| "Bickenhead" | |
|---|---|
| Song byCardi B | |
| from the albumInvasion of Privacy | |
| Genre | Bounce |
| Length | 3:01 |
| Label | Atlantic |
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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"Bickenhead" is a song by American rapperCardi B from her debut studio albumInvasion of Privacy (2018). It was written by Cardi B andPardison Fontaine alongside producers by Ayo,Keyz and Nes. It samplesProject Pat's song "Chickenhead", written byJuicy J,DJ Paul andTodd Shaw, which itself samples DJ Jimi's "Bitches (Reply)", written by Derrick Ordogne and Dion Norman;[1] therefore they are all credited among the composers. It debuted at number 43 on the USBillboard Hot 100 the week following the album's release.[2]
An explicit song that expressessexual liberation, "Bickenhead" builds on Cardi B's affinities withSouthern rap, while serving as a response toProject Pat's "Chickenhead."[3][4]Chickenhead is a derogatory term popularized in1990s hip hop music that refers to a woman that performsoral sex indiscriminately. Changing the message, in the lyrics of "Bickenhead", reviewers noted Cardi B "takes ownership of her sexuality".[5]
Dion Norman, who co-wrote the sampled song "Bitches (Reply)", stated about "Bickenhead":
"I was really amazed that it would be Cardi B that would do the record, especially her being from the Bronx. I thought that that spoke volumes of how far New Orleans music has traveled, but I also thought that it was appropriate because she's been under scrutiny and somewhat of an underdog that has actually persevered to a level of success [...] When I heard the record, I told [the contact person], 'Man, Cardi B needs to put that on her album.'"[1]
InComplex, Kiana Fitzgerald said, "the beat itself is faithful to the first, with slight variations that make it sound like 2018 while still invoking the feel of the early '00s. It sounds like the song Cardi's been waiting her whole career to make, and she swan dived right into the depths of pearl-clutching crassness that we've come to love her for. (Half the song is dedicated to advice about pussy popping.) Above all else, 'Bickenhead' is a reminder to women everywhere that there's nothing wrong with alternating being a bird with being about your paper...".[6] Writing forAllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung felt Cardi B gets "filthy" on the "explicit" track, that "it could makeLil' Kim orFoxy Brown blush."[7]
A lyric in the first verse of the song, "Lawyer is a Jew, he gon' chew up all the charges", was received poorly by some audiences and multiple Jewish publications accused Cardi B of playing intoantisemetic sterotypes of lawyers being overwhelmingly Jewish or that Jewish lawyers wield disproportionate legal power.[8][9][10] Some perceived her lyric as a reference to her legal defense team containing multiple Jewish attorneys, but still considered the lyric to be inappropriate.[11][12]
Cardi B performed "Bickenhead" and "She Bad" at the36th AVN Awards on January 26, 2019.[13][14][15]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[16] | 76 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[17] | 43 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[18] | 25 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[19] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
