T-Shirt

Album: Culture (2017)
Charted: 19
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Quavo's mom is concerned about her son's trap lifestyle and doesn't want him dealing drugs.

    Momma told me not to sell work
    Seventeen five, same color T-shirt


    The line is borrowed from Shawty Lo's first verse on D4L's 2005 cut "I'm Da Man."
  • "Work" in this instance is drug-dealing. "Seventeen five" refers to buying a kilo of coke for the low price of $17,500. "Same color T-shirt" references the white T-shirts that are popular with drug dealers.
  • The Atlanta production duo of Nard & B came up with the beat. James "Nard" Bernard Rosser, Jr. and Brandon "B" Rackley have found success producing for likes of T.I. ("On Top of the World") and Maino ("All The Above") over the years.
  • Rosser told Genius the story of their beat:

    "That day we were in the studio and we had just got our hands on some new preset for the Electra2 Plugin. Anytime we get our hands on some new presets or new sounds, it triggers some creative juice on a whole other level for us. That's when we sparked the idea for the core melody for that beat. It was part of the batch - we'd actually done probably two or three beats with the same type of flavor that same day.

    I don't know if you can actually tell but the melody we put in is actually a reverse melody. We've actually done that in a couple other beats, but that one just so happened to catch Migos' ear when I sent it their way. But we were working on that one and it was just a regular day working with new sounds. We did the whole beat in Fruity Loops."
  • Nard & B have also worked with Future on a number of tracks including Future Hendrix's own song called "T-Shirt." Coincidentally, both of these cuts that are titled after the unisex short-sleeved shirt contain sounds that have been reversed.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's Songs

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's SongsSong Writing

"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Janet Jackson

Janet JacksonFact or Fiction

Was Janet secretly married at 18? Did she gain 60 pounds for a movie role that went to Mariah Carey? See what you know about Ms. Jackson.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.