# World Clique

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***World Clique*** is the debut album by American [dance music](/source/Dance_music) band [Deee-Lite](/source/Deee-Lite), which was released in 1990. The album's first single, "[Groove Is in the Heart](/source/Groove_Is_in_the_Heart)", was a top-five success on both the US [*Billboard* Hot 100](/source/Billboard_Hot_100) and [UK Singles Chart](/source/UK_Singles_Chart) as well as a No. 1 hit on the US [Hot Dance Club Play](/source/Hot_Dance_Club_Play) chart. Three subsequent singles also hit the top ten on the US dance chart, including "[Power of Love](/source/Power_of_Love_(Deee-Lite_song))/Build That Bridge", which also hit No. 1, and "Good Beat".

Guest artists on the album include [Bootsy Collins](/source/Bootsy_Collins), [Q-Tip](/source/Q-Tip_(rapper)), [Fred Wesley](/source/Fred_Wesley) and [Maceo Parker](/source/Maceo_Parker). When *World Clique* was released on [compact disc](/source/Compact_disc), two bonus tracks were added to the album: "Deee-Lite Theme" and "Build the Bridge".

"E.S.P." contains a sample of actor [Bela Lugosi](/source/Bela_Lugosi) from the 1934 film *[The Black Cat](/source/The_Black_Cat_(1934_film))*.[2]

## Critical reception

In *[Spin](/source/Spin_(magazine))*, Steven Daly hailed *World Clique* as "the debut album of the year" and "an eloquent tableau of '90s possibilities", finding that Deee-Lite "keep the affair on a human scale" and distinguish themselves from other "digital [Robin Hoods](/source/Robin_Hood)" by writing their own [hooks](/source/Hook_(music)) and refraining from excessive [sampling](/source/Sampling_(music)).[3] "While their command of technology is determinedly progressive," wrote Don McLeese of the *[Chicago Sun-Times](/source/Chicago_Sun-Times)*, "they use sampling for more than the usual recycling and bring a playfulness beyond the bloodless perfection that has come to characterize computer music."[4] *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)* critic [Greg Sandow](/source/Greg_Sandow) said that Deee-Lite "make [dance music](/source/Dance_music) that's unpredictable and steadily delirious" and imbue *World Clique* with "an ironic edge" and their own lyrical and musical "quirks".[5] *[Record Mirror](/source/Record_Mirror)'*s Richie Blackmore complimented the group's "refreshing ability to master different dance styles",[6] while [Richard Norris](/source/Richard_Norris_(musician)) commented in *[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))* that the album "sounds like the most fun you've ever had, a fittingly wordly mix of chunky [funk](/source/Funk), [house](/source/House_music) and [soul](/source/Soul_music) topped with some of the finest wiggly noises you'll have heard for a while."[7] Helen Mead of *[NME](/source/NME)* lauded *World Clique* as "one of the most varied and inspirational club crossover records ever."[8]

Dennis Hunt of the *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)* was less impressed, writing that *World Clique* is "littered with distracting touches and tries too hard to be innovative".[9] *[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)* reviewer Arion Berger felt that it features "formulaic well-chosen beats and not-quite-powerful vocals" and comes across as "a selective history of pop culture played as house music and compressed into easily swallowable three-minute bites."[10] *[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice)'*s [Robert Christgau](/source/Robert_Christgau) identified "Good Beat" as the album's sole "[choice cut](/source/Christgau's_Consumer_Guide:_Albums_of_the_'90s#Grading_key)".[11]

Two years after the album's release, *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))* called *World Clique* an "innovative, media-saturated debut".[12] In a retrospective review for [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic), Ned Raggett wrote that frontwoman [Lady Miss Kier](/source/Lady_Miss_Kier) "has not merely the pipes but the personality to carry something on her own", while producers DJ Dmitry and [Towa Tei](/source/Towa_Tei) "come up with a seamless, adept flow throughout, merrily raiding whatever they so choose in the past for their own purposes."[13]

