Street Tuff#Charts
{{Short description|1989 single by Rebel MC & Double Trouble}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Street Tuff
| cover = Street_Tuff.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Rebel MC & Double Trouble
| album = Rebel Music
| released = 1989
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Dance|hip house}}
| length = 3:31
| label = Desire
| writer = {{hlist|Leigh Guest|Michael Menson|Michael West}}
| producer = {{hlist|Double Trouble|Rebel MC}}
| chronology = Rebel MC
| prev_title = Just Keep Rockin'
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = Better World
| next_year = 1990
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|OybsimlVv3k|"Street Tuff"}}}}
}}
"Street Tuff" is a song by British producer and toaster Rebel MC and Double Trouble. Released in 1989 by the Desire label as their second single from the debut album, Rebel Music (1990), it became a commercial success and the biggest hit of both performers' careers, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. It is the follow-up to their first hit, "Just Keep Rockin'", which made it into the UK top 20. Additionally, "Street Tuff" was a top-10 hit in Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. A music video was also produced to promote the single.
Critical reception
David Taylor-Wilson from Bay Area Reporter named the song "one of the most infectious grooves we've heard all year", noting that it "mixes the rhythms of Jamaican reggae with a house music beat. Just try and sit still when this one’s playing."{{cite magazine|first= David |last= Taylor-Wilson |title= The Heat of the Beat |magazine= Bay Area Reporter |date= 9 August 1990 |page= 36 |access-date= 25 April 2020 |url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=BAR19900809.1.36}} Bill Coleman from Billboard wrote that "clever rhyming powered by insinuating club beats" could generate multiformat play to follow the UK act's previous smash, "Just Keep Rockin'".{{cite magazine|first=Bill|last=Coleman|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-02-24.pdf|title=Single Reviews|magazine=Billboard|date=24 February 1990|page=79|access-date=25 January 2018}} David Giles from Music Week complimented it as a "splendid duet between hot young rapper Rebel MC and former Simply Red backing vocalist Janet Rose, conducted to an instrumental track that sounds very much like a dancehall reggae groove speeded up to 45 rpm! Brilliant and irresistibly danceable."{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Giles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1989/MW-1989-09-30.pdf|title=Singles|work=Music Week|date=30 September 1989|page=25|access-date=13 March 2023}} A reviewer from The Network Forty felt that featuring the "sultry Annie Lennox style vocals" of the singer, "this rap-dance record covers both musical realms with equal zeal."{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-Network-40/90/Network-40-1990-05-11.pdf|title=Top 40: The Next 40|magazine=The Network Forty|date=11 May 1990|page=44|access-date=21 March 2020}}
Siân Pattenden from Smash Hits said, "Quite a funky little number this, though very much in the same vein as their last single. There are lots of "yeahs", a boogalong beat and a host of currazy rhythms to keep you dancing. The words are very hard and tough, because the Rebel Mc is "street tuff" and he stings "like a bee" and that sorts of thing."{{cite magazine|first=Siân|last=Pattenden|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/37354213880/in/album-72157686040865672/|title=Singles|work=Smash Hits|date=4 October 1989|page=73|access-date=8 March 2023|author-link=Siân Pattenden}} Frank Owen from Spin found that the song is "a single masquerading as an album", "both marketing gimmick and a testament to the way the British mix and match different musical genres, unlike in the US, where the demarcation lines between house, hip hop and reggae still remain fiercely patrolled aesthetic boundaries."{{cite magazine|first=Frank|last=Owen|title=Singles|magazine=Spin|date=May 1990|page=84|accessdate=23 January 2023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v28LuIZchkEC}}
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1989–1990)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"|Australia (ARIA){{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia|edition=pdf|page=230}}
| 85 |
| {{single chart|Austria|13|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Flanders|7|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1989/M&M-1989-11-11.pdf|title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=6|issue=45|page=IV|date=11 November 1989|access-date=25 September 2020}}
| 14 |
| scope="row"|Greece (IFPI){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-03-10.pdf|title=Top 3 Greece|magazine=Music & Media|volume=17|issue=10|page=VII|date=10 March 1990|access-date=22 March 2018}}
| 3 |
| scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi){{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=Musica e dischi|language=it|access-date=4 June 2022}} Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Rebel MC & Double Trouble".
| 19 |
| {{single chart|Dutch40|4|year=1989|week=45|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|3|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| {{single chart|New Zealand|29|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Sweden|12|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Switzerland|10|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
| {{single chart|UK|3|date=19891028|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021|refname=uk}} |
| {{single chart|West Germany|12|artist=Double Trouble & Rebel MC|song=Street Tuff|songid=2044|rowheader=true|access-date=9 February 2021}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1989)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop){{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1989|title=Jaaroverzichten 1989|publisher=Ultratop|language=nl|access-date=9 February 2021}}
| 60 |
| scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40){{cite web|url=https://www.top40.nl/bijzondere-lijsten/top-100-jaaroverzichten/1989|title=Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1989|publisher=Dutch Top 40|access-date=15 March 2021}}
| 34 |
| scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1989&cat=s|title=Jaaroverzichten – Single 1989|publisher=MegaCharts|language=nl|access-date=9 February 2021}}
| 27 |
| scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC){{cite magazine|title=Year-End Charts '89 – Top 100 Singles|magazine=Music Week|publisher=Spotlight Publications|location=London, England|page=16|date=3 March 1990}}
| 25 |
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1990)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"|West Germany (Official German Charts){{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1990|title=Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1990|publisher=GfK Entertainment|language=de|access-date=9 February 2021}}
| 68 |
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References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/31526-Rebel-MC Rebel MC on Discogs]
- [https://genius.com/Double-trouble-and-the-rebel-mc-street-tuff-lyrics Street Tuff] - lyrics at genius.com
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