"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" is a single by American recording artist

Meshell Ndegeocello Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

. It was released in 1993 on

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Warner Music Group and run by recording artist Madonna, as well as Frederick DeMann and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev. It included a record label ( Maverick Records), a film producti ...

. It also appears on her debut album '' Plantation Lullabies'', that was released on October 19, 1993. The critically acclaimed single reached number 73 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 74 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 79 in Australia. Its accompanying black-and-white music video was directed by

Jean-Baptiste Mondino Jean-Baptiste Mondino (born Aubervilliers, France on 21 July 1949) is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He has directed music videos for Madonna (entertainer), Madonna, David Bowie, Sting (musician), Sting, Björk, Don Henley, ...

and won an award at the 1994 ''Billboard'' Music Video Awards. The single earned Ndegeocello nominations for both

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record five times, while Ba ...

and

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

at the

37th Grammy Awards The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including Song ...

. The song was the basis of the

Queen Pen Lynise Walters (born September 24, 1972), known professionally as Queen Pen, is an American rapper. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, she was discovered by producer Teddy Riley at an IHOP restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Riley later invite ...

song "Girlfriend" on her 1997 album '' My Melody''.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

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 advertis ...

'' magazine wrote, "The track is a banji-girl, cold-clockin' throwdown armed with a fiercely bitchy chorus and a groove that instantly sticks to the brain." He noted that it "cracks cheatin' lovers. Fueled by a chorus structured like a playground limerick, Ndegeocello vamps with an attitude that's half bitchy and half enlightening. All the while, a hard, state-of-the-charts

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

beat chugs along; it'll juice the booty of any banj girl worth her salt." Maria Jimenez from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' said, "Her reputation precedes her and she lives up to all expectations. Me'Shell delivers the musical goods and lyrical content with a cutting story based on personal experience. She flows on the bass and her fluency in R&B,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and the genres' descendants is apparent throughout." Stephen Dalton from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote, "A smart signing by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

and possibly the one to break her

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

-linked

Maverick Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 M ...

imprint out of vanity label status, Me'Shell's throaty but sophisticated rap style is as hard as mahogany and as cool as liquid nitrogen. Imagine a young

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

laying down feisty rhymes over

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

's stroppier, jazzier beats and you're there."

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

called it a "provocative post-feminist statement" in his ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

''.

Music video

The music video for "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" was directed by French fashion photographer and director

and shot in black-and-white. It features Ndegeocello with her guitar, performing the song in front of a black backdrop. In between, close-ups of women of different ethnicities are appearing, lip-synching the lyrics. Ndegeocello's musicians also appears in the video. It won an award for Best New Artist Clip of the Year in the category for R&B/Urban at the 1994 ''

'' Music Video Awards.

Legacy

In 2017, Australian Double J ranked "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" number 27 in their list of "The 50 Most Overlooked Songs of the 90s".

Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab Glenn Easton Dormand, also known as Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab, is an Australian songwriter, musician, record producer, remixer, TV presenter, radio announcer, podcaster and film director. He was one of the founding members of the band Machine G ...

wrote, "As a modern guy, I'm probably supposed to say how refreshing it was to have an empowered, talented woman brought to the fore. But, at the time, this song snaked out of my speakers scarier and sexier than anything else of that decade. Me'Shell NdegéOcello was terrifying and alluring. So dangerous. The kind of girl you never marry but you never forget. She'd snap you like a twig and set fire to your life, then, come 2am on a Saturday night, you'd still find you thumb hovering over her number in your phone tempting you to call."

Track listing

#"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" (Album Version) #"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" (Mad Sex Mix Extended) (Lil Louis Remix) #"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" (The Gentrified 9 Mix) (David Gamson Remix) #"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" (Existential Meditation on the Probability of You Kissing My Mind) (A-Plus Remix) #"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" (Tiramisu Mix Extended) (Lil Louis Remix) #"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" (Lil Louis Freaky Mix)

Charts

References

1993 singles 1993 songs Black-and-white music videos Maverick Records singles Meshell Ndegeocello songs Music videos directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino Songs about infidelity Songs written by Meshell Ndegeocello {{1990s-R&B-song-stub Breakup songs