The title says it plainly. Rolling Stone (January 21, 2022) described the song as an equally NSFW song as Cardi B’s “WAP.”
In tweets the day before release, Shenseea said she had long wanted to write a song about oral sex. She added that “some of y’all need guidance on how to eat.”
Both artists’ verses are written as direct instructions to a male partner. Rolling Stone said Megan’s verse echoes her risque contributions on the art of female pleasure on “WAP”.
Shenseea talked about the song’s purpose in a February 2022 Apple Music 1 interview. She called it adult content: “I make songs for different ages but this specific song is for adults.
And at the end of the day it is just another side of me expressing freely how I feel and how other women feel too. It’s a very confident song; it’s a bold song”.
The Story Behind the Collaboration
DancehallMag reported in January 2022 that Megan had said publicly in November 2021 that she “definitely” wanted to do a track with the Shenyeng Princess.
This came shortly after the two had officially met at a BET Awards Show after-party in LA the summer before.
Murda Beatz produced the track. It came out through Rich Immigrants and Interscope, with Alpha arriving on March 11 via Rich Immigrants/Interscope.
Shenseea co-directed the music video with James Larese. Rolling Stone described a set filled with lollipops, popsicles and ice cream cones, set amid a cotton candy-colored landscape.
The “Work” Sample
The hook is built on a 1999 soca song, “Work,” by Pupa Nas-T and Denise Belfon. When “Lick” came out, The FADER noted that “Work” had recently been revived by TikTok’s Put yuh back in it challenge. That phrase, “put your back in it,” became the center of the later legal fight.
Court records reported by DancehallMag in July 2022 add a detail: “Lick” sampled a 2002 remix of Denise ‘Sacey Wow’ Belfon’s Work by the production duo Masters At Work.
Reaction and Controversy
The song split listeners. AOL reported in January 2022 that Black Twitter appears to be divided over the clip. In Jamaica, reggae singer Queen Ifrica criticized the song in a January 2022 DancehallMag report, saying: “Our boys and girls are worth more than that.
Come better than that big woman.” Macka Diamond defended it in the same report: “When a man wants something he says it so if a woman want something why not?”
Popcaan also questioned the song on Shenseea’s Instagram the day after release. She answered: “@popcaanmusic stop gwaan like u nuh dweet”.
Shenseea said the backlash was part of the plan. She told W Magazine, as reported by DancehallMag in May 2022: “People don’t understand that it’s doing exactly what I put it out to do: for you to talk, to stir up controversy”.
She made a similar point to HotNewHipHop in March 2022: “I like the negative comments, only because you know negativity reaches farther”.
The Copyright Lawsuit
Anastas “Pupa Nas-T” Hackett produced and co-wrote “Work” with Harkness Taitt. He sued Shenseea and Interscope in the Southern District of New York.
Sources give different filing dates. DancehallMag said the complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 4, 2022. World Music Views gave March 3, 2022.
The complaint focused on the 8-second vocal sample of the phrase “put your back in it”. It also cited a re-sung version of that phrase heard throughout the choruses.
Hackett said he had turned down a September 2021 clearance request because of “inadequate terms offered.” He sought over US$10 million in damages, profits accrued from Lick, and attorney costs.
Court records filed later showed that the two sides had initially agreed on a $5,000 USD advance to clear a sample. Hackett said the advance was never paid and that he never signed a contract.
Denise Belfon was not a plaintiff. In a later podcast, reported by World Music Views, she said people wrongly assumed she had sued because my name was in the mix.
DancehallMag confirmed a settlement in April 2023. Hackett said the amount was confidential and told the outlet: “This is just business, it’s over and everyone is agreeable and satisfied with the outcome”.
Chart Performance
According to DancehallMag (March 2022), “Lick” peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100.
Reported YouTube views for the video rose quickly in the months after release: 7.3 million in February 2022, close to 10 million in March, and over 12 million views on YouTube by May 2022, according to DancehallMag. These figures only reflect those dates.
Why It Still Matters
“Lick” is one of the clearest cases of Shenseea using controversy to get attention as she moved toward the mainstream. She told HotNewHipHop in 2022 that she wanted it to draw eyes first, and then put them on and keep them interested for other great things to come.
