Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent

"Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Guthrie. It was released in 1986 as the lead single from her fourth album, Good to Go Lover (1986), on Polydor Records. It became the biggest hit of Guthrie's career, and the song's title became a semi-popular catchphrase among many women throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[2] The single peaked at number five in the UK, but hit number one in New Zealand, Zimbabwe and on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. In 1993, it was remixed and again charted in the UK, peaking at number 42. In 2005, Blender listed "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" at number 339 on its list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".^[3]

"Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent"
Single by Gwen Guthrie
from the album Good to Go Lover
Released	1986
Genre	Dance-R&B^[1]
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Gwen Guthrie
Producer(s)	Gwen Guthrie
Gwen Guthrie singles chronology
"Just for You" (1985) "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" (1986) "Seventh Heaven" (1986)

Critical reception

Alan Jones from Music Week gave the 1993 remix three out of five. He wrote, "A disappointing seven-inch remix by Nigel Wright is stale and one-dimensional, but the original, still sounding fresh, and a radical E-Lustrious remix are more than enough to score a hit."^[4] James Hamilton from the RM Dance Update noted, "1986 garage anthem's radical blippily thundering E-Lusirious, breezily soulful Nigel Wright Remixes, ponderously lurching Original".^[5]

Chart performance

The song was a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic,^[6] mostly in dance clubs and on the radio, charting moderately on the US pop chart (reaching number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100), but faring better on the Billboard R&B chart where it spent one week at number-one and on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart where it spent two weeks at the top.^[7] The song peaked at number one in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, and was also successful in parts of Europe, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart.^[8] The 1993 remix reached number eight on the UK Dance Singles Chart.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1986–1987) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[9] 75 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[10] 28 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)^[11] 40 Ireland (IRMA)^[12] 6 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[13] 29 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[14] 25 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[15] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[16] 17 UK Singles (OCC)^[17] 5 US Billboard Hot 100^[18] 42 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)^[19] 1 US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)^[20] 3 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)^[21] 1 West Germany (Official German Charts)^[22] 21 Zimbabwe (ZIMA)^[23] 1 Chart (1993) Peak position UK Singles (OCC) 42 UK Dance (Music Week)^[24] 8 UK Club Chart (Music Week)^[25] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1986) Position UK Singles (OCC)^[26] 53 Chart (1987) Position New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[27] 48

References to other songs

The song contains apparent references to at least three other songs:

The line "Ain't nothing goin' on now, but the rent-uh" appears in the 1972 James Brown hit "Get on the Good Foot — Pt. 1".

The line "You got to have a J-O-B if you want to be-with-me" is set to a melody line that recurs throughout "Doctor Love", a 1977 disco hit by First Choice.

The line "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing" is taken from Billy Preston's 1974 hit song of the same name.

Covers and pop culture references

• This song, specifically the line, "what can you do for me?" was sampled by Utah Saints in their 1991 UK top ten hit, "What Can You Do For Me".
• The song has been referenced numerous times in popular culture, including songs with similar messages, such as Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills". The last stanza of Blackstreet's song "No Diggity" uses the title line.
• Rapper Foxy Brown released a cover version of the song, titled "JOB", which also featured Mýa.
• It appeared on Brown's 1999 album Chyna Doll.
• Comedian Eddie Murphy cited the song's title and lyrics^[28] in his 1987 stand-up comedy movie Raw as reflective of the materialism of American women at the time.
• In the 1994 film House Party 3, Reynaldo Rey used the lyric: "No romance without finance" to convey to Kid, how the lack of employment was a deal breaker.
• In the comedy series Martin, "Ain't Nuttin' Goin' on But the Rent" was the name of Episode 16 of Season 3 in 1995 where Martin refused to pay a 5% rent increase to his landlord.
• The song was also used in the 8th episode of season 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race, when contestants Alyssa Edwards and Ivy Winters had to lip sync to it to avoid elimination.^[29]
• The song was used again in the second season of RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race.

See also

• List of number-one dance singles of 1986 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1986 (U.S.)

References

1. Whaley, Natelegé. "Review: City Girls' Girl Code". Pitchfork. Conde Nast. Retrieved January 6, 2023. It's no wonder City Girls want men to pay up for their time. The mindset isn't new. Gwen Guthrie sang, "No romance without finance," on her 1986 dance-R&B hit "Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent."
2. "Hard 'Rain' Falls On Women". Los Angeles Times. September 28, 1986. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
3. . April 1, 2009. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
4. Jones, Alan (August 14, 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream – Singles – Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 14. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
5. Hamilton, James (August 21, 1993). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
6. "Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent was a major hit on both sides". Retrieved October 8, 2016.
7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003, (Record Research Inc.)
8. Official Charts Company info from Official Charts Company
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 131. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
10. "Gwen Guthrie – Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
11. "European Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 34. August 30, 1986. p. 12. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
13. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 1986" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
14. "Gwen Guthrie – Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
15. "Gwen Guthrie – Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
16. "Gwen Guthrie – Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
17. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
18. "Gwen Guthrie Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
19. "Gwen Guthrie Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
20. "Gwen Guthrie Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
21. "Gwen Guthrie Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
22. "Offiziellecharts.de – Gwen Guthrie – Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
23. * Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
24. "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. September 4, 1993. p. 26. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
25. "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). August 14, 1993. p. 4. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
26. "Top 100 Singles". Music Week. January 24, 1987. p. 24.
27. "End of Year Charts 1987". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
28. Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) – Full Transcript a Scraps from the Loft. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
29. Sava, Oliver (2013-03-19). "RuPaul's Drag Race: "Scent Of A Drag Queen"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2021-06-29.