| "Bad Girls" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by M.I.A. | ||||
| from the album Vicki Leekx and Matangi | ||||
| Released | 31 January 2012 | |||
| Studio | Hit Factory Criteria (Miami), Circle House (Miami) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:47 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Danja | |||
| M.I.A. singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Bad Girls" on YouTube | ||||
"Bad Girls" is a song by British recording artist M.I.A. from her fourth studio album Matangi (2013).[4] The song was written by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Marcella Araica and Floyd Nathaniel "Danja" Hills, and produced by Danja. The song was M.I.A's first release following her departure from the UK's XL Recordings in 2011, and was released through Interscope Records in the US on 31 January 2012. A shorter version of the song appeared on Vicki Leekx, a mixtape released for free online on 31 December 2010. "Bad Girls" was released as a digital download a day after its world premiere on radio and online.
The track is a midtempo hip-hop song with Middle Eastern influences and exhibiting elements of worldbeat, dancehall and syncopated drums in its instrumentation. Its lyrics revolve around sexual prowess and female empowerment, while its chorus features the refrain "Live fast die young, bad girls do it well" sung in a haughty rap-sung delivery. The song received positive reviews from contemporary critics, who lauded it as a highlight from the mixtape and commended its hook and lyrics on its final version as containing hallmarks of her previous songs including "Paper Planes" (2007) and "XXXO" (2010). In 2019, Pitchfork ranked "Bad Girls" as the 27th best song of the 2010s.
An accompanying music video for the song was shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco in solidarity with the women to drive movement, premiering on 3 February 2012. Directed by Romain Gavras, the video garnered universal acclaim and accolades. The song charted in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Korea, Switzerland, the UK and the US, solely on downloads, and was distributed in physical format on 12 March 2012.
- ^ "M.I.A., 'Bad Girls' – Song Review". PopCrush. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ "MIA: 'Bad Girls' – Single review". Digital Spy. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ Ahlgrim, Carrie (13 December 2019). "The 113 best songs of the past decade, ranked". Insider. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
It's one of the most enduring pop songs of the century...
- ^ Alexandra Svokos (5 November 2013). "M.I.A. 'Matangi' Album Review: Bad Girls Still Do It Well". Mic. Retrieved 3 March 2021.