"Back in the Day" is a 2003 hip-hop song by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, featuring guest vocals from Jay-Z and Elliott protégé Tweet. The song appears on her 2002 album Under Construction and was at one time planned for release as a single. It peaked at #86 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart in 2003 before being scrapped as a single.

About the song

Produced by Elliott's main producer and longtime collaborator Timbaland, "Back in the Day" is an ode to the classic era of old school hip-hop, when the hip-hop culture was, Elliott sings, fun and peaceful, compared to the more violent scope of modern-day hip-hop. "Back in the day/hip-hop has changed", she sings. During the bridge of the song she even makes a point of referencing "Self-Destruction", a 1989 collaborative benefit single for peace featuring a number of that era's hip-hop stars. Incidentally, MC Lyte's verse from "Self-Destruction" is sampled on another of Under Construction's album tracks, "Funky Fresh Dressed".

Jay-Z contributes a rap verse in which he "creatively" references a number of hip-hop artists (for example, stating "I kill at will like solid water, dude", a reference to Ice Cube's 1990 EP Kill At Will). At one point during his verse, Jay-Z raps "so fuck Chuck Philips and Bill O'Reilly/if they try to stop hip-hop, we all gon' rally", a reference to two of hip-hop's most vocal critics.

"Back in the Day" references

Below is a list of old-school hip-hop people and items Elliott and Jay-Z namedrop in "Back in the Day":

Hip hop fashions

• British Knights
• Gold chains
• Phat laces

Dances

• Prep
• Cabbage Patch

Hip hop artists

• Salt-N-Pepa
• Rakim
• Run-D.M.C.
• Big Daddy Kane
• Heavy D
• Slick Rick
• MC Lyte
• Raekwon
• Ghostface Killah
• Showbiz and A.G.
• Dr. Dre
• LL Cool J
• Public Enemy
• M.O.P
• Tag Team
• Ice Cube
• The Notorious B.I.G.
• 2Pac
• KRS-One
• EPMDb

Personnel

• Lead Vocals by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Jay-Z
• Background Vocals by Tweet
• Whistle by Timbaland
• Written by Melissa Elliott, Timothy Mosley, and Shawn Carter
• Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions; Co-produced by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott