Bodak Yellow

"Bodak Yellow"
Single by Cardi B
from the album Invasion of Privacy
ReleasedJune 16, 2017 (2017-06-16)
StudioKrematorium Studios
(Elmont, New York)
Genre
Length3:43
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Cardi B singles chronology
"Bronx Season"
(2016)
"Bodak Yellow"
(2017)
"No Limit"
(2017)
Music video
"Bodak Yellow" on YouTube

"Bodak Yellow" (alternatively titled "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)") is the major-label debut single by American rapper Cardi B. It was written alongside Pardison Fontaine, Klenord Raphael, and producers J. White Did It and Laquan Green, with an additional writing credit going to Kodak Black for the interpolation of his song "No Flockin". It was released on June 16, 2017, by Atlantic Records as the lead single from her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy (2018).

Selected by The Washington Post and Pitchfork music critics as the best song of 2017, it was cited by many publications as one of the songs that defined the 2010s decade. The single topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for three consecutive weeks, making Cardi B the second female rapper to reach number one with a solo song, following Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. It was Billboard's top female rap song of the year. Cardi B became the first female rapper to have a solo single certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), when "Bodak Yellow" received the certification in 2021 for selling more than 10 million units in the country. Filmed in Dubai, its accompanying music video made her the only female rapper to have two videos on her YouTube channel with more than 1 billion views, as it joined "I Like It", and became the fastest solo female rap song to reach that mark on the platform.

"Bodak Yellow" received nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 60th Grammy Awards. The song won Single of the Year at the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards, Rhythm & Bars Award at the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards, and Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Song at the 2018 American Music Awards.

Composition and production

The beat for "Bodak Yellow" was created by Jermaine "J. White Did It" White, a producer from Dallas. White and Cardi B met in New York due to a shared manager and decided to work together. She stated, "every bitch that I don't like came to my head. And I pictured me, slapping it to them." White has stated he has sometimes been "intimidated" by Cardi B's violence in the recording studio, and that "our chemistry at first was a love-hate one, because I was such a general at first, and then she became the general." The name of the song was inspired by Kodak Black, a Florida rapper, because Cardi B said the cadence of words in "Bodak Yellow" reminded her of Black's 2015 song "No Flockin." Kodak Black later released a remix of "Bodak Yellow".

The lyrics, which reference the signature red sole of luxury shoe brand Louboutin, discuss her no longer needing to dance (she worked as a stripper), taunt her critics that she's now more powerful and making more money than they are, and that it's because of her work ethic. The video to the song has amassed over one billion views on YouTube.

Critical reception

"Bodak Yellow" received widespread critical acclaim. Complex's writers called the song "a great, extraordinarily catchy record. The hook, the beat, her lyrics: it all works. Cardi sounds so sure of herself, it's difficult not to believe and rap along with every word. Her shit feels like early Lil' Kim, the way the fellas react to her bars. That beat drops and people go nuts." Tom Breihan of Stereogum wrote, "On 'Bodak Yellow,' Cardi uses [her] voice to fill up the synthy, minimal beat, using all the track's open space to project personality everywhere. It's a big, loud, brash, noisy song, and it's perfect." USA Today wrote, "The track’s name is a reference to the Florida rapper Kodak Black, borrowing the distinctive cadences he used on his minor hit 'No Flockin'.." The Washington Post editor Chris Richards said that the song did not need a hook because "every phrase she blurts has its own ticklish melody, its own whiplash rhythm." Naming it the best song of the year, Pitchfork stated it "emboldened many of the people—especially women of color—who were marginalized for the very things that anchor the Afro-Latina star's impenetrable pride." Dan Weiss of Consequence of Sound named it "the best rap debut in years." The Ringer considered it the best female rap song of the 2010s.

Accolades

Critics' lists
Publication List Rank Ref.
Billboard 100 Best Songs of 2017
2
Songs That Defined the 2010s Decade
*
Consequence of Sound Top 100 Songs of the 2010s
25
Elle The 52 Best Songs That Defined the 2010s
*
Entertainment Weekly The 30 Best Songs of 2017
8
GQ The 24 Songs That Shaped the Decade
*
Harper's Bazaar The 35 Best Songs of the 2010s
*
NME The Best Songs of the Decade: The 2010s
60
Pitchfork The 100 Best Songs of 2017
1
The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s
30
Refinery 29 29 Songs That Defined Us in the 2010s
25
The Ringer 100 Best Rap Songs of the 2010s
8
Rolling Stone 50 Best Songs of 2017
4
The 100 Best Songs of the Decade
32
Rob Sheffield's 50 Best Songs of the 2010s
9
The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century So Far (2018)
59
Stereogum The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s
21
Vanity Fair 10 Songs That Explain the 2010s
*
The Washington Post Best Music of 2017
1

* denotes an unordered list.

Music video

Cardi B with a cheetah in the music video. The presence of the real animal–which belongs to a local sultan–was proposed by the director.

The song's music video was released on June 24, 2017. The video features scenes with Cardi B in Dubai, riding camels through the desert. Production for the video cost $10,000. The video received nominations to the BET Hip Hop Awards and iHeartRadio Music Awards. As of August 2021, the video had been viewed over 1 billion times on YouTube.

In August 2021, "Bodak Yellow" made Cardi B the first female rapper to have two videos on her YouTube channel with more than 1 billion views, joining "I Like It", and became the fastest solo female rap song to reach that mark on the platform.

