The song is a criticism of those who use others for fame, including social climbers or "clout chasers", with the lyrics calling out those who have "the IG disease". "Clout" marks Offset and Cardi B's fifth collaboration, following "Um Yea", "Lick ", "MotorSport" and "Drip".
Critical reception
Writing for AllMusic, Fred Thomas opined that the song "is made by Cardi B's high-energy, high-confrontation cameo." Charles Holmes of Rolling Stone found Cardi's performance "brutal, swift and nimble" and considered it among the best on the album; he noted the song features her "dismantling a variety of unnamed detractors: rappers, blogs, trolls." In NME, Sam Moore opined that Cardi B demonstrates "her show-stopping prowess" in her verse. HotNewHipHop stated that "hip-hop's power couple" delivers "the hardest-hitting banger on the project, blasting the opps while they're at it." In Exclaim!, Kyle Mullin described it as a "swaggering, ominous keys peppered" song, where Cardi B sounds "like the biggest rapper in the world as she nimbly mocks gossipy, nosy haters trolling her in vain." Similarly, Highsnobietys Thomas Hobbs said that her verse delivers "a necessary dose of energy." In Consequence of Sound, Wren Graves found "explosive potential" in the song, and noticed that in an album lyrically centered on his personal life, Offset "has retreated to platitudes" and "turn their attention to bloggers" instead of giving details about their relationship, further commenting, "perhaps the marriage wasn't in a place where the couple felt comfortable discussing it." Brian Josephs of Entertainment Weekly deemed the song "a gem", "anchored by a Cardi B verse" to "express her indignation," and noted the hook "features a relatable amount of deadpanned disgust;" however, Josephs felt "unfortunate" that "a song about clout chasers is a highlight from an album introducing a family man." Trent Clarck of HipHopDX felt the performers "can absolutely do better."
Music video
The Daniel Russell-directed music video was announced by Cardi B on April 16 and released on April 17, 2019. Offset and Joseph Desrosiers Jr. served as creative directors. It features Offset and Cardi B delivering their verses in a yellow and black hall of mirrors. Offset plays piano while wearing a couture hockey mask, and then uses a bright-yellow chainsaw to cut a birthday cake. Cardi B is shown in an all-yellow outfit in a pile of lemons, and also wearing all-black leather bondage outfit giving a lap dance to Offset in another scene. It was inspired by Busta Rhymes' video for "What's It Gonna Be?!" featuring Janet Jackson. In Stereogum, Tom Breihan praised it saying "the whole thing rules" and called it "a really great music video." Vulture called the video "mostly just an excuse for Offset to show off his piano fingers and Cardi to get her freak on in some increasingly elaborate outfits".
Live performances
Cardi and Offset both performed "Clout" at the 2019 BET Awards, along with a performance of "Press". They also performed "Clout" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on July 17, 2019.
