A NEW LEASE ON LIFE FOR SASHA’S “DAT SEXY BODY!”

Dat Sexy Body, a song recorded in 1998 by singer Sasha, has a new lease on life by being sampled in three hit songs.

It is sampled in #MCM by pop singer Gabrielle Ross featuring rhythm and blues singer Jeremih. That song is produced by YOBO.

Sexy Body by rapper Pitbull featuring J-Lo also samples Dat Sexy Body. This version is from Pitbull’s forthcoming album Climate Change. Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson was just a toddler when Dat Sexy Body was released. Her latest single, I Would Like, which also samples the Sasha recording, is on her second album for Epic Records. She scored a big hit in the United Kingdom last year with Never Forget You reaching number five.

 

I Would Like is currently charting across Europe. It is 58 in Switzerland, 42 in the UK, 33 in Australia, 72 in Austria, 25 in Denmark and four in Sweden.

Sasha (real name Karen Chin) turned to gospel music in 2008. Now in her early 40’s, and known as Sista Sasha, she spoke to the Jamaica Observer about Dat Sexy Body being embraced by a new generation of artists. “I feel honored to know that my work is being recognized by so many international acts. I also feel motivated to continue to write songs that will reach far and wide, inspiring others,” she said.

Recorded on producer Tony Kelly’s Bookshelf rhythm, Dat Sexy Body made the Billboard charts five years after its initial release. It reached number 78 on the R&B Hip Hop Songs Chart in 2003.

Murray Elias, former Senior A&R at VP Records, played a major role in the song’s crossover success.

“I first heard the song before I came to work at VP. I was a DJ in mainstream nightclubs in New York City and playing lots of dancehall in the mix. I was also working at a vinyl hip-hop distributor called BUDS. Even though the Bookshelf rhythm had bigger artistes like Beenie Man and Mr Vegas and others, the two records that were working for me, both in the clubs and on the sales/distribution level, were Sean Paul’s Deport Dem and Sasha’s Dat Sexy Body,” Elias recalled.

As for the song’s staying power, Elias is not surprised.

Simply put, it’s a great song with an amazing hook by Sasha on a brilliant commercial, crossover-friendly rhythm. The song reached out to young girls and became more than just a song…it became an anthem…and Sasha was the right package…cute, sexy and crossover-friendly,” he said.

Sasha followed-up with a guest spot on Sean Paul’s cover of Alton Ellis’ I’m Still in Love with You which made pop charts in America and the UK. In Jamaica, her biggest hits were We Got The Love and Natty Pon Mi Frontline, both featuring Turbulence.