"How We Do" is a song by American rapper and West Coast hip hop artist the Game, featuring rapper 50 Cent from his debut album, The Documentary. Produced by Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo, it was released as the album's second official single in late 2004.
"How We Do" achieved commercial success worldwide. The track peaked within the top 10 in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand. The single was commercially successful in the United States, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining on the chart for 28 consecutive weeks. "How We Do" marked Game's first top-ten single on the chart as a lead artist and also marked 50 Cent's fifth overall top-ten single.
Background and recording
The Game first discovered the instrumental for "How We Do" whilst going through a folder of Dr. Dre's productions without his permission; the audio file was labelled "Fresh '83". Dr. Dre did not like the production at first, but The Game convinced him to let him write some lyrics to it, and after hearing The Game perform his first verse Dr. Dre decided that the song should be completed. Once The Game had completed all his verses, Dr. Dre commissioned 50 Cent to write the chorus, who while doing so decided he also wanted to appear on the song; he rewrote and replaced The Game's intended second verse with one of his own.
Single track listing
A-side
- "How We Do (edited)" (4:03)
B-side
- "How We Do (edited)" (4:03)
- "How We Do (explicit)" (4:20)
- "How We Do (instrumental)" (4:04)
- "How We Do (a cappella)" (3:01)
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
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!scope="col"| Chart (2004–2005)
!scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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!scope="row"|Canada CHR/Pop Top 30 (Radio & Records)
|11
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!scope=row|Greece (IFPI)
|19
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|-
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!scope="row"|US Pop Songs (Billboard)
|14
|-
!scope="row"
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|-
!scope="col"| Chart (2005)
!scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)
| 81
|-
!scope="row"|European Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)
| 72
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!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control GfK)
| 65
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
| 77
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)
| 75
|-
!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 52
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)
| 93
|-
!scope="row"|UK Urban (Music Week)<br />
|13
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100
| 19
|-
!scope="row"|US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)
| 8
|}
Certifications
Release history
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col"| Region
! scope="col"| Date
! scope="col"| Format(s)
! scope="col"| Label(s)
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! scope="row"| United States
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| Urban contemporary radio
| G-Unit, Aftermath, Interscope
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