"Chi Chi" is a song recorded by American rapper

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. In 2 ...

. The track was written by Banks, and produced by Jonathan Harris. Banks first premiered the song exclusively via her online store website CheapyXO.com. On June 6, the single became available to

online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...

s through Romanian record label Global Records. The song's lyrics are built around the infamous line "Chi Chi, get the yayo" from the 1983 film '' Scarface'', in which the lead character

Tony Montana Antonio Montana is a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1983 film ''Scarface''. This character is portrayed by Al Pacino in the film and is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the 2006 video game '' Scarface: The World Is Yours''. Embod ...

asks his friend Chi Chi to get the drugs they acquired. "Yayo" is in reference to

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

Background and release

"Chi Chi" features production from Jonathan Harris, whom previously collaborated with Banks on her album ''

Broke with Expensive Taste ''Broke with Expensive Taste'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Azealia Banks. In 2011, Banks started working on the album despite not having signed to a record label at that time. A year later, she signed a contract deal with Inters ...

'' (2014). "Chi Chi" was released to Banks' website, CheapyXO.com on June 5, 2017 for streaming. The song was released via iTunes for digital download. The song was initially intended to be the lead single from Banks' upcoming album ''Business & Pleasure'' before later being scrapped and replaced with 2020 single "Black Madonna".

Reception

A writer for ''Noise UK'' described the single as "So good that you’d want her to keep delivering. It’s certified fresh and unique". Adelle Platon, writing for ''Billboard'' was also highly receptive of the single, stating, "The Harlemite returned to her rap roots on Monday (June 5) with some dynamite called Chi Chi".

Music video

Banks revealed in an interview with ''XXL Magazine'' that she had shot a music video for "Chi Chi" which she claimed was "eye-opening". The video failed to see a release.

Credits and personnel

– vocals, songwriter * Jonathan Harris – producer

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Azealia Banks songs Songs written by Azealia Banks