"Girls in the Hood" is a song by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion from her debut studio album, Good News (2020). It was released on June 26, 2020, through 1501 Certified Entertainment and 300 Entertainment, as the album's lead single. Built around a sample of "Boyz-n-the-Hood" by Eazy-E and featuring electric guitar and 808 drums, it is a hip hop song with braggadocious lyrics.
The song received widespread critical acclaim from music critics, some of whom praised it for repurposing what they believed to be misogynoir in "Boyz-n-the-Hood" into an anthem for women. "Girls in the Hood" peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and at number 3 on the Deutsche Black Charts. It was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA). A lyric video for the song was released on June 26, 2020. To promote the song, Megan Thee Stallion performed it at the BET Awards 2020 and as part of a virtual concert for Tidal that same year.
Background and composition
The release date of "Girls in the Hood" was announced on June 24, 2020, as June 26 via Megan Thee Stallion's social media accounts. On June 26, 2020, prior to the song's official release, Megan Thee Stallion teased the song by posting a video clip to Instagram of her twerking in a sundress. After the song was teased, American rapper Reemarkable, daughter of Eazy-E, spoke out regarding Megan Thee Stallion sampling "Boyz-n-the-Hood" since, according to her, she and his other children were barred from allowing recreation or sampling of his music.
The song was released on June 26, 2020, as the lead single for Good News. It was written by Megan Thee Stallion, Bobby Sessions, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ilyah Fraser, and Scott Storch, while produced by IllaDaProducer and Storch. The cover for the single features Megan Thee Stallion in a pink paisley halter top with a fuzzy hood and hoop earrings, standing in front of a pink paisley background. Merchandise for the song was created by black female artists; Megan Thee Stallion boasted that she "can't wait for y'all to see it". A lyric video for "Girls in the Hood" was released on June 26, 2020, and features a "colorful" compilation of pictures, videos, and animations of Megan Thee Stallion, including the rapper flexing her body. On TikTok, a clip of US Vice President (VP) Kamala Harris saying, "Mister Vice president, I'm speaking," to former VP Mike Pence during the 2020 United States VP debate, set to "Girls in the Hood", became a trend in October 2020. Another trend on TikTok featuring the song with a clip of Megan Thee Stallion saying, "I can't talk right now, I'm doing hot girl shit," in which users showed themselves doing mundane tasks, was created by makeup artist Chelsea Uchenna in November 2020. It became popular in early 2021.
"Girls in the Hood" heavily samples Eazy-E's 1987 song "Boyz-n-the-Hood", putting a "modern", "feminist" spin on it. Its instrumental includes electric guitar and 808 drums. Lyrically, the song mainly consists of "defiant", braggadocious one-liners, including its opening lyrics, "Fuck being good, I'm a bad bitch/I'm sick of motherfuckers trying tell me how to live". Kyann-Sian Williams of NME surmised that the lyrics are from the perspective of Megan Thee Stallion's pimp alter ego Tina Snow. Several lyrics were directly inspired by Eazy-E's original lyrics. Megan Thee Stallion also references her haters on Instagram, her love of anime, and the Japanese manga series Naruto in the song. Jessica McKinney of Complex described the rapper's flow on the song as "aggressive", "relentless", and "reminiscent of ... the freestyles that put her on the map in the early stages of her career". Clover Hope of W described the song as "vigorously immodest".