For the animation Workit by "EvilZug", see Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

"Work It" is a hip hop song written by American rapper/singer Missy Elliott and her producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley for Elliott's critically acclaimed fourth studio album Under Construction (2002). The song's musical style, and production by Timbaland, were heavily inspired by Old school hip hop from the 1980s. Released as the album's first single in the fall of 2002, the track reached the #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Missy Elliott's most successful single to date.

The single spent ten consecutive weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and reached number-one for five weeks on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The song is tied with Foreigner's 1981 hit "Waiting For a Girl Like You" as the longest-running number two single that did not reach number one. "Work It's" music video was directed by Dave Meyers. A remix of this song features 50 Cent.

Lyrics

• A portion of the song's lyrics helped popularize the African-American slang term "badonkadonk" with mainstream audiences:

"...love the way my ass go 'bum-bump-bum-bump-bump'

keep your eyes on my 'bum-bump-bum-bump-bump'

and think you can handle this 'badonk-a-donk-donk'"

• During the chorus, the line "I put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it" is played backwards twice, a part many mistakenly assumed to be gibberish. In the middle of the song, after the line "Listen up close while I take you backwards", "Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards" is played backwards.

Charts