"Hey Ladies" is the 8th track on the album Paul's Boutique by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989. It was the album's only charting single, hitting #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is also the first single in history to chart in the Top 20 of both the Billboard Hot Rap Singles and Modern Rock Tracks charts, hitting #10 on the former and #18 on the latter.

The lyric "cutting up the rug" is common slang for dancing.

A music video, in the vein of Saturday Night Fever, was made for the song.

• Produced & written by the Beastie Boys & the Dust Brothers.
• Engineered by Mario Caldato & Allen Abrahamson.

Samples

• "Ballroom Blitz" by Sweet
• "Party Time" by Kurtis Blow
• "Holy Ghost" by the Bar-Kays
• "Shake Your Pants" by Cameo
• "Pumpin' it Up" by P-Funk All Stars
• "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & the Gang
• "Machine Gun" by The Commodores
• "Jazzy Sensation" by Afrika Bambaataa
• "Change Le Beat/B-Side" by Fab 5 Freddy
• "Come Let Me Love You" by Jeanette "Lady" Day
• "Dance Floor", & "So Ruff, So Tuff" by Zapp & Roger
• "Ain't It Funky Now" & "Funky President" by James Brown
• "Hey DJ" by Malcolm McLaren & the World Famous Supreme Team
• "High Powered Rap" by Disco Dave & the Force of the Five MC's (Crash Crew)

Pop culture references in the song

• Sadaharu Oh
• Tom Thumb
• Chuck Woolery
• Grand Canyon
• Welcome Back, Kotter
• James at 15
• Chachi
• Charles in Charge
• Cadillac Coupe de Ville
• Vincent Van Gogh

References