In some circles, Atlanta rap group Crime Mob‘s 2004 hit “Knuck If You Buck” goes beyond just being a cultural touchstone. As Charlamagne Tha God recently put it during an interview with Regina Hall about her new movie Honk For Jesus, it’s damn near a “Negro spiritual.” The song came up in the course of the conversation because Hall’s character quotes it in the movie, leading to Hall admitting that she hadn’t heard it before she had to learn the lyrics for one of the film’s awkward-funny gags. This naturally led to some consternation among the Breakfast Club crew, prompting Hall to defend herself.
“I’m highly disappointed that you and Sterling K. Brown had to learn the words to the Negro spiritual, ‘Knuck If You Buck,’” Charlamagne joked. “You’re Black, Regina Hall!” Hall chuckled as she agreed, “It’s embarrassing! That’s what I found out!” She goes on to explain that she was in LA, not her hometown, DC, when the song came out (“It was in LA too!” CTG protests), and that it was a club hit, which is why she didn’t hear it. As she self-deprecatingly jests, “The club days ended so early for me.” When Charlamagne notes that the song is “18 years old,” Hall replies, “It was over by then!” She also explains how it took her a few days to learn Princess’ rhymes (the best part, as acknowledged by the interview crew), and laughed that Issa Rae would be disappointed in her, too.
Regina Hall talks about how she and costar Sterling K. Brown never heard “Knuck if you buck” until she had to recite it in her latest film “Honk for Jesus” on @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/11qYAAL2iy
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) September 7, 2022
At least, for Regina’s sake, she proved she remembers the lyrics to Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” and Lil Jon’s “Get Low,” or she would have been in danger of getting her Black Card revoked. You can check out the full interview up top.