Baby Got Back

"Baby Got Back" is a song written, co-produced and recorded by American rapper and songwriter Sir Mix-a-Lot. Released in May 1992 by Def American and Reprise as the second single from his third album, Mack Daddy, the song samples the 1986 Detroit techno single "Technicolor" by Channel One. At the time of its original release, the song caused controversy because of its outspoken and blatantly sexual lyrics objectifying women, as well as specific references to the buttocks, which some people found objectionable. The song's accompanying music video was briefly banned by MTV. Mix-a-Lot defended the song as being empowering to curvaceous women who were being shown skinny models as an ideal for beauty. It debuted at number 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on April 11 and hit number one twelve weeks later. The single spent five weeks at the top of the chart. "Baby Got Back" was the second best-selling song in the US in 1992. It was ranked number 17 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop" in 2008, while Billboard magazine ranked it among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" in 2023. Synopsis In the song's prelude there is a conversation between two (presumably) thin, white Valley girls, similar to girl talk in Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl". One girl (dubbed Linda by Amylia Dorsey) remarks to her friend, "Oh, my, God Becky, look at her butt! It is so big... She's just so black!", at which point Sir Mix-a-Lot begins rapping. The first verse begins with "I like big butts and I cannot lie" and most of the song is about the rapper's attraction to women with large buttocks. The second and third verse challenge mainstream norms of beauty: "I ain't talkin' 'bout Playboy. Cause silicone parts are made for toys." and "So Cosmo says you're fat. Well I ain't down with that!"