She's a Bad Mama Jama

The single was cut for Carl Carlton’s 1981 self-titled album and produced by Leon Haywood, who also wrote the song. Haywood handled the session from his own studio with Carlton on lead vocals. Released in 1981, it became Carlton’s signature hit and a major R&B crossover, while also earning him a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male in 1982. The record helped establish Carlton’s early-1980s comeback after a long run of earlier singles. The track has remained a staple of funk and old-school R&B compilations and has been widely sampled in later hip-hop and R&B records. Its title phrase became part of the wider popular vocabulary and the song remains Carlton’s best-known recording.