If you were anywhere near a dance floor in 2014, you heard it. That sharp, playground-style recorder riff. It was everywhere. Jason Derulo Snoop Dogg Wiggle didn't just climb the charts; it basically lived there, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Honestly, it’s one of those songs that feels like a fever dream now. It was goofy, wildly catchy, and featured a rap legend basically phoning it in from a lawn chair.
But there is a lot more to this track than just "shaking what your mama gave you."
The Recorder heard 'round the world
Most pop songs rely on expensive synthesizers or heavy bass. Not this one. Producer Ricky Reed (who has worked with everyone from Lizzo to Leon Bridges) decided to go a different route. He used a toy flute. Seriously.
The main hook of the song is played on a recorder. You know, that plastic instrument they give fourth graders to make parents regret their life choices? That’s the secret sauce.
What went into the beat?
It wasn't just the toy flute, though. The production team, including Axident and Joe Spargur, got weird with the sound effects. They used:
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- Peanut wrappers being crinkled for texture.
- Hand clappers for that rhythmic snap.
- A "toy" aesthetic that made it sound like a nursery rhyme for adults.
Jason Derulo actually told The Boombox that the song came from pure experimentation. They weren't trying to sound like anyone else. They were just messing around in the studio until something stuck. And boy, did it stick. It sold over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone and went triple platinum.
Why Snoop Dogg was the only choice
When Derulo finished the track, he knew he needed a specific vibe. He didn't want a "hard" rapper. He wanted someone with "swag." He eventually ran into Snoop Dogg at an All-Star game and pitched him the idea.
Snoop’s verse is... well, it's Snoop. He’s the "OG homie," as Jason calls him. He drops lines like "damn baby, you got a bright future behind you" with the kind of casual confidence only a man who has been famous for 30 years can pull off. He isn't trying too hard. He's just enjoying the party.
The music video, directed by Colin Tilley, really leaned into this. They shot it at a massive mansion in Bel Air. It was basically a giant pool party featuring Ne-Yo, a lot of professional dancers, and a fake police raid that turned into a dance-off. It’s classic 2014—excessive, colorful, and slightly ridiculous.
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The lyrics everyone loves to hate
Let's be real: the lyrics are kind of a mess. Jason Derulo Snoop Dogg Wiggle has been torn apart by critics for years. Time magazine even put it on their list of the worst songs of 2014.
Why? Because lines like "that booty like two planets" and "go ham sandwich" are objectively hilarious. People on Reddit still argue about whether Jason was being "blandly offensive" or if he knew exactly how silly he was being. Most fans lean toward the latter. It’s a "guilty pleasure" track. You don't listen to it for the poetry; you listen to it because that "Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle" hook is an absolute earworm.
Cultural impact and the "Wiggle" dance
Long before TikTok made every song a "challenge," Wiggle had people doing specific choreography. Matt Steffanina’s dance routine for the song blew up on YouTube, garnering millions of views. It was the "Macarena" of the mid-2010s club scene. Even at the Teen Choice Awards, Derulo closed the show with a mashup of Wiggle and Talk Dirty, featuring backflips and a police car on stage.
What we can learn from Wiggle today
The song represents a specific era of "tackmeister" pop (as The Singles Jukebox called it). It wasn't trying to be deep. It was trying to be a meme before we really understood how memes worked in the music industry. It used weird sounds, cringey lyrics, and a huge feature to dominate the radio.
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If you're looking to recreate that 2014 energy, here’s how to approach it:
- Don't overthink the instruments. Sometimes a $5 toy flute is better than a $5,000 synth.
- Lean into the absurdity. If a lyric makes you laugh because it's "too much," it might be exactly what the song needs.
- Find the right collaborator. Snoop Dogg didn't need to go hard; he just needed to be Snoop.
You can still find the track on every major streaming platform, and honestly, if you play it at a wedding in 2026, people are still going to hit the dance floor. It's just one of those songs.
To dive deeper into the production of 2010s pop hits:
- Listen to the instrumental version of Wiggle to hear the "peanut wrapper" and "recorder" layers clearly.
- Compare the production of Wiggle to Talk Dirty to see how Ricky Reed used unconventional "world" instruments (like the Balkan saxophone) to redefine the pop sound of that decade.
- Check out the "Behind the Scenes" footage of the Bel Air music video shoot to see how much of that pool party was actually improvised.