Act Up

Album: Girl Code (2018)
Charted: 26
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • To act up is to act in a way different from that which is normal or expected. During this profanity-laced song, the City Girls show they are more than happy to "act up" in order to take advantage of rich, dumb men. They do this by making themselves attractive to these dudes, even if they are already in a relationship.
  • The song's rise up the Hot 100 was aided by the #ActUpChallenge on Instagram, which consists of teens posting video clips of drinking, smoking, and twerking along with photos of exes and former friends. The internet challenge is not age-appropriate and has gotten a number of youngsters into trouble.
  • Lil Yachty is credited as a co-writer on the song (under his real name of Miles McCollum) along with The City Girls' Jatavia Johnson and producer EarlThePearll. Lil Yachty has worked frequently with EarlThePearll and is on Quality Control, the same record label as City Girls.
  • Speaking with Kerwin Frost, Yachty revealed that he personally penned the entire song (except for J.T.'s last verse) while in the studio with EarlThePearll. It was his first time writing a song for another artist, and he accomplished the task by getting into The City Girls' raunchy mindset.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.