Dip It Low

"Dip It Low" is a song by American singer Christina Milian from her second studio album, It's About Time (2004). Written by Poli Paul and Teedra Moses and produced by Paul, the track was released as the album's lead single. Matt Ward and Dean Gallard provided additional production for the song with Ne-Yo working on vocal arrangements. While the original version of the song, featuring American rapper Fabolous, was only given a release in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the remix featuring German rapper Samy Deluxe was released in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. A solo version was released in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway. Background The single is Milian's most successful to date, reaching number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as the top five in the United Kingdom and the top ten in the Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway. Milian also performed and promoted the song for a Tommy Hilfiger Jeans commercial. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2005, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in early January 2005. It remains Milian's biggest hit single in the US to date, and her only one to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Legal issues In August 2006, Milian sued the co-writer and producer of "Dip It Low", Poli Paul, claiming that Paul "very definitively" assured her that "there were no samples whatsoever in [...] 'Dip It Low'". The issue had arisen in February 2005, when Thomas Turino, Larry Crook, and Dan Dickey sued Milian over the song, claiming that it contained a sample from a track they released in 1983 called "La Sirena". The lawsuit claimed that Paul heard the album while in a record store, liked the tune and sampled twelve seconds of it for "Dip It Low". These twelve seconds are repeated in a loop throughout the entire song. This suit was successful and the plaintiffs recovered over a million dollars (after lawyer expenses) divided 40% for Turino (the composer of the theme of the song), and 30% each for Dickey and Crook. Milian claimed that she had to spend more than $300,000 defending herself in the case, which she settled in 2006, and wanted $300,000 plus damages from Paul and his associate, Spencer Cowlings Entertainment. In November 2006, Paul countersued the Island Def Jam Music Group and its parent company, Universal Music Group.