Sweet like Chocolate

"Sweet like Chocolate" is a song by British garage music duo Shanks & Bigfoot with vocalist Sharon Woolf. It was released as a single on 17 May 1999 and was included on the duo's debut album, Swings and Roundabouts (2000). Vocals on the track are sung by Sharon Woolf, who had also sung on their track "Straight from the Heart", which was released under their previous band name, 'Doolally'.

"Sweet like Chocolate"
Single by Shanks & Bigfoot
from the album Swings and Roundabouts
Released	17 May 1999 (1999-05-17)[1]
Studio	Soul II Soul (London, England)
Genre	UK garage
Length	3:37
Label	Jive Pepper Chocolate Boy
Songwriter(s)	Danny Langsman Steven Meade
Producer(s)	Shanks & Bigfoot
Shanks & Bigfoot singles chronology
"Straight from the Heart" (1998) "Sweet like Chocolate" (1999) "Straight from the Heart" (1999)

"Sweet like Chocolate" was originally released on vinyl in 1998 as a promotional single, which had a short-run pressing of 1,000 copies. When released as an official single in 1999, it topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks and reached the top 10 in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. The song was the first UK garage track to hit number one on the UK Singles Chart. In 2019, The Guardian listed the song at number 20 in their list of "The Best UK Garage Tracks".^[2]

Music video

A music video, which is animated, was produced for the song by graphic designers "Visualisation Services".^[3]
It is set in a surreal world where every object, except for the protagonist, is constructed out of chocolate.

Chart performance

"Sweet like Chocolate" topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in May 1999, selling 251,000 copies during its first week and 142,000 copies during its second week.^[4] It achieved platinum status in the UK and was the country's eighth biggest-selling single of 1999.^[5][6] It was the first song to top the UK Singles, Dance, R&B, and Indie charts, though not simultaneously.^[4] Internationally, the song was a top-10 hit in Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand; in the latter two countries, the song was certified platinum and gold, respectively.^[7][8] It also charted in Flanders, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. In Canada, the song peaked at number 14 on the RPM Dance 30 chart in September 1999.^[9]

Track listings

UK CD single[10] "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot radio edit) – 3:28 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Metro 7-inch remix) – 3:13 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot original mix) – 6:55 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Ruff Driverz vocal) – 5:46 UK 12-inch single[11] A. "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot original mix) – 6:55 B. "Sweet like Chocolate" (Ruff Driverz vocal) – 5:46 UK cassette single[12] "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot radio edit) – 3:28 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Ruff Driverz vocal) – 5:46

European CD single[13] "Sweet like Chocolate" (Metro 7-inch remix) – 3:13 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot radio edit) – 3:28 Australasian CD single[14] "Sweet like Chocolate" (Metro 7-inch remix) – 3:13 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot radio edit) – 3:28 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Shanks & Bigfoot original mix) – 6:55 "Sweet like Chocolate" (Ruff Driverz vocal) – 5:46

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD single liner notes.^[10]

Studios

• Recorded at Soul II Soul Studios (London, England)
• Mastered at Battery Studios (London, England)

Personnel

• Shanks & Bigfoot – production
  • Danny Langsman – writing
  • Steven Meade – writing
• Sharon Woolf – vocals, backing vocals
• David Newell – engineering
• Streaky Gee – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1999) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[15] 6 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16] 42 Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)[9] 14 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[17] 10 Germany (GfK)[18] 22 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[19] 28 Ireland (IRMA)[20] 9 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 22 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 24 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23] 9 Scotland (OCC)[24] 6 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 25 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 32 UK Singles (OCC)[27] 1 UK Dance (OCC)[28] 1 UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)[29] 1 UK Indie (OCC)[30] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position Australia (ARIA)[31] 46 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[32] 157 New Zealand (RIANZ)[33] 22 UK Singles (OCC)[6] 8

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[7]	Platinum	70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[8]	Gold	5,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[5]	Platinum	707,000[34]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

In 2016, English singer Tulisa interpolated the chorus of "Sweet like Chocolate" in her song of the same name which features English rapper Akelle.

A reggae version by Hollie Cook reached No. 41 on the UK Physical Singles Chart in November 2018.^[35]

In 2019, DJ Spoony and Lily Allen recorded their version for the UK garage orchestral covers album Garage Classical.