Ecstasy | 3 to 5 BOPS

Ecstasy: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 60 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Barry White, THEMXXNLIGHT, Ohio Players, Ninja Sex Party, and Young Thug. 

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 60^th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with ECSTASY in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Barry White, 🎙 Ninja Sex Party, 🎙 Ohio Players, 🎙 THEMXXNLIGHT, and 🎙 Young Thug.  Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Barry White, “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me”  

💿 Barry White Sings for Someone • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 1977    

“I did not know you had me hypnotized / There’s a movement of your body dancin’ in my eyes?” Oh, snap! Deep-voiced soul singer 🎙 Barry White had no shortage of hits during an illustrious career. The lushly produced, sexy gem, 🎵 “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me”, from his 1977 album, 💿 Barry White Sings for Someone You Love, is no exception. “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me” spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at no. 4.  It’s worth noting, White didn’t compose “Ecstasy”; it was written by 🎼 ✍ Ekundayo Paris and Nelson Pigford.     

With “Ecstasy,” the listener gets the best of both worlds, in essence.  Clearly, the modus operandi is sex – good, old-school baby-making music! Not only does that sick groove incite body movements, the once-in-a-lifetime vocals, and suggestive lyrics serve as an utterly sublime soundtrack to sex.  “I know I had to hold you and make you mine,” White sings in the pre-chorus, continuing, “Don’t want to control you, just want to have a good time.” Yeah, doesn’t require much thought to brainstorm ways couples “have a good time.” Of course, the centerpiece is the chorus, which features those sensual, titular lyrics (“In ecstasy, when you’re layin’ down next to me”). The lyrics, and those sensual pipes of Barry White speak for themselves on 🎵 “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me”.  What a funky disco/soul classic! Additionally, you can’t shortchange “Ecstasy” with its magnificent orchestration (John Roberts), executed to perfection by 🎙 The Love Unlimited Orchestra. 

Appears in 🔻:   

• Barry White, “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me”: After Dark 🕛 🌃 60 (2022) 
• Incredible Songs: 1970s, Vol. 2

2. THEMXXNLIGHT, “Ecstasy”

🎵 “Ecstasy” • 🏷 THEMXXNLIGHT Entertainment Corporation / VIZIER • 📅 2023

“It’s obvious you want all the sex / And all the highs I know / Girl I know.” Holy shit 🥵 🥵 🥵! Please, please, continue 😈! “You know I give you all the sex / And all the highs, I know / Girl I know.” Phew 🥵 🥵 🥵, the temperature is at an all-time high, and a thermometer 🌡️ is not required! 🎙 THEMXXNLIGHT (🎙 Akash “Kush”  and 🎙 Krish “Luv” Chandani) excel at serving up naughty, sensual R&B. Furthermore, Kush and Luv aren’t one-trick ponies – they are intelligent, talented, multifaceted hotties (had to throw that in 😉) that hail from the Bay Area. Previously, the duo conjured up that midnight heat with the song 🎵 “All I Need”. This time, those sensual vibes arrives courtesy of 🎵 “Ecstasy”.

“Ecstasy” doesn’t require deep analysis – it’s about sex, period! Yes, there’s love in the mix as well.  The production is smooth and lush, intentionally fueling the sexy aesthetic.  You know what else fuels that aesthetic? Ripe falsetto. There’s just something incredibly hot when a man ascends into his head voice, not to mentions thinks with a different head 😈 🤣. “I might give it up tonight / I know how you feel when I’m deep inside…” Ooh-wee, chilllddddd 🍆 ✌🏻! Might give it up bros? Oh, it sounds and feels like it’s DEFINITE, particularly when we hear the lyrics, “Oh girl, I’ma fuck you right /… How many times you felt this ecstasy you won’t forget.” Clearly, THEMXXNLIGHT are going to ensure the sex is lit 🔥 – she’s definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY going to remember this… wait for it… 🎵 “Ecstasy”!

