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It's Not Right but It's Okay
1999 single by Whitney Houston From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"It's Not Right but It's Okay" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love. It was written by LaShawn Daniels, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Isaac Phillips, Toni Estes and produced by Darkchild. First issued as the b-side to "Heartbreak Hotel in December 1998, it was officially released as the third single off the My Love Is Your Love album on February 15, 1999 by Arista Records. "It's Not Right but It's Okay" examines a woman confronting her lover about his infidelity.
The song was remixed by several remixers and producers, most notably Thunderpuss, whose version eventually made it to mainstream radio stations. It's also notable for its popular music video, which featured Houston in a strapless black leather gown designed by Gianfranco Ferré, sleek bob hairstyle, choker, and dark makeup, a stark contrast from Houston's previous, more elegant looks in past music videos.
The song was a success on the charts, first charting on the US Billboard dance and R&B charts as a promotional single. On the Hot Dance Club Songs chart, with its Thunderpuss remix, it became Houston's sixth number one single in January 1999, staying for three weeks, becoming her most successful single on the chart in her lifetime, spending 14 cumulative weeks on the chart. It was Houston's longest-charting single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, staying on the charts for 30 cumulative weeks, reaching a peak of 7 in July 1999. On the Billboard Hot 100, due to mainstream radio airplay of the Thunderpuss version, the song shot to number four, becoming Houston's 21st career top ten hit. In Spain, it became Houston's fourth career chart-topper. The song reached the top five in Canada, Iceland, Poland and the United Kingdom, while also reaching the top ten in Italy and the Netherlands and the top twenty in Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Its success in Europe helped to land it inside the top ten on the Eurochart Hot 100.
Houston won the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and the International Dance Music Award for Best Pop 12" Dance Record for the song in 2000.[2]
In 2025, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original song's release, Houston's former record label Arista released another official house remix of the song by remixer Felix Jaehn.[3][4] This version became a hit, reaching the charts in Estonia, Croatia, Israel and the Czech Republic, reaching number one in the latter country, marking Houston's first number-one single in the region and her first official number one single of the 2020s.
In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "It's Not Right but It's Okay" at number 638 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[5] In 2019, Billboard listed it as one of the Greatest Songs of 1999.[6] In 2022, the Thunderpuss club mix was listed in the list of the 200 greatest dance songs of all time on Rolling Stone.[7] In 2025, Billboard listed the song in its 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time list as well as its 100 Best LGBTQ Anthems of All Time list.[8][9] The song has also been cited by Forbes, Entertainment Weekly and About.com as one of Houston's best songs in her catalog.
The song is considered one of the signature songs of Houston's career.
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Background and development
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By August 1998, Houston had established herself as one of the best selling music artists of all time with three multiplatinum studio albums and two multiplatinum soundtrack albums. In between 1992 and 1997, Houston had taken a break from studio work to establish her film career. At one point, Houston's mentor and label boss Clive Davis wrote a letter opining that Houston hadn't made a studio album in "less than seven years" and she felt her movie work had her "missing in action".[10]
That month, Houston recorded the gospel-pop ballad, "When You Believe", from The Prince of Egypt, which was later released as a duet between Houston and fellow pop-R&B artist Mariah Carey.[11] While in Beverly Hills, Houston met up with Davis at the latter's bungalow at the The Beverly Hilton and asked the Arista CEO to play her the songs that were being submitted for a much-anticipated greatest hits album.
