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

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Hawksley Workman

Hawksley WorkmanSongwriter Interviews

One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Ed Roland of Collective Soul

Ed Roland of Collective SoulSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Jonathan Cain of Journey

Jonathan Cain of JourneySongwriter Interviews

Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."