| "Funky Cold Medina" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Tone Lōc | ||||
| from the album Lōc-ed After Dark | ||||
| Released | March 18, 1989 | |||
| Recorded | 1988 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop, rap rock | |||
| Length | 4:08 | |||
| Label | Delicious Vinyl | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Marvin Young, Matt Dike, Michael Ross | |||
| Producer(s) | Matt Dike, Michael Ross | |||
| Tone Lōc singles chronology | ||||
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"Funky Cold Medina" is a hip hop song written by Young MC, Matt Dike and Michael Ross,[1] and first performed by American rapper, actor and producer Tone Lōc. It was the second single from Lōc's debut album, Lōc-ed After Dark (1989). The single was released on March 18, 1989, and rose to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 the following month where it went platinum, selling over one million copies and becoming the second ever platinum-certified rap single (after "Wild Thing" from the same album being the first). It peaked on the UK Singles Chart at number 13 in May of that year.
According to Flavor Flav, who is heard using the phrase "cold medina" a year earlier on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, "cold medina" was one of his assertive affirmations throughout the 1980s and was adopted by labelmates Beastie Boys as a nickname for the cocktail known as a "fuzzy navel"; Flav allegedly later advised Tone Loc to use the catchphrase in a song.[2]
The song contains several samples. The drum break is from "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" by Funkadelic, and the main guitar riff is from "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner. Other samples are taken from "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones (when this song is mentioned in the lyrics), "Christine Sixteen" by Kiss, "All Right Now" by Free and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman–Turner Overdrive. The cowbell sample is from "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones.[3]
After the song became popular, several different cocktails were introduced bearing the name "Funky Cold Medina".[4]
- ^ ASCAP Ace System.
- ^ Ardell, Jena (2011-06-02). "Flavor Flav on Addiction, Coining the Title of a Tone Loc Song, and How a Crackhead Started His Clock Trend". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
- ^ "SongFacts - Funky Cold Medina by Tone-Lōc". songfacts.com. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
- ^ Esther Iverem, "We Think It's Legal: Would You Like a Funky Cold Medina?", Newsday, July 8, 1989, part 2, p. 15.