It's Tricky


"It's Tricky" is the fourth and final single released from Run-DMC's third album, Raising Hell. It was released early in 1987 through Profile Records and was co-produced by Rick Rubin and the group themselves. The song peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In the UK, the song made No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart upon its original release and No. 74 upon being remixed by Jason Nevins in 1998, while Nevins' remix of their song "It's Like That" spent its fifth week at No. 1. Nevins' remix, " Tricky", achieved top 40 peaks elsewhere in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Two decades after the song's release, The Knack sued Run-DMC on the grounds "It's Tricky" sampled their song "My Sharona" without permission.
The song is used in the promotional clip for the FX television series Snowfall, which began airing in July 2017. The original song appeared in the movies Road Trip and The Bounty Hunter and in the video games SSX Tricky, WWE 2K16, Forza Horizon 3, and SSX .

Sampling

The song contains samples of "My Sharona" by The Knack, as well as the entire vocal structure from "Mickey" by Toni Basil. The Knack sued Run-DMC over the track in 2006, and the lawsuit was settled out of court.

Music video

The music video features Penn and Teller, who are hustling a group of people with a game of three-card Monte in front of the Rialto Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Run-DMC are called and shut their business down by winning every hand they play. Penn then asks the group if they can teach them to dance, which they do after insisting that Penn and Teller change their clothes. The video ends with Run-DMC showing up to a gig in Japan six months later, where they find the duo impersonating them; unable to tell the difference, the concert promoters deny Run-DMC the chance to perform.

Track listing

7-inch
12-inch

Weekly charts

;Original version
Chart Peak
position

;Jason Nevins remix
Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts

;Jason Nevins remix
Chart Position
Australia 88