Bodak Yellow

## Single by Cardi B

### Songwriters

Belcalis Almánzar • Dieuson Octave • Klenord Raphael • Jordan Thorpe • Anthony White • Laquan Green

## *Invasion of Privacy* track listing

 "**Bodak Yellow**" (also known as "**Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)**") is the debut major-label single by Cardi B. It was released on June 16, 2017 as the lead single from her debut album **Invasion of Privacy**. On “Bodak Yellow,” Cardi brings up her past as a stripper and how she has cemented her legitimacy in the rap game with her peerless work ethic. 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 in 1998. It was Billboard's top female rap song of the year. Bodak Yellow was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021, making Cardi the first female rapper to achieve this with a solo single. 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.

## Background and composition

The beat for "Bodak Yellow" was created by Jermaine "J. White Did It" White, a producer from Dallas. White and Cardi met in New York due to a shared manager and decided to work together. Cardi wrote the lyrics on a plane, listening to the beat White sent her. 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's focus and work ethic 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 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 Cardi no longer needing to dance as a stripper, taunting her critics that she's now more powerful and making more money than they are, and that it's because of her work ethic.

## 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's first top 20 entry in the United States. It later reached number two, behind 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 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 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 the first female rapper to achieve this.

## Live performances

Cardi 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 performed the song at the 2017 BET Awards afterparty show. On July 18, she performed the song 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 performed "Bodak Yellow" during the pre-show for the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27, 2017.

Cardi 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 performed the song in a medley with "Bartier Cardi" on Saturday Night Live.

## Music video

The song's music video, directed by Picture Perfect, was released on June 24, 2017. The video features scenes with Cardi in Dubai, riding camels through the desert. The video received nominations to the BET Hip Hop Awards and iHeartRadio Music Awards. As of 2022, the video had been viewed over 1 bllion 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.

## Impact

"Bodak Yellow" was Cardi's breakthrough hit and is one of her signature songs. With Cardi 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 "a hip-hop household name", further adding, "as men dominated the charts and the airwaves in 2017, Cardi didn't just break through—she made history", referring to her becoming the second female rapper to top the Hot 100 unassisted."[79] 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." The El Paso Times opined that with the song's success Cardi 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.

## Lyrics

**[Intro]**

KSR

It's Cardi, ayyy

Said "I'm the shit, they can't fuck with me if they wanted to"-

**[Chorus]**

Said: "Lil' bitch, you can't fuck with me, if you wanted to"

These expensive, these is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes

Hit the store, I can get 'em both, I don't wanna choose

And I'm quick, cut a [n word] off, so don't get comfortable, look:

I don't dance now, I make money moves

Say I don't gotta dance, I make money move

If I see you and I don't speak, that means I don't fuck with you

I'm a boss, you a worker, bitch, I make bloody moves

**[Verse 1]**

Now she say she gon' do what to who?

Let's find out and see

Cardi B, you know where I'm at, you know where I be

You in the club, just to party, I'm there, I get paid a fee

I be in and out them banks so much, I know they tired of me

Honestly, don't give a fuck 'bout who ain't fond of me

Dropped two mixtapes in six months,

what bitch workin' as hard as me?

I don't bother with these hoes, don't let this hoes bother me

They see pictures, they say "goals",

bitch, I'm who they tryna be

Look, I might just chill in some BAPE,

I might just chill with your boo

I might just feel on your babe,

my pussy feel like a lake

He wanna swim with his face, I'm like "okay"

I'll let him get what he want, he buy me Yves Saint Laurent

And the new whip, when I go fast as a horse

I got the trunk in the front

I'm the hottest in the street, know you prolly heard of me

Got a bag and fixed my teeth, hope you hoes know it ain't cheap

And I pay my mama bills, I ain't got no time to chill

Think these hoes be mad at me, their baby father run a bill

**[Chorus]**

Said: "Lil' bitch, you can't fuck with me, if you wanted to"

These expensive, these is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes

Hit the store, I can get 'em both, I don't wanna choose

And I'm quick, cut a [n word] off, so don't get comfortable, look:

I don't dance now, I make money moves

Say I don't gotta dance, I make money move

If I see you and I don't speak, that means I don't fuck with you

I'm a boss, you a worker, bitch, I make bloody moves

**[Verse 2]**

If you a pussy, you get popped,

you a goofy, you a opp

Don't you come around my way, you can't hang around my block

And I just checked my accounts, turns out

I'm rich, I'm rich, I'm rich

I put my hand above my hip,

I bet you dip, he dip, she dip

I say, I get the money and go,

this shit is hot like a stove

My pussy glitter as gold

Tell that lil' bitch play her role

I just arrove in a Rolls,

I just came up in a Wraith

I need to fill up the tank, no,

I need to fill up the safe

I need to let all these hoes know

that none of their [n word] is safe

I go to dinner and steak, only the real can relate

I used to live in the P's, now it's a crib with a gate

Rollie got charms, look like Frosted Flakes

Had to let these bitches know,

just in case these hoes forgot

I just run and check the mail,

another check from Mona Scott

**[Chorus]**

Said: "Lil' bitch, you can't fuck with me, if you wanted to"

These expensive, these is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes

Hit the store, I can get 'em both, I don't wanna choose

And I'm quick, cut a [n word] off, so don't get comfortable, look:

I don't dance now, I make money moves

Say I don't gotta dance, I make money move

If I see you and I don't speak, that means I don't fuck with you

I'm a boss, you a worker, bitch, I make bloody moves.