FLEX, a 1992 hit single by deejay Mad Cobra, turns 30 this year. The song, written on an airplane, became the biggest hit of the deejay’s career.

Mad Cobra shared how the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold single came about.

“I was returning home to Jamaica and I saw an ad with a lady on a soloflex exercise machine and I said to my road manager at the time, Paul “Banky” Giscombe, ‘that lady a flex like she waa sex’. Then I jot it down on a spit bag and the rest was history,” Mad Cobra, 53, told the Jamaica Observer.

Flex was released in the United States on July 30, 1992. It was the first single from Mad Cobra’s major label debut album Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry for Columbia Records.

“Initially, it was supposed to be a bonus track for the album, but it ended up being the first single released,” said Mad Cobra.

Flex peaked at number eight on Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, number five on Hot R&B Singles Sales, number 17 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, number one on Rap Singles, number 22 on Rhythmic Top 40 Airplay, and 13 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Said Mad Cobra, “It feels good and blessed to have done work that is still noticed worldwide today. I was surprised when the song became a hit.”

Flex was recorded at the famed Penthouse studio on Slipe Road in Kingston, was produced by music executive and producer Clifton “Specialist” Dillon and Grammy-winning musician Sly Dunbar.

Mad Cobra said the success of Flex changed his life musically.

“It changed my life a lot. It took me from nothing to something and it also made me become a household name worldwide. I got several opportunities to travel and perform around the world. I have performed in some countries where they don’t even understand a word that I am saying. But they felt the energy and my vibe and flow. I’ve been there and done that and I am grateful,” he said.

Flex helped Mad Cobra’s Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry album scale the Billboard 200 albums (number 125) and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts (number 17).

In 2016, American girl group Fifth Harmony sampled Flex in their double-platinum selling single All in My Head (Flex).

Mad Cobra said he has benefited from the use of his song.

“Yes, I have benefited. Very well, and I won’t say no more,” he said jokingly.

Mad Cobra had a few follow-up hits on the mainstream charts after the success of Flex.

Legacy, featuring Richie Stephens (it was featured on Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry), reached 64 on the British charts in 1993, while in 1996, Big Long John peaked at 79 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Tracks chart.

Hailing from St Mary, Mad Cobra (born Everton Ewart Brown) shot to fame locally with songs including Tek Him, Feeling Lonely (with Beres Hammond), Yush, Gundelero and Bad Boy Talk.

Today at 53 years of age, Mad Cobra is working on a new album to be released later this year.

CHART TRIVIA

• Mad Cobra’s Flex peaked at 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 9, 1993. But did you know that two songs by Jamaican recording artistes were climbing the chart that same week?

• Slow and Sexy by Shabba Ranks featuring Johnny Gill rose to number 33 that week, while Murder She Wrote by Chaka Demus and Pliers moved up to eigth from 95.

• Reggae fusion single Informer by Canadian deejay Snow debuted at number 79 that week. It later spent multiple weeks at number one.