Pump It (3:33)

Pump It is a song by The Black Eyed Peas that heavily incorporates music from the Dick Dale version of the song “Misirlou” (known by many for being featured on the Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction). “Misirlou” is a popular folk song of Greek origin, and its original writer is unknown, but Nicholas Roubanis, who accredited himself as writer in a jazz version he recorded, was given writing credit on “Pump It. ” It was released as the fourth single, and possibly the last, from The Black Eyed Peas’s 2005 album Monkey Business. The song was also featured in commercial spots for Best Buy in 2005 and Big Momma’s House 2, Cars and Pepsi in 2006, as well as the main music during the pre-game of Edmonton Oilers home games during their 2006 playoff run. Dick Dale has been known to attempt to sing the chorus when playing “Misirlou” live. There is a remix by Travis Barker.

“I was in Brazil doing some CD shopping,” Black Eyed Peas member Will.I.Am recalls. “I came across this compilation and I thought it was one thing but it turned out to be something else. The Dick Dale song Misirlou was on it. At first, I was angry this isn’t what I wanted to buy,” he laughs. “But then, really, that song is hot. I said, ‘We should do a song like this.’ I jump-started the computer and made some beats on the train. Then we had to fly to Tokyo and I tightened up the beat on the plane. Then I recorded vocals in this park in Tokyo, and that’s how we recorded the song ‘Pump It’.”