I Like It (2018)

"I Like It" is a song by American rapper Cardi B, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and Colombian singer J Balvin. It was released on May 25, 2018, to radio stations through Atlantic Records as the fourth single from her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy (2018). "I Like It" is a Latin trap and hip hop song that comprises a trap drum beat and boogaloo music. It was written by the three performers along with Pardison Fontaine and Klenord Raphael, while the production was handled by J. White Did It, Tainy, Craig Kallman and Invincible. The song contains a sample from "I Like It Like That", with Tony Pabón, Manny Rodriguez, and Benny Bonnilla being credited as co-writers.

Work on the song took from October 2017 to early April 2018. Its music video was filmed in Little Havana, Miami and has received more than 1.7 billion views. The single topped the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cardi B's second number one—the first time a female rapper achieved this in the chart's history, and the first for both Bad Bunny and J Balvin. It also reached the top 10 in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Critically acclaimed, Billboard staff, Los Angeles Times, and Apple Music's editorial selection ranked it as the best song of the year, while Rolling Stone named it the 11th-best summer song of all time.

"I Like It" was nominated for Record of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. The song was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021 for selling more than 10 million units, becoming the second song from the album to receive this certification, following "Bodak Yellow", thus extending Cardi B's record as the female rapper with the most Diamond-certified songs, as her third, and earning her a Guinness World Record for a tie for the most among female artists. It became the first female rap song to surpass a billion streams on Spotify, also making Cardi B the first woman in hip hop with a pair of billion-streamers on the service, joining her collaboration "Girls Like You". As of 2021, it is the most-streamed song by a female rapper in the UK. Rolling Stone ranked it on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at number 384.

Background

During the recording sessions of Invasion of Privacy, Cardi and her team were listening to beats and song ideas. Craig Kallman proposed to include a track that pays homage to her Latin heritage and searched among his Latin music collection of records that he used to play when he was a DJ. Decided for Pete Rodriguez's "I Like It Like That" and "Oh That's Nice", he added J. White to the production process. The sample of the former song "over a very rough instrumental" and with a Cardi verse on it was sent to musician Edgar Machuca. White and Machuca worked on the production, chopping up the sample and trying to "make the song sound better and cohesive and beef up the production." Cardi re-wrote the hook a number of times and cut vocals, eventually choosing the chorus she was most comfortable with. The three producers looped the "I Like It" part as they felt that was the catchiest part of the sample. Machuca proposed adding Bad Bunny and J Balvin to the track, with both artists contributing with their verses and ideas. Tainy and Invincible finished working on the production focusing on the instrumentals. Work on the record started in October 2017, and finished in early April 2018.