Songfacts®:

• "Been Like This," with a doo-wop sound, is a collaboration between Meghan Trainor and T-Pain. The song was released by Epic Records on March 14, 2024, as the lead single from Trainor's sixth major-label studio album Timeless.
• Trainor's career trajectory has been topsy-turvy. After a string of megahits in her early days, things went a touch quiet. But then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of the pop charts, she cleverly resurrected the retro doo-wop sounds of her debut album with "Made You Look" in 2022. The song went viral, thanks in no small part to the magical world of TikTok, and Trainor was back in the game.
  
  It seems this renewed success got Trainor thinking about her musical roots. Perhaps over a cup of chamomile tea (or maybe a milkshake – who knows with pop stars these days), she remembered her long-standing admiration for T-Pain, the king of Auto-Tuned R&B. As fate would have it, T-Pain was a self-professed Trainor devotee, secretly maneuvering through her husband and manager for months just to meet her. Can you imagine the look on her face when he surprised Meghan on her birthday?
  
  This mutual respect and love for catchy hooks laid the foundation for "Been Like This."
• The song itself is a blend of styles – a doo-wop base punctuated by a sassy trumpet countermelody, all complemented by T-Pain's signature smooth-talking rap verse. Trainor, never one to mince words, uses the lyrics to deliver a healthy dose of self-assured sass:
  
  Oh, 'cause she's cute and she's classy
  Thick, bold and sassy
  She knows what she do when she moves
  
  As for T-Pain? Well, he does what T-Pain does best – lays down rap-sung rhymes that are equal parts boastful and buttery.
• A team effort, "Been Like This" comes courtesy of a songwriting team comprising Trainor herself, her brother Ryan, Kurt Thum, Gian Stone, Grant Boutin, and of course, T-Pain. Stone and Boutin not only co-wrote but also produced the track, throwing in some background vocals for good measure.
  
  The New York City songwriter and producer Gian Stone contributed to six tracks on the deluxe version of Takin' It Back, including the single Mother." His resumé also includes hits for Maroon 5 ("Girls Like You") and Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber ("Stuck With U").