"What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "Whatta Man" in 1993 by the trio Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue, which became a commercial success; reaching the top ten in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2011, German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut (credited as Lena) covered the song while retaining the original title and lyrics.
Early versions
Linda Lyndell, a white singer who had been a supporting act with James Brown and Ike & Tina Turner and then recommended to Stax Records by Otis Redding, recorded "What a Man". The song was essentially improvised by Lyndell, record producer Dave Crawford, and the Stax studio musicians in Memphis, Tennessee. It was released as a single in 1968 with the B-side track "I Don't Know"; both songs were credited to and produced by Dave Crawford. The single entered the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart on August 24, 1968, and then peaked at number 50. The record came to the attention of white supremacists in the Ku Klux Klan, who threatened Lyndell for associating with black musicians; as a result, she largely withdrew from the music business for the next 25 years.
Laura Lee covered the song, released in 1970 as a single by the Cotillion Records with "Separation Line" as the B-side track. Lee's version earned poor sales.
Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue version
Production
In 1993, American hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa recorded the song retitled "Whatta Man" for Runaway Love, an EP by En Vogue, who is credited as the featured group. Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor wrote the rap lyrics and produced the version, with Cheryl James (Salt) also credited as one of the songwriters. Salt-N-Pepa sampled Lyndell's original recording and remade the song as a rap song.
En Vogue sings the refrain of the song; "Whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man.", while a pregnant Cindy Herron is featured only on background vocals. "Whatta Man" was later featured on Salt-n-Pepa's 1993 album, Very Necessary. The male vocals at the beginning of the song were performed by brothers Troy and John Mitchell of the rap group 3 Feet.
Critical reception
AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the song "such a wonderful duet", noting that they deliver a song "so sexy it hurts". Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that the "fierce, ruling rap divas dip into their fine Very Necessary album and pull out this wickedly funky hip hop jam." He added further, "Loose and oh-so-appealing harmonies by En Vogue provide a kickin' framework for clever, lip-lickin' rhymes that melt into the track's butt-shaggin' beats. Destined to be an out-of-the-box smasheroo, single further benefits from Danny D's well-conceived remixes." James Earl Hardy from Entertainment Weekly felt in his review of En Vogue's EP, Runaway Love, that the song "prove [that] these divas have more in common with the Emotions and the Sweet Inspirations than with the Supremes." Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented, "Whatta concept, pairing these goddesses of hip-hop with a killer track and some of the best lines heard in a long time. Though it was getting a healthy number of spins in several markets late last year, it's now starting to bust big."
James Hamilton from Music Weeks RM Dance Update deemed it a "cooing gritty slow rap". Ted Kessler from NME named it Unstoppable Hit Single of the Week, writing, "This takes En Vogue's "My Lovin'", puts it in a car, drives it off somewhere hot, sunny and sexy, slows it down, feeds it loads of funky guitar and sewns in some sassy rapping about how the ideal man treats Salt, Pepa and Spinderella." Gerald Martinez from New Sunday Times felt the song showed that En Vogue "can rap with the best of them." A reviewer from People Magazine described it as "R&B-stoked". In an retrospective review, Pop Rescue declared it as a "fantastic collaboration" with En Vogue and a "masterpiece". Sylvia Patterson from Smash Hits gave it two out of five. James Hunter from Vibe noted that En Vogue are "sounding proud as punch to play second fiddle, furnish Salt-N-Pepa with harmonic backdrops. It's a logical collaboration: En Vogue provide the sound of true romance that the rappers can better state than demonstrate."