"Bootylicious" is a song recorded by American group

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

for their third studio album '' Survivor'' (2001). It was written and produced by Rob Fusari,

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

and Falonte Moore. The song contains a prominent sample from

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

' song " Edge of Seventeen". It was released as the second single from ''Survivor'' on May 22, 2001, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. "Bootylicious" was a commercial success, becoming the group's fourth and final US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one single. It also reached the top five in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A Rockwilder remix of the song featured Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and appeared on the soundtrack of the 2001 musical '' Carmen: A Hip Hopera'' and the group's remix album '' This Is the Remix'' (2002). Although the term "bootylicious" had already been used by rapper

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

in Dr. Dre's song " Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" (1992), the popularity of "Bootylicious" caused the slang word to become widespread, being added to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' in 2004 under the definition "(of a woman) sexually attractive".

Writing and production

"Bootylicious" was written and produced by

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most culturally significant figu ...

, Rob Fusari and Falonte Moore, and was recorded at SugarHill Recording Studios in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and Sound on Sound Studios in New York City. There are conflicting stories about the song's origins. According to Knowles, she was inspired to write the song on a flight to either London or Japan as she was listening to the guitar riff of

' song " Edge of Seventeen", which reminded her of a "voluptuous woman". According to Fusari, he wanted to build a track on a sample of Survivor's " Eye of the Tiger". Unable to locate the song, he chose to sample "Edge of Seventeen" instead. He wanted to replay the guitar riff himself in the studio so as not to lose publishing royalties, but group manager Mathew Knowles (father of Beyoncé Knowles) would not let him do this.

Music

According to the sheet music published by EMI Music Publishing at Musicnotes.com, "Bootylicious" is set in common time with a medium funk

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 104 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E minor (recorded in

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

), and Destiny's Child's vocals span from G₃ to B₅. Kelly Rowland sings the majority of the lead vocals on the track, with her leading both verses, Knowles leading choruses, and

Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to: * Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar * Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child * Michelle Williams (actr ...

leading the bridge.

Remixes

A hip hop-styled

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

(the Rockwilder remix) was produced by Rockwilder, Knowles, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

. This version was issued to urban markets, and had a

hip-hop culture Hip-hop culture is an art movement that emerged in New York City, in the borough of The Bronx; Primarily within the black community. Hip Hop as an art form and culture has been heavily influenced by both male and female artists. It is charac ...

-based

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

to accompany it, in which Beyoncé wears a belt that has the word "Bootylicious" misspelled as "Bootyliciuos", as pointed out by

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Sou ...

on an episode of ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

''. A combination of the R&B vocals from this song and the grunge rock music of Nirvana's " Smells Like Teen Spirit" is one of the best-known examples of the "bastard pop" or " mashup" genre, where elements from seemingly incompatible songs are mixed together. A later mashup used the music of

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

's "

Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

" with the "Bootylicious" vocals.

Music video

The

for "Bootylicious", directed by Matthew Rolston and filmed from May 7–9, 2001, showed Destiny's Child performing dance steps from

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's famous " Billie Jean" performance from the special '' Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever''. During the video, moves from several other Michael Jackson videos can be seen such as parts of the choreography from " Thriller", "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produced by Quincy Jones, and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to ...

", " Bad", and " The Way You Make Me Feel". Dance moves that were used by Jackson during live performances of " They Don't Care About Us" can be seen as well. As the group is dancing, the members appear in several different costumes. These scenes are interloped with the group dancing in front of a dance troupe made of all boys. The dance sequence ends with a diamond-shaped stage where the group appears wearing pink crop-tops, while the all-male dance troupe appears shirtless, wearing Michael Jackson's signature one glove and sagging pants that showed their underwear with "Destiny" at the back. Stevie Nicks is featured playing the sampled riff on a guitar. Solange Knowles, Beyoncé's sister, also makes a brief cameo in the video. The video for "Bootylicious" began airing on BET, VH1, and MTV on the week ending May 27, 2001, with the video premiering on the latter channel's '' Making the Video'' series. The version of the song featured in the music video is slightly different from the album version, removing the synth strings and DJ scratching and percussion fills in favour of a drier mix, with the bass guitar cut out part-way through the final choruses and a fade-out of the instrumental leaving only the vocals near the end. This version was never commercially released. The music clip is featured on the DualDisc edition of the 2005 compilation album '' #1's'' and as an enhanced video on the UK and French editions of the single. The video for the Rockwilder remix featuring Missy Elliott is available on the "Urban Remixes" version of the UK CD single for "

Emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

". The music video uses a slightly altered version of the song; the difference being the song's instrumental. A notable difference in the music video is that the song's instrumental fades out at the end of the song, resulting in the final chorus being sung, acapella. Whereas, on the album version, the song's instrumental is heard throughout the song and during the final chorus and ends just before Knowles sings her final line.

Live performances

Destiny's Child opened the inaugural BET Awards (2001) with a performance of "Bootylicious". They also performed it on both Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration concerts, complete with their rendition of his dance moves. Before the video's premiere, the group had dedicated the video to Michael Jackson. According to Kelly Rowland, Jackson liked the song so much that when he saw them for the first time, he started to sing it and they were very surprised. On February 3, 2013, Beyoncé performed the song along with Rowland and Williams during the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show. They also performed Beyoncé's "

Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her third studio album, '' I Am... Sasha Fierce'' (2008). Columbia Records released "Single Ladies" as a single on October 8, 2008, as a double A-side alongside " If I ...

Commercial performance

"Bootylicious" debuted at number 66 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on June 9, 2001. Nine weeks later, the song reached number one, becoming the group's fourth and final number-one single in the United States. It remained on the chart for 19 additional weeks. As of , it remains the last song by a girl group to top the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also peaked at number five on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and number two on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, behind

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and Cameo's "

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1979. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly "Turn Me Loose (Loverboy song), Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still hear ...

". In the United Kingdom, "Bootylicious" debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, behind the Atomic Kitten's " Eternal Flame". It sold over 169,000 copies and propelled '' Survivor'' back to the top of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. Additionally, the song reached the top ten in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden.

Legacy

"Bootylicious" created moderate controversy due to pushing the boundaries of female sexuality. Destiny's Child was claiming " G-rated fun" and confidence in body image through the lyrics, yet the song's music video suggested much more with the group wearing heavy make-up, form-fitting clothes, performing sexually suggestive dancing, and the video featuring close-ups on several dancers'

buttocks The buttocks (: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a lay ...

. The song popularized the

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

term "bootylicious", a combination of the words " booty" and "delicious", although the term had already been used by

in the song " Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" (aka "Dre Day" from Dr. Dre's 1992 album '' The Chronic'') as a pejorative. "Bootylicious" is also mentioned by a character named Champ ( Shaun Baker) in the 1993 "Homey, Don't Ya Know Me?" episode of '' A Different World''. The term was also used previously in the 1999 video game '' Duke Nukem: Time to Kill'' as the name of a strip club. The success of the song came after the rise in media visibility of voluptuous personalities such as

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

. There was a media perception that the appearance of these women corresponded to an appreciation of the supposedly neglected larger hips and thighs common in the figures of black and Latina women. The approving neologism "bootylicious" has entered the mainstream English language as part of the crossover of African-American popular culture, fashion, and sexual politics. In September 2011, VH1 ranked "Bootylicious" at number 19 on its list "The 100 Greatest Songs of the 2000s". Rowland has mentioned that "Bootylicious" is the most irritating Destiny's Child song to her since she has heard it too many times.

