"Bust a Move" 20 Years Later: Young MC Reflects on the Hit That Changed Hip-Hop

Twenty summers ago, Young MC's "Bust A Move" was inescapable, a G-rated funk-bomb integral to hip-hop's eventual mainstream acceptance. Fueled by a sample-heavy production, Flea's popping bassline, and infectious rhymes written in a University of Southern California dorm by economics major Marvin Young, "Bust A Move" helped usher in the era of pop-rap — songs squeaky clean enough for the whole family and infectious enough to bombard Billboard. Hot on the heels of Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" (a song which Young also wrote), "Bust A Move" broke down barriers on radio and MTV playlists, while its corresponding album, Stone Cold Rhymin' was a rap record that many adults still remember as the first their parents let them play. "People looked at rap and hard rock as the type of music that you slam your door after you argue with your parents, and bang your head in defiance," says Young. "My record wasn't necessarily rebellious, but it was clever enough to grab in a decent segment of people that didn't listen to rap music."

After a flop follow-up (1991's Brainstorm) and the mainstream embrace of gangsta rap in the early '90s, "crossing over" became a dirty word and Young MC never rocked the charts again — even cheekily calling his 1997 album Return Of The 1 Hit Wonder. But "Bust A Move" lives on in countless movies, TV shows and commercials. (Young's favorite? William Shatner's version in the Priceline spot.) Last week, Stone Cold Rhymin' was re-released for its 20th anniversary, complete with bonus remixes from modern dance-floor wreckers like Diplo, Aaron LaCrate, and members of Le Tigre. Still performing, still releasing records, and still having what he says is "a good reputation in whatever's left of the industry," the 41-year-old Young reflects with Rolling Stone on the impact of "Bust A Move." "It's kind of a mind-trip to fulfill a lot of your dreams at 23," says Young, "but it's a good thing in terms of putting it in perspective."

How did you stay so clean in the era of Public Enemy and N.W.A?
Well, I was going back to a college dorm every night when I was making that record. I wasn't even living in a neighborhood like I grew up in. I didn't really feel like I needed to live up to anything

Did you swear in real life?
Oh sure! I cursed like a sailor. But my view on rap music was calling up WBLS hoping that they would play "Rapper's Delight" again at 12 years old. You wanted to appeal to as many people as possible. I was so into "Rapper's Delight" because I could hear the hi-hat in the record because it was on FM. If you go back and listen to Sugar Hill Gang, Flash and the Furious Five, there was no swearing in it. They wouldn't even talk about going to bed. It was almost like Ed Sullivan the way they approached it, because it was so cognizant of trying to appeal to as many people as possible. This is record I have, I don't want to give a radio station a reason not to play it. Crossing over wasn't a bad thing, because nobody had crossed over yet.

When did you feel the backlash?
As soon as me and Loc blew up, I knew that there was a backlash? Now it's come full circle. The whole idea of "Bust A Move" crossing over being a bad thing, well it's a good thing again now, because everybody's seeing money fly out the door going, "Oh my God, where's this big check I'm supposed to get being a rapper?" Flo Rida, and those records crossing over is actually helping — which is what we did in the first place!