"Bad and Boujee" is a song by American hip-hop group Migos featuring vocals from American rapper

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous fashion, ima ...

. It was released on October 28, 2016 as the lead single from Migos' second studio album ''

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

''. It was released by Quality Control Music,

300 Entertainment Theory Entertainment LLC, doing business as 300 Entertainment, is an American record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Roger Gold. The label's roster includes acts across multiple genres such as hip hop, rock, pop, e ...

, and Atlantic Records. The song was produced by

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. ...

, with co-production by G Koop. In late December 2016, "Bad and Boujee" became an

Internet phenomenon An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

, spawning many memes with the lyrics "rain drop, drop top". This viral trend, combined with Donald Glover's shoutout at the 2017 Golden Globes, would help its commercial performance and cause the song to spike into the top ten and later peak at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of January 21, 2017, making it the first number one single for both Migos and Lil Uzi Vert. The single received a nomination for

Best Rap Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which p ...

at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong ...

. The track has acquired 809 million Spotify plays as of July 2022.

Composition

The song is written in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

at a tempo of 127 bpm. The instrumental has been described as a "boom-heavy, moody-keyboard creeper". The verses are performed by Offset, Quavo and Lil Uzi Vert, who all rap about their lifestyles of using expensive products, drugs, and being with women. Ad-libs are also heard throughout the song.

Critical reception

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' placed it at number 24 on its The 50 Best Songs of 2016 list, saying; "The track is lurching and confident, the kind of song that's sure of its own appeal but knows not to step outside of the pocket. It seems like an unlikely hit, but try listening just once".

Pigeons & Planes Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc (Ecko) Milecofsky. Complex Networks reports on popular a ...

ranked it at number 43 on their Best Songs of 2016 list, saying that the "track is really all about Offset". ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' ranked the song at number 25 on its The 115 Best Songs of 2016 list. '' Fact'' named it as one of the 20 best rap and R&B tracks of 2016. ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' favorably compared "Bad and Boujee" to James Brown's song " Super Bad". In 2021, it was ranked No. 451 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Chart performance

The song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it the first chart-topping single for both Migos and Lil Uzi Vert. A week after its peak, it was dethroned by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

's "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the double lead singles from his third studio album '' ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The dancehall and R&B-infused ...

", but retrieved its peak position the following week and stood there for two more weeks before being replaced by "Shape of You" again. It remained in the top ten of the chart for 14 consecutive weeks and was later ranked as the sixth biggest song of 2017. "Bad and Boujee" has also peaked at number five in Canada, making it Migos and Lil Uzi Vert's first charted single in that country. As of June 20, 2017, the song has sold 4,000,000 units in the United States. The song was certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Music video

The Daps-directed

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Bad and Boujee" premiered via Migos'

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel on October 31, 2016. It features

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s from rappers Travis Scott and

OG Maco Benedict Chiajulam Ihesiba Jr. (born April 23, 1992), better known by his stage name OG Maco, is an American rapper from College Park, Georgia. He is perhaps best known for his 2014 debut single " U Guessed It" which peaked at number 90 on the U ...

. In an interview with Kiss FM Kenya, director Daps revealed the inspiration behind the concept of the viral music video: "The concept came about from the title really. 'Bad' is good looking so we needed pretty ladies and 'boujee' is stuck up so we needed them to play that part. I like having juxtapositions in my videos as it makes the art stand out. The contrast between these ladies dressed in high fashion but having them in regular environments grasped me. Then it was about adding in little elements after that — the doves, the noodles,

Ace of Spades The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The orn ...

, silk shirts on a dirt bike." Rapper & Social Media Celebrity,

Rubi Rose Rubi Rose Benton (born October 2, 1997) is an American rapper, songwriter and model. Early life Rubi Rose Benton was born on October 2, 1997, in Lexington, Kentucky, where she was also raised, by Nardos Ghebrelul, her mother, an Eritrean imm ...

, also made her debut appearance as the main model during the video. , the video on YouTube has over 1.1 billion views.

Live performances

On January 17, 2017, Migos performed the song on '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!''. On February 20, they performed it on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

''. Migos also performed the song at 2017 BET awards.

Media usage

The song is featured in the television show ''

Black-ish ''Black-ish'' (stylized as black·''ish'', `black·''ish'', and black''ish'') is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, to April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons. ''Black-ish'' ...

''. "Bougie", originating from bourgeois, has been a popularly referenced term within African American cultural media. Due to the mass proliferation of the song, the term 'bougie'/'boujee' quickly rose to popularity in hip hop culture and social media. Netizens also created memes with the some lines of lyrics.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Migos songs 300 Entertainment singles Song recordings produced by Metro Boomin Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Songs written by Metro Boomin Lil Uzi Vert songs Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Quavo Songs written by Offset (rapper) Internet memes introduced in 2016 Songs written by Lil Uzi Vert