One of the songs played was producer Rodney Jerkins' "It's Not Right but It's Okay".[12] Jerkins had wanted to work with Houston since he was sixteen.[13] Upon hearing of the musician's desire to work with Houston, Davis asked the teenager to play him a song he was working on, afterwards Davis criticized the composition but encouraged him to improve his music.[13]
By 1998, Jerkins had found success working on material for Aaliyah, Joe and Brandy, with Jerkins having recently scored a number one hit with the latter artist on her and Monica's duet "The Boy Is Mine". Davis hired Jerkins to work on Monica's album, also titled The Boy Is Mine, where Jerkins eventually produced Monica's hit rendition of "Angel of Mine", which later topped the Billboard Hot 100.[14]
Jerkins eventually got his wish to work with Houston after sending Davis the demo of "It's Not Right". The song was co-composed by his Darkchild production team, which included his brother Fred Jerkins III, cousin LaShawn Daniels and longtime friend Isaac Phillips along with singer-songwriter Toni Estes, who sang on the demo track. When Houston heard it, according to Davis, to his amazement, she "had learned the lyrics and she started singing — with each playback she started over and it wasn’t long before she totally owned [the song] finding meaning I’m sure the composers never even suspected was there."[12]
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Recording and production
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Original Rodney Jerkins version
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Houston had returned from a ten-date tour of Europe when Jerkins was sent to Houston's Crossway recording studio located near her residence at Mendham Township, New Jersey.[15][16] According to Jerkins, Houston told him she wasn't ready to record due to contracting bronchitis.[13] Jerkins claimed it took "four days" before Houston finally emerged at the studio but during those four days, he got to spend time with Houston. According to Jerkins, one of the first things Houston told him was, "you're a church boy, ain't you", with Jerkins noting that Houston likely recognized some gospel-inflected chords in the song's demo.
On one of those days, Houston asked Jerkins, whose father was a preacher, for directions to appear at his father's church in Pleasantville, New Jersey. Despite telling her that it was a long drive from Mendham, Houston showed up and then gave a performance of "God Will Take Care of You".[17] Jerkins claimed the pair engaged in meditation and prayer.[13]
Eventually, Houston entered the Crossway studio to record her vocals on the song. Much like she had done with her songs, Houston was the vocal arranger. Jerkins stated that upon first recording Houston that she "took [him] to church inside the studio. She's giving you full-throttle effort at all times", adding that the artist "[did] it the same extraordinary way every time". Jerkins called Houston a "genius".[18]
Jerkins claimed later that the song "jumpstarted" production on what became the My Love Is Your Love album.[13] Eventually, Jerkins would produce three more songs on the album, including "If I Told You That". Jerkins later created a quiet storm ballad rendition of the song, labeling it the "RJ Smooth Mix".
Thunderpuss version
Chris Cox and Barry Harris of the house remix/production team Thunderpuss had recently released a successful remix of Billie Myers' "Kiss the Rain" when they were approached by Arista vice president of A&R Hosh Gureli at the gay nightclub Splash in Manhattan of the choice of remixing either "If I Told You That" and "It's Not Right but It's Okay" for Houston in November 1998, just as the My Love Is Your Love album was released.[19]
Cox told Fader in 2017 that the duo decided on the latter song because it was "the easiest way was to go with" and because "[the original version] is quite chilled out — not quite 2-step — but R&Bish. Her voice seemed to have more assertiveness that would appeal more to a dance record."[19]
When asked if they felt any pressure on producing what they called Houston's "comeback record", Cox denied it saying "[the] pressure was always internal. I had worked with big artists before but Arista was the dance label, and here’s one of the most important voices in pop history. So we were thinking, It’s Whitney. We can't [mess] this up."[19]
Calling the Jerkins version "laid back and sleepy", Cox and Harris took more of Houston's adlibs from near the end of the record and pushed it to the forefront, while throwing away the rest of the song, only keeping Houston's lead vocal and background vocals. Eventually two versions -- a radio version and an extended nine-minute club version -- was created.[19]
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Composition
"It's Not Right but It's Okay" is a R&B and neo soul song.[20] According to the sheet music published at Sheetmusicnow.com, the song mainly plays in the keys of Fm and Cm and has a moderately fast funk tempo with a time signature of 4
4 common time with 126 beats per minute.[21] Houston's vocals span from G3 to A♭5 in the song.[22] The Thunderpuss version is set at a dance tempo of 132 beats per minute, starting at the key of Cm.[23]
Release
The song was initially released as the b-side to "Heartbreak Hotel", on December 15, 1998. Remixes of the song by Johnny Vicious were included on the domestic CD maxi-single. The KCC remix was included on the US version of the "My Love Is Your Love" maxi-single, released in May 1999. The song was released as a commercial retail single that same month and featured the Thunderpuss remixes as well as remixes by Club 69 and Rodney Jerkins.