In 2003, *[Slant Magazine](/source/Slant_Magazine)* included *World Clique* in its list, Vital Pop: 50 Essential Pop Albums.[14] Charles Pitter for Zouch notes that album track and single "Groove Is in the Heart" is a "dance classic".[15]

## Commercial performance

The album's initial success occurred in the UK, where it peaked at No. 14 on the [UK Albums Chart](/source/UK_Albums_Chart) in September 1990.[16] Simultaneously, the album entered the [*Billboard* 200](/source/Billboard_200) at No. 180 for the week of September 15 in the US.[17] Fueled by the success of "Groove Is in the Heart", *World Clique* continued to climb the chart for several weeks, peaking at No. 20 for the week of November 24.[18]

The success of subsequent singles "Power of Love", "Good Beat", and "E.S.P." helped the album to sustain steady sales throughout the following months, with the album achieving [RIAA Gold certification](/source/RIAA_certification) in December 1990[19] and remaining on the *Billboard* 200 for a total of 41 weeks before falling off the chart in June 1991, following its final chart position at No. 199.[20] *World Clique* is Deee-Lite's most successful album, outlasting *[Infinity Within](/source/Infinity_Within)* (1992) and *[Dewdrops in the Garden](/source/Dewdrops_in_the_Garden)* (1994) on the *Billboard* 200 chart and outperforming its successors in terms of highest peak position and mainstream exposure and sales.[21]

## Personnel

### Deee-Lite

- Super DJ Dimitry
- [Jungle DJ Towa Tei](/source/Towa_Tei)
- [The Lady Miss Kier Kirby](/source/Lady_Miss_Kier)

### Additional personnel

- [Bootsy Collins](/source/Bootsy_Collins) – additional bass on ("Who Was That?"), additional guitar on ("Smile On"), guitar on ("Try Me"), background vocals on ("Groove Is in the Heart")
- [Q-Tip](/source/Q-Tip_(musician)) (from [A Tribe Called Quest](/source/A_Tribe_Called_Quest)) – rap on ("Groove Is in the Heart")
- Sahirah – background vocals on ("World Clique")
- Sheila Slappy – background vocals on ("World Clique")
- [Fred Wesley](/source/Fred_Wesley) – trombone on ("Smile On", "Groove Is in the Heart", "Try Me On")
- [Maceo Parker](/source/Maceo_Parker) – saxophone on ("Smile On", "Groove Is in the Heart", "Try Me On")
- Bill "Chicken on Fire" Coleman – vocals on ("Build the Bridge")

### Technical

- Deee-Lite – producer, arranger, mixing
- Mike "Tweekin" Rogers – additional background vocal production and arrangement, engineer, mixing
- Eddie Sancho – assistant engineer
- Derek Lategan – assistant engineer
- [Bob Power](/source/Bob_Power) – additional engineering
- Herb Powers – mastering
- Bill Coleman – executive producer
- [Nick Egan](/source/Nick_Egan) – art direction, design
- Daisy – art direction
- Tom Bouman – design
- Michael Halsband – photography
- Michael Economy – comics
- [Tabboo!!](/source/Stephen_Tashjian) – hand lettering

## Charts

### Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for World Clique Chart (1990–91) Peak position US Billboard 200[22] 20 US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums (Billboard)[22] 34

### Year-end charts

1991 year-end chart performance for World Clique Chart (1991) Position US Billboard 200[23] 77

## References

1. Harrington, Jim (2016). "Deee-Lite - *World Clique*". *[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die](/source/1001_Albums_You_Must_Hear_Before_You_Die)*. Dimery, Robert (ed.). London: [Cassell Illustrated](/source/Cassell_(publisher)). p. 636.

1. ["It's Béla Lugosi versus Boris Karloff in a loose take on the Black Cat"](https://www.avclub.com/its-bela-lugosi-versus-boris-karloff-in-a-very-loose-ta-1845489213). *[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club)*

1. Daly, Steven (October 1990). ["Deee-Lite: World Clique"](https://books.google.com/books?id=hV6_z7r2zQMC&pg=PA79). *[Spin](/source/Spin_(magazine))*. Vol. 6, no. 7. pp. 79–80. Retrieved June 28, 2023.

