“Hot Sh*t” by Cardi B (ft. Lil Durk & Kanye West)

This song can be classified as being primarily braggadocious in nature, with a palpably-confrontational, gang-inspired slant to it all. Cardi B, who holds down the first verse, properly sets the tone in by letting it be known that despite being rich and “pretty”, she’s also a “bad b*-ch”. Lil Durk, being who he is, focuses almost exclusively on living that don’t-give-AF street life. That is to say that he also brags, but his boasting is centered on his opp-disrespecting level of toughness, not his riches.

Meanwhile, we all know that Kanye tends to play both sides of the coin and is not necessarily the proud or violent type per se. For instance, he does give a shoutout to God in his verse. But in this particular outing he lets it hang out a bit, i.e. noting that whereas he may not be a thug on his own, his homey Pusha (T) is, thus granting West gang affiliation regardless. And within this mindframe Yeezy also, of course, uses the occasion to allude to his massive wealth.

All things considered, from a lyrical perspective Lil Durk arguably has the best verse. But these kinds of songs, where you have these tenured, superstar rappers like Cardi B and especially Kanye West, no one is really expecting to hear exceptional lyricism anyway. Such tracks are more likely to generate headlines if one of said celebrities touches upon a topic that is currently trending in their well-publicized private lives. And in this case that honor would once again go to Yeezus who, out of all A list rappers, is the one who most regularly incorporates his real-life matters into his verses.

The False Reports

Many media outlets falsely reported that West uses the opportunity to note the type of drama he’s been going through as of late concerning his children since he and their mom, celebrity influencer Kim Kardashian, are currently estranged. But in reality, he doesn’t actually mention any of them in the song. Kanye may, in a roundabout way, be alluding to his children by rather questioning those who are all up in his business as to the state of their own kids. In other words, instead of paparazzi, the media, critics and what have you being so preoccupied with Kanye’s family matters, they could be directing that same energy into minding their own.

Celebrity References in “Hot Sh*t”

Outside of that, these songs are also made notable via references to other celebrities. And in that regard, besides for the aforenoted Pusha T, Kanye also mentions the late Virgil Abloh, a famous friend of his who unexpectedly died in 2021. Kanye goes on to imply that said passing adversely affected him emotionally.

Meanwhile at the beginning of her verse, Cardi gives a shoutout to the late Tupac, which is sort of a standard amongst rap musicians anyway. And Durk also recognizes someone who has left the mortal plane, his friend King Von, who was murdered in 2020. But besides that, he also seems to acknowledge fellow rapper and semi-regular collaborator 21 Savage, who is very much alive and kicking.

In Conclusion

So conclusively, from a lyrical perspective we can say that there isn’t anything extraordinary about Hot Sh*t. The main vocalist utilizes this song to tout her superiority over her female rivals, which of course isn’t anything new as far as Cardi B’s artistry is concerned. But the song still has its moments, especially when the artists allude to aspects of their personal lives which fans who have knowledge of such can identify with.

Cardi B

Cardi B, as successful of a musician as she is, has only dropped one studio album to date, 2018’s “Invasion of Privacy”. Since then she has had a couple of children and accordingly, her musical output seems to have gradually waned. But to reiterate, Cardi currently remains an A list artist. For instance, the one solo single she did release in 2021, “Up“, has gone double-platinum. 

In 2020 she also (co-)headlined just one single, “WAP“, which as of this writing has achieved RIAA septuple-platinum status. 

Lil Durk

Lil Durk can also be considered an A list rapper, particularly as far as the streets are concerned.

Kanye West

Kanye West is a superstar whose popularity even exceeds that of Cardi B. For instance, on top of having engaged in successful business ventures out of the music industry, Yeezus is more or less a member of the Kardashians, who are arguably the most-famous reality TV family in the world. 

The Collaboration on “Hot Sh*t”

To note, this is the first time Cardi B has teamed up with either Kanye or Lil Durk.

Credits

All three vocalists are credited as writers of this song alongside its producers, Tay Keith and BanBwoi.

The first time Cardi B is on record as having mentioned this song was during the 2022 edition of the BET Awards, which were held on 26 June of said year. And interesting to note is she has revealed that “Hot Sh*t”, in terms of its creation, is actually “a little bit older” than the aforementioned “WAP”, which was released in 2020. Kanye and Durk – both of whom, by the way, are rappers from Chicago – were respectively added to the track later down the line, and along the way Cardi got to know Yeezus intimately and put forth that she wishes the world “could just see the real… him”.

This song samples the classic dance tune “Electric Boogie” (1983) by Marcia Griffiths.

Release of “Hot Sh*t”

“Hot Sh*t” was formally released on the 1st of July, 2022.

Reportedly, Kanye first teased this track way back in January of 2022.

“Hot Sh*t” is a product of Atlantic Records. This is the same label Cardi B has been down with since 2017, which was more or less the onset of her music career.

Interesting to Note:

Cardi has stated that the music video to this song was ‘the first she ever did CGI’, and the songstress suffered accordingly.