The song had already entered the US dance and R&B charts when it was officially released in Europe in February 1999 as the official third single from the album. The original Jerkins single was played on the radio but by spring, mainstream spins and retail sales were given to the Thunderpuss mix, which many claimed was responsible for its US pop chart success.
The Thunderpuss version was placed on Houston's first compilation album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000). The original album version was included in The Ultimate Collection (2007) as well as the second international disc of I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston (2012).
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Critical reception
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Bill Lamb from About.com noted that the song is a "hard-hitting anthem for women on the way out of relationships that sounds great on the radio and on the dance floor."[24] J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun wrote, "So when we hear her telling her abusive, less-than-faithful lover off in 'It's Not Right But It's Okay', we're not to imagine the lyrics have anything to do with the rumored infidelity of her real-life husband, Bobby Brown."[25] Billboard magazine highlighted the song on Houston's album.[26] Birmingham Evening Mail commented, "Houston, we have a problem. We loved your leather-limbed performance on the Brits of Rodney Jenkins' standout track from your new album 'My Love Is Your Love' and we know you should be cutting contemporary R&B - we just reckon you deserve better songs. Still, as a chart cert this'll do nicely, it's not great but it's okay."[27] Matt Stopera and Brian Galindo from BuzzFeed noted on the Thunderpuss Remix, that "aside from being a essential gay dance floor classic, this track proves how a good remix can elevate a song from good to ICONIC."[28] Daily Record stated, "Soul diva Whitney sounds streetwise with her biggest single since I Will Always Love You."[29]
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Chart performance
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North America
In the United States, the song first entered the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart with its Thunderpuss version at number 30 on December 26, 1998, becoming the "Hot Shot Debut" of the week.[30][31]
Five weeks later, on January 23, 1999, the song peaked at the top of the chart, replacing the Vengaboys' "Up and Down" from the top spot, starting a three-week run, becoming her longest running number one dance single, sharing it with "I Learned From the Best".[32][33] It was Houston's sixth number one single on the dance chart and her first since "Queen of the Night" in January 1994.
On the January 2, 1999 issue of Billboard, the song entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 65, simultaneously joining her other singles "Heartbreak Hotel" and "When You Believe" on the chart.[34]
On July 3, in the song's nineteenth week on the chart, it reached its peak of number 7, becoming Houston's career 25th top ten single.[35] It would eventually spend a total of 30 cumulative weeks on the chart, becoming her longest charting single on the chart, staying on the chart for over six months, later shared with "Million Dollar Bill" over a decade later.
On the May 8, 1999 issue of Billboard, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 87, becoming Houston's 30th career entry on the chart.[36] On its fifth week on the charts, the song entered the top 40 at number 32 for the week of June 6, becoming Houston's 27th top 40 entry.[37] On July 3, it reached its peak of number 4, becoming Houston's 21st career top ten single on the chart.[38] It would eventually spend five weeks inside the top ten and spend 20 cumulative weeks on the chart altogether. Outside the United States, the song reached number 3 in Canada, giving Houston her 19th career top ten and her first in nearly four years to reach the top ten.
Europe
In Europe, the song also became a sizable hit, especially in the United Kingdom, where it would debut and peak at number three on the OCC UK singles chart for the week of March 6, 1999.[39] It would eventually spend its initial chart run at 15 cumulative weeks from March to June 1999.[40] In July 1999, it returned to the top 100 for two more weeks. Following Houston's passing, the song reentered the UK charts at number 61, becoming one of 12 simultaneous top 75 UK singles Houston achieved, which set an unbroken UK chart record for a woman for most simultaneous top 75 entries in a single week, earning a Guinness World Record.[41][42] On the OCC R&B singles chart, it debuted at number one, where it would stay for four consecutive weeks.[40] It was her first chart-topper on that chart. It would spend 20 cumulative weeks there.
It also reached number three in both Iceland and Poland.
In Spain, it became Houston's fourth number-one single in the region after "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "I Will Always Love You" and "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)".
