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

Billy Gould of Faith No More

Billy Gould of Faith No MoreSongwriter Interviews

Faith No More's bassist, Billy Gould, chats to us about his two new experimental projects, The Talking Book and House of Hayduk, and also shares some stories from the FNM days.

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against

Tim McIlrath of Rise AgainstSongwriter Interviews

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-Nighters

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-NightersSong Writing

These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.

Did They Really Sing In That Movie?

Did They Really Sing In That Movie?Fact or Fiction

Bradley Cooper, Michael J. Fox, Rami Malek, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow and George Clooney: Which actors really sang in their movies?

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"They're Playing My Song

"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.