"Body" is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion. It was released on November 20, 2020 by 1501 Certified Entertainment and

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, ele ...

as the third single from her debut studio album '' Good News'' (2020). It coincided with the release of the album and was supported by a music video featuring cameo appearances from Taraji P. Henson,

Blac Chyna Angela Renée White (born May 11, 1988), known professionally as Blac Chyna, is an American model and socialite. She originally rose to prominence in 2010 as the stunt double for Nicki Minaj in the music video for the song "Monster" by Kanye ...

, and

Jordyn Woods Jordyn Woods (born September 23, 1997) is an American socialite and model. She is known for her role in the reality television show ''Life of Kylie''. Early life Jordyn Woods was born in Los Angeles on September 23, 1997, to John Woods, a televi ...

, among others. Megan wrote the song during the COVID-19 quarantine and was inspired by her own

figure Figure may refer to: General *A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration *Figure (wood), wood appearance *Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif *Noise figure, in telecommunication *Dance figure, an elementary dance pattern ...

during the creative process, with additional concentration on sizes of

waist The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On people with slim bodies, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso. ''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appearan ...

and

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

s. A remix by British DJ

Joel Corry Joel Corry (born 10 June 1989) is an English DJ, producer and television personality. He came to prominence in 2019 with the release of his single " Sorry", featuring vocals from Hayley May (who was not credited in the official music video), whi ...

was released on January 29, 2021.

Composition and lyrics

"Body" is an up-tempo "erotic" song, containing an "

NSFW Not safe for work (NSFW) is Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen looking at in a public, formal or controlled environment. The marked content may contain nudity, p ...

-like" sample of a woman sexually moaning in an unknown porno as well as "huge drums" and "thick synth bass lines". Lyrically, Megan brags about her desirability, being the envy of other women and the fantasy of their men. The chorus primarily features the rapper consistently repeating "body-ody-ody-ody". The verses incorporate Megan Thee Stallion's signature "raunchy" lyrics containing

sex appeal Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...

. She stated that she was inspired to write "Body" while she was appreciating her body during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

at the time of the song's release, stating, "I'm like walking around the living room, freestyling, and appreciating my quarantine body 'cause I feel like I got a little fluffy and thick, and I was like, 'Baby, I still look good'". She revealed on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...

'' that the song was aimed at celebrating

body positivity Body positivity is a social movement focused on the acceptance of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities, while challenging present-day beauty standards as an undesirable social construct. Proponents fo ...

in "all bodies".

Critical reception

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''s Kalen Murphy called "Body" a "bawdy track where Megan reclaims full control of her sex appeal and sells temptation like none other". Critics from ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

'' described the track as "a crisp three minutes of bouncy beats and self-confident lyrics" which "embodies Meg's no-f*cks-given attitude in the best way". Carl Lamarre of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that Megan Thee Stallion "salutes curvy women on this body-positive record", while describing it as a "Twerk-worthy bop". Brooklyn White of ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' also agreed that the rapper "continues her mission of empowering women of all different kinds to be confident in their own skin". Reviewing the song's parent album, Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised Megan for her "lyrics teeming with sharp and funny lines" throughout the album while referring to a line from "Body": "all them bitches scary cats, I call 'em

Carole Baskin Carole Baskin (née Carole Stairs Jones, formerly known as Carole Murdock; born June 6, 1961) is an American animal rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary based near Tampa, Florida. She has attracted the atten ...

". In this line in particular, the rapper refers to Baskin, an animal rights activist famous for her appearance on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

show ''

Tiger King The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

'', who had previously criticised the use of big cats as props in her and rapper

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

's music video for "

WAP WAP or Wap may refer to: Music * "WAP" (song), a 2020 song by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion Organizations * Weatherization Assistance Program, for US energy costs * Western Australia Party, a political party founded in 2016 * Western A ...

Live performances

Megan Thee Stallion performed "Body" for the first time at the 2020 American Music Awards. She performed a medley of "Body" and "

Savage Remix "Savage" is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion. It was released on March 6, 2020, as part of her EP '' Suga'' and later sent to US Top 40 radio formats on April 7, 2020, by 1501 Certified Entertainment and 300 Entertainment as the th ...

" on the 848th episode of ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28a ...

'' in December 2020."Body was also performed at the 2021 GRAMMYS on March 14, 2021. Before performing "Body" in her

Glastonbury Festival 2022 The 2022 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 22 and 26 June. The three headlining acts were Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney, with Diana Ross performing in the Legend's slot. This is the fir ...

set, Megan called out the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

for overturning ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

'' and her home state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

for prohibiting

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

, before encouraging the audience to join her in chanting "My body, my motherfucking

choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a giv ...

TikTok challenges

Similar to her song "

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" which gained popularity through a viral dance challenge on the video-sharing platform

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

, Megan Thee Stallion chose to promote "Body" in the same way. Unlike the dance for "Savage" which was choreographed by TikTok user Keara Wilson, Megan Thee Stallion and choreographer

JaQuel Knight JaQuel Knight (born August 6, 1989) is an American choreographer and dancer. Born in North Carolina and raised in Atlanta, he has worked with Beyoncé on many of her most notable dances, including on " Single Ladies", " Formation" and the hist ...

self-originated the #BodyChallenge dance, which is also performed in the song's music video. There was also a TikTok trend where a mashup of

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

's "

Water Under the Bridge "Water Under the Bridge" is a song by English singer Adele from her third studio album '' 25'' (2015). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released the track as the album's fourth single on 14 November 2016. ...

" and "Body" was used along with footage from her 2020 American Music Awards performance to create a dance, auditioning to be one of "Adele's backup dancers". In a separate trend, TikTok users would also use the "Body" audio to exhibit their own bodies and promote body confidence.

Music video

The music video for "Body" was directed by

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pro ...

and features choreography from both Megan Thee Stallion and choreographer JaQuel Knight. It was released alongside both the song and album on November 20, 2020. Megan Thee Stallion engaged in a

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

premiere for the song's music video as part of the

YouTube Originals YouTube Premium, formerly known as YouTube Red, is a subscription service that provides advertising-free streaming of all videos hosted by YouTube, offline play and background playback of videos on mobile devices, access to advertising-free mus ...

' '' Released'' series. At the premiere, she told fans, "You're going to see all body shapes, a lot of strong women doing the damn thing. Just being confident and owning their bodies and their

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

". Celebrities who make cameo appearances in the music video for "Body" include Taraji P. Henson,

Maliibu Miitch Jennifer Jade Roberts (born March 4, 1991), known professionally as Maliibu Miitch, is an American rapper, songwriter, and entertainer of African American, Vietnamese, and Filipino descent. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and raised in New Yo ...

Asian Da Brat Misharron Jermeisha Allen (born December 7, 1996), better known as Asian Doll, Asian Da Brat, or simply Asian, is an American rapper. A Dallas native, she was the first female artist signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Eskimo Records. Early life A ...

, and Tabria Majors. Throughout the video, the women "confidently groove on a futuristic set and on a spotlit stage". Various fashion publications praised the outfits worn in the video. Megan Thee Stallion initially wears a black, mesh body suit which emphasizes her curves, as well as "an oversized coat with a bedazzled bodice with nothing underneath". The video later made a appearance in the music video for another one of Megan's songs, "

Thot Shit "Thot Shit" (known as "Thot Ish" in the radio edit) is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion. The first solo release following her debut studio album ''Good News (Megan Thee Stallion album), Good News'' (2020) and the lead single from her ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs Body image in popular culture Dirty rap songs Megan Thee Stallion songs Music videos directed by Colin Tilley 300 Entertainment singles Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Megan Thee Stallion