Track listings

US CD single # "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 # "Bootylicious" ( Richard Vission's V-Quest) – 6:06 US and Canadian maxi-CD single # "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 # "Bootylicious" (Richard Vission's V-Quest) – 6:06 # "Bootylicious" (Richard Vission's D.J. dub) – 5:27 # "Bootylicious" (Big Boyz remix) – 3:28 # "Bootylicious" ( Case remix) – 4:45 US 12-inch single :A1. "Bootylicious" (Richard Vission's V-Quest) – 6:06 :A2. "Bootylicious" (Richard Vission's D.J. dub) – 5:27 :B1. "Bootylicious" (Big Boyz remix) – 3:28 :B2. "Bootylicious" (Big Boyz remix instrumental) – 3:24 :B3. "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 :B4. "Bootylicious" (album instrumental) – 3:27 UK CD single # "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 # "Bootylicious" (Ed Case refix) – 4:45 # "Cards Never Lie" – 2:42 # "Bootylicious" (video) UK cassette single # "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 # "Bootylicious" (M and J's Jelly remix) – 3:40 UK 12-inch single :A1. "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 :A2. "Bootylicious" ( Rockwilder remix featuring

) – 4:13 :B1. "Bootylicious" (Ed Case refix) – 4:45 European CD1 # "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 # "Bootylicious" (Ed Case refix) – 4:45 European CD2 # "Bootylicious" (album version) – 3:27 # "Bootylicious" (Ed Case refix) – 4:45 # "Bootylicious" (M&J's Jelly remix) – 3:40 # "Bootylicious" (video version) Australian CD single # "Bootylicious" – 3:27 # " Survivor" (Jameson full vocal remix) – 6:19 # "Survivor" (Digital Black-N-Groove) – 4:00 # "Survivor" (CB200 Club Anthem mix) – 6:20 # " Independent Women Part I" (live at the Brit Awards 2001) Japanese CD single # "Bootylicious" (raido edit) – 3:01 # "Bootylicious" (Rockwilder remix) – 3:53 # "Bootylicious" (Richard Vission's V-Quest) – 6:07 # "Bootylicious" (M&J's Jelly remix) – 3:40 # "Bootylicious" (Big Boyz remix) – 3:30

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the liner notes of ''#1's''. *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, producer * Kelly Rowland – Lead vocals *

– vocals, mixing * Rob Fusari – writer, producer * Falonte Moore – writer, producer *

– writer * Dan Workman –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Tony Maserati – mixing * Flip Osman – mixing assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

Cover versions

English rock band Keane performed a medley consisting of "Bootylicious" and

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

and Redman's " Dirrty" on Jo Whiley's Live Lounge. An audio recording is available on the 2007 compilation ''Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 2''. The cast of the Fox television show '' Glee'' performed a cover version in the 2009 first season episode " Hairography". The

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

covered the song in the 2015 film '' Pitch Perfect 2''.

Use in commercials

"Bootylicious" was used in a commercial for the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

''Candy Crush Jelly Saga'' in 2016.

In other media

It appeared in " Grand Finale", the 2019 season 11 finale of drag queen reality competition ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'', where contestants

Brooke Lynn Hytes Brooke Lynn Hytes is the stage name of Brock Edward Hayhoe (born March 10, 1986), a Canadian-American drag queen, ballet dancer, and television personality. After working as a dancer with Cape Town City Ballet and Les Ballets Trockadero de Mont ...

and Silky Nutmeg Ganache had to lipsync to it in order to advance to the final round. American singer Normani used the song in her performance on the reality competition show '' Lip Sync Battle'', which aired on February 1, 2018. Her set was reminiscent of the song's music video, and at some point, one of the back-up dancers "trips" in front of Normani, a callback to Michelle William's infamous fall during a performance of "

Soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

" by the group on '' 106 & Park'' in 2004. The song appeared in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and Pixar's 2022 animated film '' Turning Red''.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1992 neologisms 2001 singles 2001 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Columbia Records singles Destiny's Child songs Missy Elliott songs Music videos directed by Matthew Rolston Song recordings produced by Beyoncé Songs written by Beyoncé Songs written by Kelly Rowland Songs written by Rob Fusari Songs written by Stevie Nicks