1. McLeese, Don (October 1, 1990). ["Worldly Deee-Lite clicks in techno-dance debut"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171228054254/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4019607.html). *[Chicago Sun-Times](/source/Chicago_Sun-Times)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4019607.html) on December 28, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.

1. Sandow, Greg (August 17, 1990). ["World Clique"](https://ew.com/article/1990/08/17/world-clique/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Retrieved August 5, 2016.

1. Blackmore, Richie (September 1, 1990). "Deee-Lite: World Clique". *[Record Mirror](/source/Record_Mirror)*. p. 18.

1. Norris, Richard (September 1990). "Body Eclectic". *[Select](/source/Select_(magazine))*. No. 3. p. 80.

1. Mead, Helen (September 1, 1990). ["Deee-Lightful"](https://web.archive.org/web/20000817212323/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000150reviews.html). *[NME](/source/NME)*. p. 32. Archived from [the original](http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000150reviews.html) on August 17, 2000. Retrieved August 5, 2016.

1. Hilburn, Robert; Hunt, Dennis; Boehm, Mike; Cromelin, Richard; Gold, Jonathan; Hochman, Steve; Willman, Chris; Lewis, Randy; Johnson, Connie; Waller, Don (October 14, 1990). ["Fall's Big Albums, From AC / DC to Z.Z. Top"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-14-ca-3727-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. Retrieved June 28, 2023.

1. Berger, Arion (November 1, 1990). ["Deee-Lite: World Clique"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081119070757/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/deeelite/albums/album/119045/review/5943147/world_clique). *[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/deeelite/albums/album/119045/review/5943147/world_clique) on November 19, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2023.

1. Christgau, Robert (July 30, 1991). ["Consumer Guide"](https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv791-91.php). *[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice)*. Retrieved June 28, 2023.

1. ["Deee-Lite: Infinity Within"](https://books.google.com/books?id=wBAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA46). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Vol. 104, no. 26. June 27, 1992. p. 46. Retrieved February 8, 2016.

1. Raggett, Ned. ["World Clique – Deee-Lite"](https://www.allmusic.com/album/world-clique-mw0000308726). [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic). Retrieved August 5, 2016.

1. ["Vital Pop: 50 Essential Pop Albums"](https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/features/vitalpop.asp). *[Slant Magazine](/source/Slant_Magazine)*. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

1. Pitter, Charles. ["Zouch"](http://zouchmagazine.com/deee-lite-world-clique-deluxe-edition/#.W-gXA_Z2uUk)

1. ["everyhit.com"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080319091720/http://everyhit.com/). Archived from [the original](http://www.everyhit.com) on March 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

1. ["The Billboard 200 - Chart Listing For The Week Of Sep 15 1990"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150108083440/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1990-09-15/billboard-200). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Archived from [the original](https://www.billboard.com/charts/1990-09-15/billboard-200) on January 8, 2015. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

1. ["The Billboard 200 - Chart Listing For The Week Of Nov 24 1990"](https://www.billboard.com/charts/1990-11-24/billboard-200). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Retrieved 2008-03-28. [dead link]

1. ["RIAA Searchable Database"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070626050454/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH). [RIAA](/source/RIAA). Archived from [the original](https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH) on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

1. ["The Billboard 200 - Chart Listing for the Week Of Jun 22 1991"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130208145756/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1991-06-22/billboard-200). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Archived from [the original](https://www.billboard.com/charts/1991-06-22/billboard-200) on February 8, 2013. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

1. "Artist Chart History - Dee-Lite". *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Retrieved 2008-03-28.

1. "World Clique - Deee-Lite". *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Retrieved 2012-04-16.

1. ["Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991"](https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1991/top-billboard-200-albums). *Billboard*. 2 January 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2021.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [World Clique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Clique) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Clique?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.