Church Girl

Album: Renaissance (2022)
Charted: 22
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • On this gospel-twerking track, Beyoncé declares that even church girls deserve to let loose. She'll be sitting in her pew Sunday morning but the night before Bey is intent on being a bad girl. When she gets to the party, there'll be no holding back. Beyoncé will let go of her body and "drop it like a thottie."
  • Beyoncé recorded "Church Girl" for Renaissance. A celebration of club culture, much of the album was written and recorded during the COVID-era. It gave the Texan star a sense of escapism during the lockdown period.
  • Beyoncé co-wrote and co-produced "Church Girl" with:

    R&B singer-songwriter The-Dream. A frequent contributor to Beyoncé's albums, he contributed towards 14 out of Renaissance's 16 tracks.

    Chicago producer No I.D. This is No I.D.'s only contribution to Renaissance, but the beatmaker produced Jay-Z's 2017 4:44 album. It's likely his friendship with Beyoncé's husband led to his work on this track.
  • This blend of R&B, gospel and hip-hop starts off with a sample of the gospel vocal group The Clark Sisters' 1981 track "Center of Thy Will." About a minute-and-a-half in, it introduces another sample of the synth line from the Showboys' 1986 bounce track "Drag Rap (Triggerman)." Several artists have borrowed its one-bar drum loop, including T.I. and Lil Wayne for "Ball," Drake for "Nice For What," and Chris Brown and Young Thug for "Go Crazy."

    During the first four lines of the outro, Beyoncé interpolates two different lyrics from DJ Jim's 1992 bounce track "Where They At."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."