Songfacts®:

• A "Block Boy" is a streetwise guy from the neighborhood. In this song, Doechii is ready to give him a little love, taking us into a world where she's a "good girl" and he's her "thug."
  
  Doechii made the grade with very personal songs where she raps with a dizzying display of flows, starting with her viral hit in 2020, "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake." That song got her signed to the Los Angeles-based powerhouse Top Dawg Entertainment in March 2022. Her first singles on the label, "Persuasive" and "Crazy," are typical of her sound, with a grab bag of styles within each song. "What It Is (Block Boy)" is far more mainstream. It's irresistibly catchy but lacks the lyrical pathos and dextrous delivery Doechii is known for. But it did introduce her to many new fans when it became her first chart hit.
• Doechii got some pressure from her label to make more songs like "What It Is," which frustrated her but provided inspiration for her 2024 song "Boom Bap." In that one, she addresses all the folks that want her to either sing like she does on "What Is Is" or rap in the style of the day, meaning hard and aggressive. That song is part of her highly acclaimed album Alligator Bites Never Heal, a return to confessional songwriting in a stew of styles. It earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
• That's Kodak Black spitting a guest verse from the perspective of Doechii's street-smart love interest. He knows every gangster needs a solid shawty who's got his back, someone who's there for him no matter how badly the world treats him.
  
  Doechii also released a solo version of the song with his contribution removed.
• The song samples TLC's classic 1999 hit "No Scrubs" and interpolates hip-hop group Trillville's 2004 single "Some Cut." The latter track, which features guest vocals by rapper Cutty Cartel, peaked at #14 on the Hot 100 in 2005.
  
  "This song is a fusion of nostalgia and pop vibes," Doechii said. "I feel like I'm showing off a side of my vocal range with this one that my fans haven't really seen yet. I love using the old samples of 'No Scrubs' and 'Some Cut' to mix in some playful energy as well."
• J. White Did It and Brian Kennedy produced the track.
  
  Longtime Cardi B collaborator J. White Did It created the beats for many of her hits, including her chart-topping singles "Bodak Yellow" and "I Like It."
  
  American producer Brian Kennedy has also worked with Rihanna ("Disturbia," "Close To You") and Chris Brown ("Forever," "Don't Wake Me Up").
• Doechii dropped the song on March 17, 2023, hitting us with multiple flavors. There's original, sped-up and slowed-down versions with Kodak Black, and original-speed, sped-up and slowed-down cuts without the rapper.
• TikTok was the catalyst for the song's success, as clips featuring a snippet of Doechii's solo version flooded the platform. It was TikTok where Doechii first blew up when her song "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" trended with the #yuckybluckyfruitcake hashtag.
• On the Billboard Rhythmic Airplay list dated June 24, 2023, Doechii reached a significant milestone when this song climbed to #1, marking her very first topper on any Billboard chart.
  
  Meanwhile, seasoned artist Kodak Black collected his third chart topper on the listing. He had previously reached the pinnacle with "Wake Up In The Sky," a collaboration with Gucci Mane and Bruno Mars, which held the top spot for three weeks in December 2018. Additionally, his track "Zeze," featuring Travis Scott and Offset, reigned for one week in January 2019.
• "What It Is (Block Boy)" was originally written for Normani's debut album, according to songwriter Bianca "Blush" Atterberry.
  
  Atterberry explained in a TikTok video that RCA Records had commissioned her, J. White Did It, Verse Simmonds, and Fresh to write songs specifically for Normani. "We were locked in the studio for about three days and came out with six songs. 'What It Is' was one of them," she said.
  
  The team sensed they had something special. "We just knew - it was a smash," Atterberry recalled. "You just be knowing."
  
  But when the track was presented to RCA and Normani, she passed on it. "She didn't feel it fit her vision at the time - and that's totally normal," Atterberry explained. "It happens all the time in this industry."
  
  The song sat on the shelf for a couple of years, even as other artists tried to claim it, until Doechii came along. "We heard her on it and were like, 'She's out of here. She's a star,'" Atterberry said. "She's always been a star."