Chart performance

"Bodak Yellow" debuted at number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of July 22, 2017. During its fifth week on the chart, it jumped to number 14, becoming Cardi B's first top 20 entry in the United States. It later reached number two, behind American pop singer Taylor Swift's song "Look What You Made Me Do", in the issue dated September 23, 2017, before climbing to the top of the chart two weeks later. "Bodak Yellow" topped the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, making it the second solo hip-hop number-one single by a female artist in the chart's history, following American rapper Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. Spending a third week on top, it became the first song by a female rapper to spend multiple weeks atop the chart. Also the longest number one for a solo single by a female rapper at the time, the record has since been surpassed by Lizzo's "Truth Hurts" with seven weeks in 2019. In its 26th week on chart, the song re-entered the top ten, joining her other singles "MotorSport" and "No Limit", making Cardi B join the Beatles and Ashanti as the third act to place her first three chart entries in the top ten simultaneously.

In September 2019, it was certified nonuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the highest-certified single by a female rapper. In March 2021, it was certified Diamond by the RIAA, making Cardi B the first female rapper to achieve this.

Live performances

Cardi B debuted the song live on June 15, 2017, at the Anti-Prom cruise hosted by NYC-based skate crew Brujas and designer label Gypsy Sport. On June 25, 2017, Cardi B performed the song at the 2017 BET Awards afterparty show. On July 18, she performed "Bodak Yellow" on The Wendy Williams Show. On August 7, she performed the song at OVO Fest, an annual music festival in Toronto hosted by Canadian rapper Drake. Cardi B performed "Bodak Yellow" during the pre-show for the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27, 2017.

Cardi B went on to perform the song at the twelfth annual BET Hip Hop Awards. She opened the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards with a medley of "Bartier Cardi", "Bodak Yellow", "No Limit", "MotorSport" and "Finesse (Remix)". On April 7, 2018, Cardi B performed the song in a medley with "Bartier Cardi" on Saturday Night Live.

Remixes

A remix of "Bodak Yellow", the "Latin Trap Remix", was officially released on August 18, 2017. The song features Cardi B rapping in Spanish and includes vocals from Dominican hip hop recording artist Messiah, who contributes a guest verse. A second official remix was released on September 18, 2017, featuring vocals by Florida-based rapper Kodak Black. Jamaican dancehall artist Spice also released a remix of the song, "Bodak Bitch". On the Fox series The Four: Battle For Stardom, Zhavia has covered and remixed the song. Bruno Mars performed a drum version of the song during several shows of his 24K Magic World Tour. Janet Jackson also performed a dance routine to a mashup of "Bodak Yellow" on tour.

Impact

With Cardi B alluding to Louboutin's red bottomed shoes in the lyrics, the song generated a 217% spike in search traffic for Christian Louboutin shoes, and an estimated $4.5 million media value, according to Business of Fashion. Billboard staff acknowledged that the song made Cardi B "a hip-hop household name", further adding, "as men dominated the charts and the airwaves in 2017, Cardi B didn't just break through—she made history", referring to her becoming the second female rapper to top the Hot 100 unassisted." Another article from the magazine in 2019 stated "she left an indelible mark on the summer of 2017" as "sonically, and lyrically, no mainstream song had the same flare as 'Bodak Yellow'" during the season. In 2019, Pitchfork staff noticed that her "genuinely ground-up and people-driven" success showed that it "was possible—or inevitable, and a precursor for more success to come." In El Paso Times, Dave Acosta opined that with the song's success Cardi B gave "a new voice" to Hispanics and women, further adding, "at a time when Hispanics of all nationalities are being targeted by various government and political entities and the war rages for women's equality in health care and employment, Cardi's opening line, "You can't (expletive) with me, if you wanted to", give us an anthem and a voice—one with a heavy accent." In 2020, NPR Music stated that the "renaissance" of the dynamism of women in rap grew "in enthusiasm and breadth" since Cardi's "first historic run" in 2017. With memorable performances at Made in America and the VMAs, Cardi's flavorful club banger has undeniably taken the crown as hip-hop's song of the late summer.

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2017 BET Hip Hop Awards Best Hip-Hop Video Nominated
Impact Track Nominated
Single of the Year Won
Soul Train Music Awards Rhythm & Bars Award Won
2018 American Music Awards Favorite Song — Rap/Hip Hop Won
Favorite Music Video Nominated
ASCAP Pop Music Awards Winning Song Won
ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Song Won
Winning Rap Song Won
BET Awards Video of the Year Nominated
Coca-Cola Viewers' Choice Award Won
Billboard Music Awards Top Streaming Song (Video) Nominated
Top Rap Song Nominated
BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards Winning Song Won
Grammy Awards Best Rap Performance Nominated
Best Rap Song Nominated
iHeartRadio Music Awards Hip-Hop Song of the Year Nominated
Best Lyrics Nominated
Best Music Video Nominated
2019 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards Winning Song Won

Track listing

  • Digital download
  1. "Bodak Yellow" – 3:43
  • Digital download
  1. "Bodak Yellow" (featuring Kodak Black) – 2:33
  • Digital download
  1. "Bodak Yellow" (Latin Trap Mix) (featuring Messiah) – 3:42

Credits and personnel

Recording

Personnel

Songwriting credits adapted from AllMusic and Tidal.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) 2× Platinum 140,000
Austria (IFPI Austria) Gold 15,000
Canada (Music Canada) 8× Platinum 640,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) Gold 45,000
France (SNEP) Gold 66,666
Germany (BVMI) Gold 200,000
Italy (FIMI) Gold 25,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) Gold 15,000
Norway (IFPI Norway) Gold 20,000
Poland (ZPAV) Platinum 20,000
Portugal (AFP) Platinum 10,000
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA) 11× Platinum 11,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

List of release dates, showing region, format, and label
Country Date Format Version Label Ref.
United States June 16, 2017 Digital download Original Atlantic
August 1, 2017 Urban contemporary
Various August 18, 2017 Digital download Latin Remix Trap
September 18, 2017 Remix

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-28 16:37 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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