Bodak Yellow


"Bodak Yellow" is the major-label debut single by American rapper Cardi B. It was written and recorded by Cardi B and produced by J. White Did It and Laquan Green with additional songwriting by Klenord Raphael and Jordan Thorpe. It was released on June 16, 2017, by Atlantic Records as the lead single from her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy. The song was influenced by and interpolates the flow of American rapper Kodak Black's song "No Flockin".
"Bodak Yellow" 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 " in 1998. Its accompanying music video was shot in Dubai. It was certified nonuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, becoming the highest-certified single by a female rapper. Selected by The Washington Post and Pitchfork music critics as the best song of 2017, it was also cited by many publications as one of the songs that defined the 2010s decade.
"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 and Favorite Song 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. 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 B'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 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".

Critical reception

Complexs 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 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."

Accolades

* denotes an unordered list.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Picture Perfect, was released on June 24, 2017. The video features scenes with Cardi B in Dubai, riding camels through the desert. The video received nominations to the BET Hip Hop Awards and iHeartRadio Music Awards., the video had been viewed over 900 million times on YouTube.

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 " 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 the third act to place her first three chart entries in the top ten simultaneously.

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 ". 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 Dominican hip hop recording artist Messiah 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 , Zhavia has covered and remixed the song.

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 with me, if you wanted to," give us an anthem and a voice—one with a heavy accent."

Awards and nominations

Track listing

  1. "Bodak Yellow" – 3:43
  1. "Bodak Yellow" – 2:33
  1. "Bodak Yellow" – 3:42

    Credits and personnel

Recording
Personnel
Songwriting credits adapted from AllMusic and Tidal.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Canada 70
US Billboard Hot 10054
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 44
US Rhythmic 47

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history