Elsewhere in Europe, the song placed in the top ten in Scotland, Italy and the Netherlands Dutch Top 40. It had top 20 placements in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands Single Top 100, Sweden and Switzerland while peaking in the top 40 in Belgium, France and Ireland. The song's overall European chart success helped the song peak at number nine on the Eurochart Hot 100.
Oceania
The song had a more moderate reception in Oceania. In Australia, it managed a peak of number 88, while in New Zealand, as a double-A side alongside "Heartbreak Hotel", it peaked at number 33.
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Music video
The music video was directed by Kevin Bray and became iconic for Houston showcasing an edgier look than in previous music videos, wearing a strapless leather gown styled by fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré, a sleek bob, a single fingerless glove, choker necklace and dark makeup.
Houston is shown in the beginning sitting down around a glass dining table addressing her cheating lover directly behind a black background that sparks up. Houston is then joined by several women singing the chorus. Houston's backing dancers are also shown in various shots dressed in army outfits.
Much like many of the videos from the singles off the My Love Is Your Love album, the video instantly earned heavy rotation on MTV and BET and was played constantly on MTV's countdown channel, Total Request Live. Later, the remix version of the video aired on the same channel while the original was played on BET.
On Houston's official YouTube channel, the official music video has been viewed 134 million times on the channel.[43]
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Live performances
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Houston gave live performances of the song on several television shows in both Europe and the United States.
In Europe, Houston performed the song on the Netherlands TV show The Surprise Show, the Italian TV show C'era Un Ragazzo, the Spanish TV show Sorpresa Sorpresa, the German TV show Wetten, dass... and the 1999 Brit Awards and Top of the Pops in the UK.[44][45] The February 16, 1999 BRIT Awards performance in particular was hailed as "iconic".[46]
In the United States, she performed the song live at the 13th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in March 1999[47], VH1's Divas Live '99 the following April[48], and The Oprah Winfrey Show in June.
On June 28, 1999, Houston performed the Thunderpuss club remix version of the song along with the Hex Hector remix of "Heartbreak Hotel" during an unannounced, surprise performance at the 13th Annual New York Lesbian & Gay Pride Dance at Manhattan's West Side Piers in front of a crowd of over 7,000 fans.[49][50]
According to Instinct magazine, Houston's unannounced performance at the Piers "ushered in a new era that would eventually make high-profile artists performing at LGBTQ events virtually commonplace".[50]
The performance was recorded by MTV and first aired on an All Access documentary special dedicated to Houston launching her My Love Is Your Love World Tour.[51] In June 2022, Houston's estate uploaded the full live performance of the song on her official YouTube channel.[52]
Houston also performed the song, along with the just-released single, "I Learned From the Best", at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards on February 23, 2000.[53] It would be her eighth and final Grammy performance. With this achievement, Houston tied with Aretha Franklin for the second most Grammy performances ever by a female artist in the show's history.[54]
Houston performed the song on her two final world tours, the My Love Is Your Love World Tour (1999) and the Nothing but Love World Tour (2009-2010).
During her 2009 performance at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party, Houston performed a riveting rendition of the song that won her praise from critics who viewed the show, which was notable as the singer's comeback performance after personal struggles.[55]
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Legacy
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Impact
According to Songfacts, the song "brought Houston into the modern era of hip-hop with contemporary production and a lyric that oozes empowerment," noting that artists like Aaliyah and Mary J. Blige had songs of a similar sound and with the release of "It's Not Right...", Houston "showed that she could tap into it as well."[56]
In its article about the Thunderpuss remix, Fader magazine credited the original R&B rendition of the song for inspiring the later productions of Destiny's Child songs.[19] Billboard stated the song "redefined" R&B music in their 2025 write-up on the song.[8]
Accolades and achievements
At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000, Houston won her sixth and final competitive Grammy for the song, her first in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category.[57]
The win made her the first winner of the award in the new millennium and one of the few artists to win Grammys in three different decades. Houston had been nominated six times for the award in the past.
