Bodak Yellow

"Bodak Yellow" is the major-label debut single that launched Cardi B from reality TV personality to hip-hop superstar. Released in June 2017 through Atlantic Records, the track was born from frustration after her earlier single "Lick" failed to gain traction. Producer J. White Did It recalled that the song was created because they needed a better record. Built on a menacing trap beat with buoyant production, the song interpolates the flow and cadence of Kodak Black's 2014 track "No Flockin'", which earned Kodak an additional writing credit. The title itself is a playful twist: "Bodak" because Cardi's name starts with B, and "Yellow" because she identifies as light-skinned.

The song's lyrics are a triumphant declaration of Cardi's rise from humble beginnings, she worked as a stripper before fame, to financial independence and success. Lines like "These expensive, these is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes" reference her own experiences, as she explained that she used to buy cheap knockoffs but now wears the real thing. The hook, "Little bitch you can't fuck with me if you wanted to," became instantly quotable and widely referenced across pop culture.

"Bodak Yellow" made history by reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2017, making Cardi B the first solo female rapper to top the chart since Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. It spent three consecutive weeks at number one, setting a record as the longest-running solo female rap song at the top at that time. The song also helped Cardi B become one of only three artists in history, alongside The Beatles and Ashanti, to land their first three Hot 100 entries in the top 10 simultaneously, with "MotorSport" and "No Limit" joining it.

The music video, filmed in Dubai for just $10,000, features Cardi B riding camels through the desert and has amassed over 1.1 billion views on YouTube, making her the first female rapper to have two videos with over a billion views on her channel (alongside "I Like It"). The song earned Grammy nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, and won Single of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards as well as Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Song at the American Music Awards. In 2017, both Pitchfork and The Washington Post named it the best song of the year, and Billboard later included it among the 100 songs that defined the 2010s. [edit]