!) There goes the dreams we used to say
(Oops!) There goes the time we spent away
(Oops!) There goes the love I had
But you cheated on me and that's for that now
(Oops!) There goes the house we've made a home
(Oops!) There goes "You'll never leave me alone"
(Oops!) For all the lies you told
This is what you're owed
[Chorus]
Hey ladies, when ya man wanna get buck wild
Just go back and hit 'em up style
Get your hands on his cash and
Spend it to the last dime for all the hard times
Oh, when you go, then everything goes
From the crib to the ride and the clothes
So you better let 'em know that
If he mess up, you gotta hit 'em up
(Get your hands on his cash and)
[Verse 2]
While he was braggin'
I was coming down the hill just draggin'
All his pictures and his clothes in a bag and
Sold everything else 'til there was just nothing left
And I paid, all the bills about a month too late
It's a shame we have to play these games
The love we had just fade away, away
[Pre-Chorus]
(Oops!) There goes the dreams we used to say
(Oops!) There goes the time we spent away
(Oops!) There goes the love I had
But you cheated on me and that's for that now
(Oops!) There goes the house we've made a home
(Oops!) There goes "you'll never leave me alone"
(Oops!) For all the lies you told
This is what you owe
[Chorus]
Hey ladies (Hey ladies), when ya man wanna get buck wild
Just go back and hit 'em up style
Get your hands on his cash and
Spend it to the last dime for all the hard times
Oh (Oh), when you go then everything goes
From the crib to the ride and the clothes
So you better let 'em know that
If he mess up, you gotta hit 'em up
Hey ladies (Ladies), when ya man wanna get buck wild (Oh)
Just go back and hit 'em up style
Get your hands on his cash and
Spend it to the last dime for all the hard times
Oh, when you go, then everything goes
From the crib to the ride and the clothes
So you better let 'em know that
If you mess up, you gotta hit 'em up
All of the dreams you sold
Left me out in the cold
What happened to the days when we used to trust each other?
And all of the things I sold
Will take you until you get old
To get 'em back without me
'Cause revenge is better than money, you'll see
[Chorus]
Hey ladies, when ya' man wanna get buck wild
Just go back and hit 'em up style (Hit 'em up style)
Get your hands on his cash and (Oh, yeah)
Oh, when you go then everything goes
From the crib to the ride and the clothes (Crib to the ride and the clothes)
So you better let 'em know that
If he mess up, you gotta hit 'em up (Oh-oh-oh)
Hey ladies (Hey ladies, hey ladies, hey ladies, yeah)
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh no, oh no, yeah, oh oh oh
If he mess up, you gotta hit 'em up (Hit 'em up, yeah)
Hey ladies, when ya man wanna get buck wild (Buck wild)
Just go back and hit 'em up style (Oh)
Get your hands on his cash and (Da da dum, da da dum)
Oh, when you go then everything goes (Everything goes)
From the crib to the ride and the clothes
So you better let 'em know that
If he mess up, you gotta hit 'em up
About
“Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” is the debut single from singer Blu Cantrell. Reaching #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, it’s easily Cantrell’s biggest hit.
The R&B song pulls its swing-feel from a sample of Frank Sinatra’s “The Boys' Night Out” (1962). Hit ‘Em Up’s lyrics about a scorned woman going on a shopping spree with her unfaithful ex’s credit card made an impact on dancefloors as well as conversations about what happens when romance goes badly. Cantrell says artistically, she didn’t care for the song, but she included it on the album due to bitter feelings she was experiencing at the time.
The song’s success also spawned a reggae-tinged hip-hop remix featuring Foxy Brown.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In a couple places, she does which was addressed in an interview with both Blu Cantrell and Faith Evans when they both appeared on the cover of Vibe Magazine in a spread with Craig David and Usher in February 2002:
Take, for example, the similarities between Evans and Cantrell. “A lot of people relate Blu to Faith,” says Usher, who duets with Cantrell on the remix of his No. 1 single “U Remind Me.” “And that’s right, because her sound is so similar.”
Cantrell and Evans downplay the comparison, perhaps in the interest of keeping the peace, since they both record for Arista-distributed labels. “We really don’t sound anything alike,” says Cantrell. “I think it’s just because we’re both lightskinned and have blond hair.”
Echoes Evans: “I honestly have to say I hear no similarities in our voices. On ‘Oops,’ I heard a couple of ad-libs that do sound like something I would do, but she didn’t get it from me. Maybe we had some of the same influences.”
In 2018, NPR ranked this as the #70 greatest song by a female or nonbinary artist in the 21st century, saying:
Before Carrie Underwood and Maroon 5 and Justin Timberlake, Blu Cantrell wrote the script on cheater-revenge-fantasies. And mind you, this is a song about revenge — it has nothing to do with heartache or helplessness. In fact, it’s not even directed at the schlub who stepped out (despite the cheeky sampling of Frank Sinatra’s ‘The Boys’ Night Out.') It’s sung straight to the ladies, offering up a formula for restitution: ‘Spend until the last dime for all the hard times.’ It’s deliciously self-righteous, belted out with a confidence that belies its status as a one-hit-wonder. Plus, it popularized the sarcastic, omnipresent, sorry-not-sorry ‘oops,’ for which we are all indebted.
- 1.I Love You
- 3.Unhappy
- 4.Impatient
- 6.Hit ’Em Up Style (Oops!)
- 7.Risk It All
- 12.Swingin’
- 13.Let Her Go
- 14.Round Up
