Street Tuff

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title: "Street Tuff" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1989-songs", "1989-singles", "rebel-mc-songs", "double-trouble-(dance-music-producers)-songs", "hip-house-songs", "uk-independent-singles-chart-number-one-singles"] description: "1989 single by Rebel MC & Double Trouble" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Tuff" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1989 single by Rebel MC & Double Trouble ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Street Tuff
cover	Street_Tuff.jpg
type	single
artist	Rebel MC & Double Trouble
album	Rebel Music
released	1989
genre
length	3:31
label	Desire
writer
producer
chronology	Rebel MC
prev_title	Just Keep Rockin'
prev_year	1989
next_title	Better World
next_year	1990
misc
::

| name = Street Tuff | cover = Street_Tuff.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Rebel MC & Double Trouble | album = Rebel Music | released = 1989 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = | length = 3:31 | label = Desire | writer = | producer = | chronology = Rebel MC | prev_title = Just Keep Rockin' | prev_year = 1989 | next_title = Better World | next_year = 1990 | misc = "Street Tuff" is a song by British producer and toaster Rebel MC and Double Trouble featuring vocals by Janet Rose. It is written by Leigh Guest, Michael Menson and Michael West. Released in 1989 by the Desire label as their second single from the debut album, Rebel Music (1990), it became a commercial success and the biggest hit of both performers' careers, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. It is the follow-up to their first hit, "Just Keep Rockin'", which made it into the UK top 20. Additionally, "Street Tuff" became a top-10 hit in Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Critical reception

David Taylor-Wilson from Bay Area Reporter named the song "one of the most infectious grooves we've heard all year", noting that it "mixes the rhythms of Jamaican reggae with a house music beat. Just try and sit still when this one’s playing." Bill Coleman from Billboard magazine wrote that "clever rhyming powered by insinuating club beats" could generate multiformat play to follow the UK act's previous smash, "Just Keep Rockin'". David Giles from Music Week complimented it as a "splendid duet between hot young rapper Rebel MC and former Simply Red backing vocalist Janet Rose, conducted to an instrumental track that sounds very much like a dancehall reggae groove speeded up to 45 rpm! Brilliant and irresistibly danceable." A reviewer from The Network Forty felt that featuring the "sultry Annie Lennox style vocals" of the singer, "this rap-dance record covers both musical realms with equal zeal."

Siân Pattenden from Smash Hits said, "Quite a funky little number this, though very much in the same vein as their last single. There are lots of "yeahs", a boogalong beat and a host of currazy rhythms to keep you dancing. The words are very hard and tough, because the Rebel Mc is "street tuff" and he stings "like a bee" and that sorts of thing." Frank Owen from Spin found that the song is "a single masquerading as an album", "both marketing gimmick and a testament to the way the British mix and match different musical genres, unlike in the US, where the demarcation lines between house, hip hop and reggae still remain fiercely patrolled aesthetic boundaries."

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1989–1990) | Peak position | Australia (ARIA) | Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) | Greece (IFPI) | Italy (Musica e dischi) | Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 85 | | | | | | | | 14 | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | 19 | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1989)	Position	Belgium (Ultratop)	Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	Netherlands (Single Top 100)	UK Singles (OCC)
60
34
27
25
::

::data[format=table]

Chart (1990)	Position	Germany (Media Control)
68
::

References

References

1. Taylor-Wilson, David. (9 August 1990). "The Heat of the Beat".
2. Coleman, Bill. (24 February 1990). "Single Reviews".
3. Giles, David. (30 September 1989). "Singles". [[Music Week]].
4. (11 May 1990). "Top 40: The Next 40".
5. Pattenden, Siân. (4 October 1989). "Singles". [[Smash Hits]].
6. Owen, Frank. (May 1990). "Singles".
7. Ryan, Gavin. (2011). "Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010". Moonlight Publishing.
8. (11 November 1989). "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles".
9. (10 March 1990). "Top 3 Greece".
10. "Classifiche". [[Musica e dischi]].
11. [http://www.umdmusic.com/default.asp?Lang=English&Chart=F&ChDate=19891016&ChMode=P Radio Luxembourg Singles. 9 October 1989.]
12. "Jaaroverzichten 1989". [[Ultratop]].
13. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1989". Dutch Top 40.
14. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1989". [[MegaCharts]].
15. (3 March 1990). "Year-End Charts '89 – Top 100 Singles".
16. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1990". [[GfK Entertainment]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::