“Juicy Fruit” is a funk song written by James Mtume and released as the lead-off single from Mtume’s sixth album, also titled Juicy Fruit.

The mid-tempo song is arguably Mtume’s most well-known, proving enormously successful on R&B radio stations and (to a lesser extent) nightclubs when first released. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart on June 4, 1983 and remained there for eight weeks. Its success on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, however, was more modest, reaching number 45.

The single remarkably became a certified one million seller on July 25, 1983 without even becoming a Top 40 hit. The song’s video had different lyrics, where they replaced “You can lick me everywhere” with “Candy kisses everywhere” so it wouldn’t be censored or banned from being seen on TV.

Juicy Fruit has been prominently sampled by hip-hop and R&B artists throughout the years, most notably by The Notorious B.I.G. on his debut solo single “Juicy” and Keyshia Cole on her hit single “Let it Go”.