"Jump" is the hit debut single by American hip hop duo Kris Kross. It was released on February 6, 1992, as a single from their debut studio albumTotally Krossed Out. It achieved international success, topping charts in Switzerland, Australia, and the United States. Additionally, it was the third best-selling song in the United States in 1992 with sales of 2,079,000 physical copies that year.
History
Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith were only twelve and thirteen years old when they recorded the song. "Jump" was written and produced by Jermaine Dupri. It was the fastest selling single in fifteen years and stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. Kris Kross's debut album Totally Krossed Out, which features "Jump", sold over four million copies. It also reached number one on the charts in Australia and New Zealand, and number 2 in the United Kingdom, held off the top by KWS' cover song "Please Don't Go". This song kept Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", En Vogue's "My Lovin' " and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The Bridge" from the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, in which all three songs peaked at number 2. At the time of its eight-week run, it was the longest running No. 1 since The Police's "Every Breath You Take" spent eight weeks at No. 1 in the summer of 1983. The song samples "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5, "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players, "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers, "Midnight Theme" by Manzel, "Escape-Ism" by James Brown, "Saturday Night" by Schoolly D, and a replay of "O.P.P." by Naughty by Nature. At the beginning of their song they dissed another kid group Another Bad Creation when Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly said "don't try to compare us to another bad little fad". The original song's introduction contained a sample of Another Bad Creation's song "Playground" which was followed by a scratching sound giving the effect that their record was being taken off to play "Jump". This was soon removed due to copyright infringement. It ranked number 75 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's", and number two on their "Child Stars" Top 10 list. Blender listed the song as number 373 on its list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". Most recently, the song was ranked at No. 34 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever by Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio, who tells the reader not to blame the kids of Kris Kross, but to look behind the curtain for Treach and Dupri, whom he labeled as "true villains". The song has been used on television in both commercials and programmes such as Law & Order. In 2003, a french musician Jérémie Mondon in collaboration with Awa Manneh contains the sample for the song, "In The Park" for Demon's album, "Music That You Wanna Hear" released in 2004. In 2005, a model style of the Frogz toys produced by Gemmy Industries used a cover version of the song. It was also used as part of a birthday card from American Greetings as of 2013. In 1992, Kids Incorporated covered "Jump" in the Season 8 episode "The Boy From La Mancha". In 2015, it was used in a television commercial for Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
Critical reception
from Billboard wrote that "energetic pop/hip-hopper showcases fast-talking, baby-voiced male rappers that may initially draw comparisons to Another Bad Creation." He also described the song as "radio-friendly" and "melodic". James Bernard from Entertainment Weekly noted, "Play the group’s hyperactive platinum single ”Jump” at any party and watch the floors quake. To their credit, the two rappers don’t rely on their production team’s musical prowess. Smith and Kelly grip their microphones with so much confidence that if they didn’t sound so youthful, you might forget they’re just barely out of grade school." Bruce Britt from Los Angeles Daily News described the song as "bubble gum rap". Music & Media commented that "these 12-year-old boys have formed a real rap posse. They sound as determined as Michael Jackson at that age." People Magazine said that "their best trick is inserting catchily melodic refrains in the middle of their free-stylin' raps. That should help them kross over to pop. And cheek the speed at which they spin out their ragamuffin rhymes on "Jump" and "Warm It Up". Obviously the tongue matures before the rest of the body." Hannah Ford from Select wrote that the song "is a beautiful hip hop track that gets your goose bumps quacking. It's Public Enemy's wailing sax break with Naughty By Nature's b-line." Sunday Tribune described it as a "infectious rallying cry".
