"Shotta Flow" is the breakout single by American rapper NLE Choppa (who was 16 at the time) released as on January 17, 2019. A

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

featuring American rapper

Blueface Johnathan Jamall Porter (born January 20, 1997), known professionally as Blueface, is an American rapper. In October 2018, after releasing the music video for his song "Respect My Cryppin'", he became a viral meme due to his offbeat style of rap ...

was released on June 20, 2019 along with a music video directed by

Cole Bennett Cole Michael Bennett (born May 14, 1996) is an American business executive, videographer, and music video director. His multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade, started in 2013 as an internet blog while he was in high school. Early life Cole Be ...

. Produced by Midas800, The song reached number 36 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). Three additional

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s to the song were released throughout 2019, with the fifth, "

Shotta Flow 5 "Shotta Flow 5" is a song by American rapper NLE Choppa, released on June 11, 2020 with an accompanying music video. It is the fourth single from his debut studio album ''Top Shotta'' (2020), and the fifth installment in the " Shotta Flow" serie ...

", released in June 2020. The original and the remix were later included on NLE Choppa's debut EP '' Cottonwood''. "Shotta Flow 4", featuring

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. His music first became popular during his teen years in the early 2010s among high school s ...

, was released on NLE Choppa's debut studio album ''

Top Shotta ''Top Shotta'' is the debut studio album by American rapper NLE Choppa, released on August 7, 2020, by Warner Records. It was initially set for release in early 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests ...

'', on August 7, 2020. A sixth sequel, "Shotta Flow 6", is the opening track on NLE Choppa's mixtape ''Me vs. Me'', released on January 28, 2022.

Critical reception

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' named it their New Rap Song of the Day, complimenting it as a "true-to-Memphis shoot-dancing bounce" and NLE Choppa's "animated vocals" and "energetic delivery". ''

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 ...

'' called it a "bouncy, menacing track". ''

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 ...

'' called "Shotta Flow" a "boisterous hip-hop track" with the rapper having a "melodic, heavy-hitting delivery". ''HotNewHipHop'' noted that the song "bec me ...essentially inescapable on hip-hop playlists" and that the remix adds Blueface's "off-kilter flow" to the "piano-based production".

Music video

An accompanying video at a length of three minutes was first released on YouTube in early January 2019, showcasing NLE Choppa and his friends "dancing, joking around and toting prop guns". The video quickly gained attention from hip hop vloggers and amassed 915,000 views within the first week of its release, according to YouTube. As of April 2023, the video has over 206 million views.

Reception

According to ''

'' magazine, within only a month after the "Shotta Flow" video went viral, NLE Choppa had sparked a

bidding war A bid price is the highest price that a buyer (i.e., bidder) is willing to pay for some goods. It is usually referred to simply as the "bid". In bid and ask, the bid price stands in contrast to the ask price or "offer", and the difference betwee ...

among record companies like

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

and Caroline, with bids reportedly reaching as high as $3 million. However, he turned down those offers to enter a distribution partnership with independent distribution company

UnitedMasters UnitedMasters is an American music distributor based in the United States founded by Steve Stoute in November 2017. UnitedMasters gives artists the ability to distribute music to all major streaming services. Distributed artists are eligible to par ...

Remix

A remix featuring American rapper

was released on June 20, 2019, accompanied by a music video directed by

also known as Lyrical Lemonade. This music video has gained more than 356 million views as of April 2023, which is more than the original.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

2019 singles 2019 songs NLE Choppa songs Songs written by NLE Choppa {{2019-single-stub Blueface songs