Church Girl

Album: Renaissance (2022)
Charted: 22
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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."

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