Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)

"Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" is the debut single by English pop duo Wham! on Innervision Records, released in June 1982. It was written by Wham! members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. History "Wham Rap!" was the first song written by Michael and Ridgeley following the breakup of their previous band, The Executive, but before they had officially formed (or named) Wham! The genesis of the song began in 1981 and was a result of Ridgeley making up his own words ("Wham! Bam! I am the man!") while dancing to "Rapper's Delight" with Michael and Shirley in Bogart's nightclub in South Harrow. As they continued to work on the song an ultimatum to Michael from his father inspired the line "Get yourself a job or get out of this house". A demo of "Wham Rap!" was recorded by local music producer Paul Mex, in January 1982 along with "Club Tropicana" and "Careless Whisper" on Mex's TEAC 4-track Portastudio, with the resulting 3-song demo tape gaining Wham! their record contract with Innervision Records some weeks later. Innervision quickly arranged for a proper demo of the song to be recorded at Halligan Band Centre in Holloway (on 24 March 1982) using session musicians on bass and drums, which was then used by Michael and Ridgeley as a backing track for promotional performances at various nightclubs in preparation for their debut release. Synopsis Although rap was still an underground and almost exclusively American phenomenon in the early 1980s, Michael rapped—as the title implies—a number of verses about the joys of living every day to the fullest, reveling in unemployment and celebrating government assistance from the Department of Health and Social Security (the initials "DHSS" are repeatedly chanted during the song). The explicitly political song flew in the face of the conventional British left-wing who were talking about the 'right to work' at the time. The chorus asked the question "Do you enjoy what you do?", which brought about the bracketed section of the title. Music video The music video was filmed in London in February 1983 after the single was re-issued. The video shows Michael and Ridgeley as two unemployed youths who were spending their time teaching one another on how to live their life while roaming about the streets of London. They wear leather jackets, combining their moody image with a bright, effervescent choreography.