"Rappers' Ball" is a song co-written and performed by American rappers E-40 and Too $hort and American R&B singer K-Ci. It was released on September 18, 1996 via Sick Wid' It/Jive Records as the lead single from E-40's third full-length solo studio album Tha Hall of Game. Co-written and produced by Ant Banks, the song contains a portion of Too $hort's 1985 composition "Playboy Short".

"Rappers' Ball"
Single by E-40 featuring Too $hort and K-Ci
from the album Tha Hall of Game
ReleasedSeptember 18, 1996 (1996-09-18)
Recorded1996
StudioPajama Studios (Oakland, CA)
Genre
Length5:27
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Ant Banks
E-40 singles chronology
"Scandalous"
(1996)
"Rappers' Ball"
(1996)
"Things'll Never Change"
(1997)
Too $hort singles chronology
"Gettin' It"
(1996)
"Rappers' Ball"
(1996)
"Call Me"
(1997)
K-Ci singles chronology
"How Could You"
(1996)
"Rappers' Ball"
(1996)
"You Bring Me Up"
(1997)
Music video
"Rapper's Ball" on YouTube

Charting in the United States as a b-side of the album's second single "Things'll Never Change", "Rappers' Ball" peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, number 40 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, number 4 on the Hot Rap Songs and number 26 on the Dance Singles Sales charts.

An accompanying music video was filmed on July 13, 1996 by Eric Haywood. Beside E-40, Too $hort and K-Ci, B-Legit, Joe Clair, Mack 10 and Richie Rich among others provided cameo appearances. 2Pac, who also made a cameo appearance in the music video, winks at the camera when E-40 rapped in his verse "Don't buy an $85,000 car before you buy a house", making reference to the Notorious B.I.G. owning expensive cars but still not having purchased his own home. The music video was released for the week ending on September 1, 1996.

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Rappers' Ball" (Radio Version) 
2."Rappers' Ball" (Instrumental) 
3."Rappers' Ball" (LP Version) 
4."Rappers' Ball" (Acappella) 

Personnel

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  • Earl "E-40" Stevens – lead vocals, executive producer
  • Todd "Too $hort" Shaw – lead vocals
  • Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey – background vocals, vocal arrangement
  • Anthony "Ant" Banks – keyboards, drum programming, producer, recording, mixing
  • Ryan Arnold – recording
  • Eric Janko – recording
  • Carlos Warlick – mixing
  • Tom Coyne – mastering
  • Pen & Pixel – artwork
  • Chaz Hayes – management

Charts

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Charts (1997) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[1] 29
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[2] 19
US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (Billboard)[3] 40
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[4] 4
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[5] 26

References

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  1. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  2. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  3. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  4. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "E-40 Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
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