In winning the Grammy, she became only the third woman in history to win Grammys in the R&B and pop categories, preceded by Dionne Warwick (1980) and Toni Braxton (1997).
The song also won the Best Pop Dance 12" Record at the International Dance Music Awards in 2000.
The song made the Billboard year-end lists in 1999, ranking as the 44th best performing song of the year on the Billboard Hot 100 list, the 37th best performing song of the year on the Hot R&B Singles list and the 11th best performing song of the year on the Hot Dance Club Play list. In the UK, it was the 25th best-selling song of the year. It also made the year-end lists in Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Romania and Germany.
In June 1999, before its peak on the Hot 100, the song was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of half a million copies. Nearly 20 years later, in March 2019, it was re-certified platinum for sales of over a million copies. On March 19, 1999, the song was certified silver and gold on the same day by the BPI. In April 2017, it was re-certified platinum for sales of 600,000 copies. On what would've been Houston's 61st birthday on August 9, 2014, the song was certified 2x platinum for sales of over 1.2 million copies, becoming her fourth multi-platinum single there. In February 2024, it was certified gold in New Zealand for sales of over 15,000 copies.
Cover versions and samples
The song was covered by Darren Criss on the hit Fox TV show Glee. Criss' character, Blaine, was confronting his own 'cheating' lover in the Whitney Houston tribute special, "Dance with Somebody".
It was also covered on the "Lies" single and The Mother We Share EP by Chvrches as well as British soul singer Craig David. The song was heavily sampled in Mak & Pasteman's "It Ain't Right" and Shane Codd's "Rather Be Alone".
According to the sample database site, WhoSampled, the song was covered 28 times and sampled 57 times.[58]
Usage in popular media
In the Glee tribute episode to Houston, "Dance with Somebody", where Darren Criss performs the song, along with some of his fellow castmates, they reenact the dark background with the sparkling lights, shown in the original music video, while Criss wears an all-black outfit. The music video was reenacted in the official Houston biopic, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, by actress Naomi Ackie.
In season nine of RuPaul's Drag Race, the song was performed during the lip-sync competition finale between Sasha Velour and Peppermint, with Velour beating Peppermint at the end, leading her to win the season overall. This also marked the first time that a recording artist's music was performed twice in the show's lip-sync competition, with "So Emotional" having been performed in a previous episode, also featuring Velour and another contestant Shea Couleé.
Polls and rankings
Since its release, the song has been regarded as one of the greatest songs of all time and has made several best-of lists in various magazines and media outlets.
In 2003, Q Magazine ranked the song at number 638 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[59]
About.com ranked it as the 15th best Houston song ever out of 20.[60] On the site's "Best 100 Songs from the 1990s" list, the song was voted the 28th best.[61]
In 2019, Billboard listed it as one of the Greatest Songs of 1999.[62]
A year later, the same publication ranked the song as Houston's third best song ever.[63]
In 2022, the Thunderpuss club mix of the song was listed in the list of the 200 greatest dance songs of all time on Rolling Stone.[7]
That same year, on what would've been Houston's 59th birthday in 2022, BET ranked the song 11th place among 40 of Houston's best songs ever.[64]
In their list of 20 of what they considered Houston's greatest songs ever, Forbes ranked the song 7th place, writing that the song was "Houston's foremost anthem that looks at the importance of independence and strength after betrayal and soured love."[65]
Three years later, in 2025, Billboard listed the song in its 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time list at number 72.[8] That same year, the song was ranked number 45 of the Greatest LGBTQ Anthems of All Time.[9]
Phillip Henry of Billboard wrote in 2018 how the song was the "gay national anthem".[66] Owen Myers of The Fader called it Houston's "most iconic gay anthem".[19]
In its 2025 write-up on the song, Billboard stated, "With a message of empowerment and perseverance, Whitney Houston continues the legacy of Gloria Gaynor" with the song, comparing it to Gaynor's similar anthem, "I Will Survive" (1978) and stated that the Thunderpuss remix "reintroduc[ed] America's greatest singer as a club queen."[8]
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Track listings
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Charts
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Certifications
Release history
See also
References
External links
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