"Tia Tamera" is a song by American rapper

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat ( ), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song ...

featuring guest vocals from fellow American rapper

Rico Nasty Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly (born May 7, 1997), known professionally as Rico Nasty, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Maryland. She rose to prominence in 2018 with singles such as "Smack a Bitch" and "Poppin". While in high schoo ...

. It was written by Doja Cat,

Kurtis McKenzie Kurtis McKenzie, formally known as The Arcade, is a British record producer, songwriter, and musician based in Los Angeles. McKenzie is a Grammy Award-winning, Latin Grammy Award-winning, and Academy Award-nominated record producer and composer ...

, David Sprecher, Lydia Asrat, and Rico Nasty, while being produced by the former two. It was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

on February 20, 2019, by

Kemosabe Records Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by American record producer and songwriter Dr. Luke and owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The label is based in Los Angeles, California. History In November 2011, Sony Music Entertainment ann ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

as the second single to the deluxe edition (and fourth overall) of her debut album ''Amala''.

Composition and lyrics

The lyrics reference celebrities such as

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has since appeared in the television series '' Ally McBeal' ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

Nia Long Nia Talita Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the NBC sit ...

Madea Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons (née Baker/Murphy) is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman. Madea is based on Perry's mother and his aunt. In Perry's own words ...

, organizations including

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

and

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

, films such as ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'', songs such as " Rock the Boat" and brands such as

Chia Pet Chia Pets are American styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. Moistened chia seeds (''Salvia hispanica'') are applied to a grooved terracotta ...

Ikea IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

. The title track is rapped throughout the lyrics with comparisons of her breasts to twin actresses

Tia Mowry Tia Mowry is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring role as Tia Landry in the sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (1994–1999), opposite her twin sister Tamera Mowry. The sisters then starred together in the Disney Channel Or ...

and

Tamera Mowry Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite he ...

. Rico is the last verse on the song, and "flexes her bank account, ndforeign

whips A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

Critical reception

The song received widespread acclaim from music critics for its eclectic lyrics and catchy flow.

Okayplayer Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional Web sites used by most artists". The community was founded by The Roots' drummer ...

's Ivie Ani praises the track's lyricism, calling the composition "raunchy, rebellious, and real rap". Brooklyn-based blog ''Brooklyn Vegan'' explains Rico's verse to be a "show-stopper", while

Uproxx ''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience ...

's Andre Gee describe both the song and music video as an "earworm of a hook and a colorful video that allowed each artist to be the vibrant characters we love them as".

Music video

The music video, directed by Roxana Baldovin, premiered on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, 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 ...

on February 21, 2019. As of January 2021, it has gained over 63 million views. The video is a "candy-colored visual" of Doja and Rico competing in a '90s game show against respective lookalikes, with reference to the sitcom ''Sister, Sister'' and the Nickelodeon game show ''Double Dare''. The video gives a "colorful 90's vibe". ''

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 ...

'' ranked it as one of their Top 20 Music Videos of 2019.

Synopsis

The video begins with Doja and Rico competing in a game show against their lookalikes. The duo watch the hip-hop rapper Ka5sh get slimed. The video references the 1997 comedy film ''

B*A*P*S ''B.A.P.S'' (an acronym for '' Black American Princesses'') is a 1997 American female buddy comedy film directed by Robert Townsend and starring Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle, and Martin Landau. The film was written by Troy Byer and was her fir ...

'' with redoing hairstyles from the main characters of the film, Nisi, played by

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...

, and Mickey, played by

Natalie Desselle Natalie Ann Desselle-Reid (July 12, 1967 – December 7, 2020) was an American actress who performed in several films, including ''B.A.P.S.'', ''Def Jam's How to Be a Player'', '' Set It Off'' and ''Cinderella'', and the television series '' Buil ...

. During the final scenes, Doja and Rico pour neon yellow slime on the game show host.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management * Engineered at The Himalayas (

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) * Mastered at

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

(

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

) * Mau Publishing, Inc./Prescription Songs (BMI), The Arcade Songs LLC (BMI), Desta Melodies (BMI), Yeti Yeti Yeti Music/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) *

appears courtesy of Warner Music/Atlantic Recording Corporation Personnel *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– songwriting; production *Lydia Asrat – songwriting * David Sprecher – songwriting;

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

– vocals, songwriting *

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's ''Speak ...

– mixing *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Donald Glover, Childish Gambino's "This Is America (song), This ...

– mastering Credits adapted from ''

Hot Pink Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classificati ...

(Japan Version)'' liner notes.

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Rico Nasty 2019 songs 2019 singles Doja Cat songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Kurtis Mckenzie Songs written by Yeti Beats Songs written by Doja Cat Rico Nasty songs