"Move Ya Body" is a song by Puerto Rican-American musical duo Nina Sky, released as their debut single on April 12, 2004. Featuring guest vocals from American-Jamaican DJ Jabba, it served as the lead single from Nina Sky's self-titled debut album (2004). The song became the duo's only solo single to reach the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. The song was ranked at number 250 on Blenders "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" and is well known for the use of the recurring ostinato on the bongos known as the "Coolie Dance" riddim. This has been the subject and musical motif of many musical samples.

The song also contains lyrics from Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's song, "Can You Feel the Beat". The title of Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's song was repeated many times during the song.

Background

Record producer the Jettsonz introduced Nina Sky to Cipha Sounds, a hip hop DJ. Cipha Sounds was impressed when he heard the girls sing and suggested that they compose a song using the "Coolie Dance" riddim. The twins wrote "Move Ya Body" in response, and recorded a demo. The demo got them signed as Nina Sky to Next Plateau Entertainment and Universal Records. After writing "Move Ya Body", Nina Sky quickly wrote more songs to form their debut album Nina Sky, released in June 2004.

Critical reception

The song was ranked the 29th best song of 2004 by Pitchfork.

Commercial performance

"Move Ya Body" charted at number four on the US US Billboard Hot 100 and was ranked number 22 on the 2004 Billboard year-end Chart. It also reached number six on the UK Singles Chart. It was certified gold by both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), as well as platinum by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ). It also reached the top 10 in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Wallonia and on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic Top 40 charts. The song earned the duo two nominations for International Dance Music Awards (Best Pop Dance Track and Best New Dance Artist (Group)) and one nomination for Soul Train Lady of Soul Award (Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo), all in 2005. They won one award for the song: the Rapgra Award (Utwor R'n'B) in 2004.

Music video

An accompanying music video for the song was released in 2004. Posted in 2012, it was viewed over two million times on YouTube. However it was never posted on Nina Sky's official channel and it became unavailable few years later. The video was 34 seconds shorter than the song. It features guest appearances from Jabba, Fat Joe, Cipha Sounds and Angie Martinez. The whole video takes place in a nightclub and features the twins, mostly singing and dancing to the song.

Awards and nominations

Track listings

• US maxi-CD single

• "Move Ya Body" (radio edit) – 3:30

• "Move Ya Body" (instrumental) – 3:30

• "Move Ya Body" (call out hook) – 0:19

• "In a Dream" (radio edit) – 3:25

• "In a Dream" (a cappella) – 3:25

• US 12-inch single

• A1. "Move Ya Body" (radio edit) – 3:30

• A2. "Move Ya Body" (instrumental) – 3:30

• B1. "In a Dream" (radio edit) – 3:25

• B2. "In a Dream" (a capella) – 3:25

• UK and Australian CD single

• "Move Ya Body" – 3:30

• "Move Ya Body" (Hyperspace remix) – 4:28

• "In a Dream" – 3:25

• "Move Ya Body" (video)

• UK 12-inch single

• A1. "Move Ya Body" – 3:56

• A2. "Move Ya Body" (Hyperspace remix) – 4:28

• B1. "Move Ya Body" (instrumental) – 3:30

• B2. "Move Ya Body" (a capella) – 3:37

• European CD single

• "Move Ya Body" – 3:30

• "In a Dream" – 3:25

• European maxi-CD single

• "Move Ya Body" (radio edit) – 3:30

• "Move Ya Body" (Jiggy Joint radio mix) – 3:30

• "In a Dream" (radio edit) – 3:25

• "Move Ya Body (album version video) – 4:30

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

• List of number-one dance airplay hits of 2004 (U.S.)

References

External links