I Do
by Cardi B (featuring SZA)

Album: Invasion of Privacy (2018)
Charted: 23
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "I Do" features a hook crooned by SZA. Despite the Top Dawg R&B singer's busy schedule, she made a promise to Cardi that she would find time for a collaboration, which resulted in this song.
  • Cardi and SZA proclaim during the song that they do just what they like. SZA croons on the hook:

    I left a nigga on read 'cause I felt like it
    Dress me down in that Raf, Saint Laurent jacket
    Dapper, dapper, I look fine and my checks divine
    No wonder, wonder why I do whatever I like
    I do what I like, I do, I do


    Cardi B sums up the song's concept in verse two when she raps:

    Good girls do what they told
    Bad bitches do what they want
  • The beat comes courtesy of Canadian producer Murda Beatz, a frequent collaborator of both Migos ("MotorSport") and Drake ("Nice For What"). He was assisted by his frequent collaborator, the German duo CuBeatz.
  • The hook of "I Do" was penned by Los-Angeles based songwriter Nija Charles (Jason DeRulo's "Colors"). Nija told Genius that she didn't know the song was going be on Invasion of Privacy until around a fortnight before its release.
  • Nija drew inspiration from her own life experiences when penning the hook:

    "19 years old, getting flown out everywhere, I was with Kodak Black the night before, so I was just in a great mood," she recalled. "When the beat came in, I went into savage mode and the first thing that came out on the mic was, 'I left that nigga on read, cause I felt like it.' I wanted to channel how I feel when I look in the mirror in the morning after getting washed in dressed. The hook just came across as feeling invincible."
  • Cardi B and SZA gave the song its live debut during SZA's headline show at New York's Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2023.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."

Lori McKenna

Lori McKennaSongwriter Interviews

Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

Thomas Dolby

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.