"What's It Gonna Be?!" was composed in 4 4 time and the key of C♯ major, with a tempo of 116 beats per minute. It has a duration time of five minutes and twenty-four seconds.[1]
The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and Hot Rap Tracks charts. It also reached number five on the Rhythmic Top 40. It was a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. It was a moderate success in Europe, reaching the top forty in most countries. The song sold 800,000 copies in the United States[2] and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The single entered at #1 on the UK R&B Singles chart.[3]
The music video for the song was directed by Hype Williams on March 12, 1999. It is one of the most expensive videos ever made, costing upwards of $2 million, and focused largely on special effects. The video begins with a glass of silver liquid moving toward the edge of its resting area, which spills and transforms into Busta Rhymes as a knight in shining armor before he begins rapping. Jackson is portrayed as a dominatrix, in a revealing purple latex suit adorned with cock rings and nail piercings.
The video contains frequent sexual innuendo, visually based on the song's lyrical themes, portraying imagery alluding to wet dreams and stimulated wetness. Jackson appears in a liquid tunnel as Rhymes morphs into a sperm-like creature and floats towards her. A marching band of miniature Rhymes passes through the tunnel's walls as Rhymes transforms into one himself, before morphing again to rise through the tunnel's ceiling. Electric sparks fly as miniature versions of himself pour like raindrops onto Jackson's breasts. Towards the finale, Rhymes and Jackson are united as their bodies rub up on each other. The remaining scenery then combusts as they continue transforming into a silver liquid. The video ends with "Hot Shit Makin' Ya Bounce" playing on the speakers.