Appears in 🔻:

• THEMXXNLIGHT, Ecstasy: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 60 (2023)

3. Young Thug, “Ecstasy” (Ft. Machine Gun Kelly)

💿 So Much Fun • 🏷 300 Entertainment / Atlantic • 📅 2019

“Molly, Roxies / Oxycontin (Yeah).” WOO! That is some substance – more like substances – in the chorus of 🎵 “Ecstasy”. “Ecstasy” arrives as the third track from 💿 So Much Fun, the 2019 studio album by 🏆 Grammy-nominated rapper, 🎙 Young Thug. Thugga highlights those drugs unapologetically, throughout the course of the song.  Of course, he also plays on the other meaning of ecstasy, related to sex: “I can take the stick and I can lift it up / I can take this bitch and I can lift her up.” The keyword is stick in that context. In the first verse, he mentions “Hundred Percocets, I took like four or five off the rip,” before diving into matters of the D again (“My dick hard, bitch, come get after it”). Charming.  Of course, Young Thug gets an assist from 🎙 Machine Gun Kelly in the second verse:

“I might go on tour and fuck a daughter and her mother

Pour some drank that’s red like Robitussin, ayy

If I get pulled over, put my coke inside your crack, yeah

We get home, I pop a pill and I’ll blow out your back, yeah.”

Honestly, does anything else need to be said regarding the theme or lyrics? 🎛 DY Krazy and 12Hunna deserve a shoutout for that nasty-ass beat – WOO!

4. Ninja Sex Party, “Three Minutes of Ecstasy”

💿 NSFW • 🏷 Ninja Sex Party • 📅 2011 

“You can’t wait for Saturday ‘cause / That’s the night that it all goes down…” Um, sure. Please, tell us more, Dan Avidan! “From 7:45 to 7:48 PM in particular / ‘Cause that is when I will give you what you need…” Hmm, now I have questions.  The first one is, is 🎙 Ninja Sex Party – 🎙 Dan Avidan and 🎙 Brian Wecht – meant to be taken seriously? The answer should be obvious – NO, of course not!  Given that understanding, 🎵 “Three Minutes of Ecstasy” is perfection…said no one ever 😏. “Three minutes of ecstasy several nights a month / You just tell me baby if that is too much / When my stuff is in your stuff…” Um… too much, really? Avidan continues, “Our souls become entwined / For 180 seconds / My sex has blown your mind.” Holy shiitake mushrooms! It is what it is!   

Appears in 🔻:

• 13 Songs Where Time Is Clearly a Factor (2016)

5. Ohio Players, Ecstasy

💿 Ecstasy • 🏷 Westbound • 🗓 1973

“I’ll never, never, never / Leave her, leave her, no, no.” Who want you ever leave, 🎙 Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner? Why, his baby, of course! Furthermore, “Loving you, loving you / Is ecstasy to me.” 🎵 “Ecstasy” commences the fourth album by iconic funk collective, 🎙 Ohio Players, also titled, 💿 Ecstasy (1973). This album preceded the breakthrough, Mercury projects by the collective.  Even so, the song at hand managed to make some noise on the pop charts, peaking at no. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It’s a brief joint but packs a mighty punch.

One of the biggest selling points of “Ecstasy” is the funky production.  From the onset, “Ecstasy” is a surefire vibe – it has you moving your body.  Furthermore, the lead vocals are energetic, expressive, and wild.  Truly, you buy what is being sold through playful, powerful, and sexual vocals.  The songwriting is not deep, but it doesn’t need to be.  The point is made loud and clear: sex, sex, sex! Ohio Players are renowned for their erotic brand of funk and “Ecstasy” ticks off all the boxes.  Sure, later, the collective would do much worse (in the best way possible), but 🎵 “Ecstasy” proved to be a great preface to what’s followed. Also, shout out the rappers, including 🎙 A Tribe Called Quest, 🎙 Jay-Z, and 🎙 Busta Rhymes for sampling this classic!

Appears in 🔻:

• Ohio Players, “Ecstasy”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 100 (2023)

Ecstasy: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 60 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 300 Entertainment / Atlantic, Ninja Sex Party, THEMXXNLIGHT Entertainment Corporation / VIZIER, UMG Recordings, Inc., Westbound; cottonbro studio from Pexels]