Throwback Thursday: "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" Puff Daddy ft. Mase

Before the clothing line and countless name changes, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs was just a successful hip-hop producer trying to transition to headliner status. Debut single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" is a personal manifesto of making bank and staying real—ironically, performed almost entirely by protégé Mase—that defines the era of rap that Puffy helped spawn: a menagerie of emcees celebrating wealth and fame over a cruising beat heavily constructed from classic samples (in this case, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message"). It's a simple, endlessly repeatable formula that produced some highly effective, inspired tracks over the years—particularly the posthumous Notorious B.I.G. single "Mo Money Mo Problems," produced by Combs. But points off from "Can't Nobody" for turning Matthew Wilder's 1983 hit "Break My Stride" into the sleepiest, least galvanizing motivational hook imaginable. B

15 years ago this week, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100.