"Tia Tamera" is a song by American rapper and singer

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

featuring fellow American rapper

Rico Nasty Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly (born May 7, 1997), known professionally as Rico Nasty, is an American rapper from Prince George's County, Maryland. She began Self-publishing, self-releasing while in high school, and had released five solo mixtapes by ...

. It was written by Doja Cat, Kurtis McKenzie, David Sprecher, Lydia Asrat, and Rico Nasty, while being produced by the former two. It was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

on February 20, 2019, by

Kemosabe Records Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by record producer Dr. Luke in 2011. It was launched as an imprint of RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Los Angeles, California, the label has signed acts including ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

as the second single to the deluxe edition (and fourth overall) of Doja's debut album '' Amala''.

Composition and lyrics

The lyrics reference celebrities such as

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...

, Sia,

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). Hall received critical acclaim for her role in the film '' Sup ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

Nia Long Nia Talita Long ( ; born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the N ...

Madea Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman. Madea is based on Perry's mother and his aunt. In Perry's own words, Madea is "exactly ...

, organizations including

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

and

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

, films such as ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', songs such as " Rock the Boat" and brands such as

Chia Pet Chia Pets are American styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. Moistened chia seeds (''Salvia hispanica'') are applied to a grooved terracotta ...

Ikea IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

. The title of the track is rapped throughout the lyrics with comparisons of her breasts to twin actresses

Tia Mowry Tia Dashon Mowry (; July 6, 1978) is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring role as Tia Landry in the sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (1994–1999), opposite her twin sister Tamera Mowry. The sisters then starred together ...

and

Tamera Mowry Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite h ...

. Rico is the last verse on the song, and "flexes her bank account, ndforeign

whips A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

Critical reception

The song received widespread acclaim from music critics for its eclectic lyrics and catchy flow.

Okayplayer Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional Web sites used by most artists". The community was founded by The Roots' drummer ...

's Ivie Ani praises the track's lyricism, calling the composition "raunchy, rebellious, and real rap". Brooklyn-based blog ''Brooklyn Vegan'' explains Rico's verse to be a "show-stopper", while

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

's Andre Gee describe both the song and music video as an "earworm of a hook and a colorful video that allowed each artist to be the vibrant characters we love them as".

Music video

The music video, directed by Roxana Baldovin, premiered on YouTube on February 21, 2019. As of January 2021, it has gained over 63 million views. The video is a "candy-colored visual" of Doja and Rico competing in a '90s game show against respective lookalikes, with reference to the sitcom ''Sister, Sister'' and the Nickelodeon game show ''Double Dare''. The video gives a "colorful 90's vibe". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked it as one of their Top 20 Music Videos of 2019.

Synopsis

The video begins with Doja and Rico competing in a game show against their lookalikes. The duo watch the hip-hop rapper Ka5sh get slimed. The video references the 1997 comedy film ''

B*A*P*S ''B.A.P.S'' (an acronym for '' Black American Princesses'') is a 1997 American female buddy comedy film directed by Robert Townsend and starring Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle, and Martin Landau. The film was written by Troy Byer and was he ...

'' with redoing hairstyles from the main characters of the film, Nisi, played by

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...

, and Mickey, played by Natalie Desselle. During the final scenes, Doja and Rico pour neon yellow slime on the game show host.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management * Engineered at The Himalayas (Los Angeles, California) * Mastered at

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...

(Hollywood, California) * Mau Publishing, Inc./

Prescription Songs Prescription Songs is an independent music publishing and licensing company founded in 2009 by Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. History Between 2013 and 2017, Prescription Songs held a joint publishing deal with Nashville-based Big Machine Records t ...

(BMI), The Arcade Songs LLC (BMI), Desta Melodies (BMI), Yeti Yeti Yeti Music/WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) *

appears courtesy of Warner Music/Atlantic Recording Corporation Personnel *

– vocals, songwriting * Kurtis McKenzie – songwriting; production *Lydia Asrat – songwriting * David Sprecher – songwriting;

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 ...

– vocals, songwriting *

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue (born December 27, 1963) is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing ...

– mixing *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Childish Gambino's " This Is America", and is a six-time nominee for the Grammy Award fo ...

– mastering Credits adapted from '' Hot Pink (Japan Version)'' liner notes.

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Rico Nasty 2019 songs 2019 singles Doja Cat songs Rico Nasty songs Songs written by Doja Cat Songs written by Kurtis Mckenzie Songs written by Yeti Beats Song recordings produced by Yeti Beats RCA Records singles