The year is 2000. The anticipated horrors of y2k had passed, music was shamelessly fun and unserious, and technology was advancing fast. It was quite an era to be alive, and also quite an era to be a kid. One song that I remember most from this period of my childhood is “Who Let The Dogs Out” by Baha Men.
The tune was released in July of that year. It was an enormous breakbeat junkanoo hit for the Bahamian outfit Baha Men. It would be their only massive international hit, landing the band in one-hit wonder territory, but also earning them a Grammy award.
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Unfortunately, the song that I vividly remember with so much positivity and nostalgia has also been the subject of song theft rumors. Let’s investigate, shall we?
Did Baha Men Steal “Who Let the Dogs Out”? The Truth Is… Complicated
The most memorable part of “Who Let The Dogs Out” by Baha Men has to be its hook. The rallying cry of “Who let the dogs out?!” accompanied by doglike barking is the most iconic part of the song. However, through the years, the song has been at the center of controversy. There was even a lawsuit over who actually came up with the hook.
Trinidadian musician Anslem Douglas recorded the song as “Doggie” back in 1998. He claimed that he wrote and recorded the song first. This is more or less true, as Baha Men’s version is technically considered a cover of Douglas’ song. Douglas claimed that the phrase that made up the legendary hook came from hearing his brother-in-law say the phrase in question.
However, a musician named Ossie Gurley claimed that he originally created the tune in his Toronto-based recording studio. A legal battle ensued, which was later settled. I could get into the legal details of it all. However, this documentary from 2019 is quite thrilling and worth a watch to get all the answers.
However… things get more complicated from here. There’s a chance that the hook of “Who Let The Dogs Out” has even older origins. A pair of teens claimed that they came up with the hook in 1992 with some footage to back it up. A singer called Gillette released a song called “You’re A Dog” in 1995 that had a similar hook. Likewise, there are also old video clips of a Texas high school football team chanting the hook during a game in the 1980s. There’s even another song, titled “Pump Up The Party” by Hassan from 1987, that boasts a similar hook.
Who knew that a simple hook, paired with barking, could have so much conspiracy hanging around it? We might find old caveman drawings depicting the lyrics someday.
So, did Baha Men steal the hook of “Who Let The Dogs Out”? Probably not, but there’s a chance that Douglas did. However, everything related to that claim is alleged and up to speculation. We may never know the truth, but I’ll leave you to form your own opinions about it.
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