The song is often cited as an example of an effective remix; one that includes a change of song lyrics or beat. In this case, both the original song's lyrics and the musical bed received a makeover. With its sample of the bassline from Taana Gardner's 1981 song "Heartbeat", the 7 minute 12" version was clearly tailor-made for dancefloor and provided a striking contrast to the laid back album version.
In 2015 an unauthorized song was released digitally with the name "Buddy (Remix)" provided by Ingrooves to De La Soul, but it was not the song or the remix, it was Kool Keith's song "Lyrical Magic".
In 2023, Billboard and Stereogum ranked the song number one and number three, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest De La Soul songs.[1][2]
Music video
The music video for "Buddy" is introduced by Prince Paul who explains, "'Buddy' doesn't mean 'girl' or 'sex' for that matter, 'buddy' simply means 'body', bodies of all kind." While the majority of the video consists of the members of the Native Tongues posse performing straight to camera, this is interspersed with brief segments of black-and-white footage, one of which featuring a speech balloon that remarks "this video makes no sense!"
Along with those who appeared in the song, the video also featured a cameo from rapper Chi-Ali.
