Here We Go Again! (song)
{{Short description|1992 song by Portrait}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Here We Go Again!
| cover = Here We Go Again - Portrait.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Portrait
| album = Portrait
| B-side =
| released = 1992
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = New jack swing
| length = 4:20 (album version)
3:55 (radio edit)
| label = Capitol
| writer = * Andre Weston
- Charles Bobbit
- Eric Kirkland
- Fred Wesley
- James Brown
- Michael Angelo Saulsbery
- Phillip Johnson
- Stevie Wonder
- Susaye Greene
- Willie Hines
| producer = * Michael Angelo Saulsbery
- Eric Kirkland
- Irving Washington III
- Phillip Johnson
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Honey Dip
| next_year = 1993
}}
"Here We Go Again!" is a song by the American R&B group Portrait. It was released in 1992 as both their debut single as a group and as the lead single from their debut self-titled studio album, which was also released that year. It is a new jack swing song which samples three other songs, including "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy, and is written about recurring arguments with a significant other. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 to become the group's biggest hit and has since been included on lists of the best new jack swing songs and in an episode of the sitcom Family Matters in 1993.
Release and composition
"Here We Go Again!" was released through Capitol Records in 1992 as the debut single of the Los Angeles-based R&B quartet Portrait, who wrote and produced the song, and as the lead single from their self-titled debut album. Its members at the time were singers Phillip Johnson, Eric Kirkland, Irving Washington III, and Michael Angelo Saulsbery.{{cite magazine |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date=September 4, 1993 |page=21 |title=Painting A Pretty Picture |trans-title= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21 |url-status= |format= |language= |magazine=Billboard |location= |publisher= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |via= |quote=}} Its genre is new jack swing, a subgenre that melds R&B with the rhythm and sampling of hip hop. It also has jazz influences and its lyrics are about frequently arguing with an envious lover. It features samples of Chuck D's voice on the Public Enemy song "Bring the Noise", the bass line from the Michael Jackson song "I Can't Help It"—which would be used again on the De La Soul song "Breakadawn" the following year—and the hand clapping beat from "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground.{{cite web |last1=Josephs |first1=Brian |title=The 25 Best New Jack Swing Songs |url=https://www.complex.com/music/a/brian-josephs/the-25-best-new-jack-swing-songs |website=Complex |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=July 20, 2012}}{{cite web |title=Best New Jack Swing Songs: 40 Party Starting Jams |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-new-jack-swing-songs/ |website=uDiscover Music |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=February 22, 2024}}
Critical reception, commercial performance, and in media
Complex listed "Here We Go Again!" as the 19th best new jack swing song, with Brian Josephs complimenting it as "the very essence of chill". UDiscover Music included "Here We Go Again!" on their lists of the best 1990s R&B songs and the best new jack swing songs at numbers 39 and 24, respectively, and Charles Waring wrote for the latter list that "Portrait were never able to emulate the success of their playful debut single".{{cite web |last1=Sweet |first1=Patricia |title=Best 90s R&B Songs: 75 Essential Classics |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-90s-rnb-songs/ |website=uDiscover Music |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=February 3, 2024}} Dave Holmes of Decider praised "Here We Go Again!" as "the best lost R&B song of the [1990s]".
"Here We Go Again!" peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1993 and at number three on Billboard{{'}}s Hot R&B Singles chart in January 1993. Andy Kellman of AllMusic deemed it the group's biggest hit.{{cite web |last1=Kellman |first1=Andy |title=Portrait Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/portrait-mn0000853472 |website=AllMusic |access-date=August 19, 2024}} Portrait performed the song on a 1993 episode of the sitcom Family Matters in which Steve Urkel goes to prom.{{cite web |last1=Willman |first1=Chris |title=DJ Cassidy: The Man Behind the All-Star 'Pass the Mic' Passes On His Love of '70s, '80s and '90s R&B and Early Hip-Hop |url=https://variety.com/2020/music/news/dj-cassidy-pass-the-mic-secrets-new-jack-swing-volume-three-1234805290/ |website=Variety |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=October 14, 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Holmes |first1=Dave |title=Dave Holmes Revisits The 20 Lowest Rated TV Shows From Valentine's Day 1993 |url=https://decider.com/2018/02/14/dave-holmes-nielstalgia-february-1993/ |website=Decider |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=February 14, 2018}}
Charts
=Weekly charts=
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Yearly chart performance for "Here We Go Again!" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1993)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| scope=row|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=The Year In Music 1993 - Hot 100 Singles|date=December 25, 1993|volume=105|issue=52|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1993/BB-1993-12-25.pdf|page=YE-20|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|issn=0006-2510|access-date=August 19, 2024}}
| style="text-align:center;"|59 |
| scope=row|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine |title=Year-End Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of 1993 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1993/hot-r-and-and-b-hip-hop-songs/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=August 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704153737/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1993/hot-r-and-and-b-hip-hop-songs/ |archive-date=July 4, 2018}}
| style="text-align:center;"|22 |