With the iconic singer-songwriter rising from TikTok, Bella Poarch dropped her newest single “Bad Boy!” on Nov. 10. It became a new addition to the pop music genre with its overall catchy rhythmic beats and repetitive lyrics, making it easy to memorize and compelling to sing along to. You might find yourself mouthing the lyrics on your way to school or even humming the melodies in a classroom.
Bella Poarch captioned her post “I’ve always had a love and hate relationship with my body since childhood.” In the entertainment industry, it has always been harder on artists when they’re constantly in the spotlight. But Poarch has made it relatable to us by telling us a story we needed to hear. “I have had moments of feeling good in my skin and other moments of hating myself. After my sexual assault, I felt like I couldn’t look at myself in mirrors worse of all I felt like a stranger in my body. Now, I’m regaining a sense of myself that I lost, I’m rediscovering myself, and reclaiming my body.” This single is about embracing our flaws, vulnerability, past, pain and trauma, while teaching us to love ourselves. It is about expressing an idea and doing it fearlessly.
In the first verse, Poarch sings, “Bad boys and their trauma / All their issues with their mama / Bad boys bring the drama / Play guitar and think they’re Nirvana,” exhibiting good musicality as each line’s syllables closely match one another and create convincing rhymes. There is more emphasis on the title when she puts that on repeat as she lyrically details her version of a bad boy.
In the pre-chorus she sings, “I’vе had boys who would shower / Me with chocolates and flowеrs / But without the chase, it’s safe to say I’m bored.” The lyrics are not intended to be toxic, it instead indicates how abusive behavior in her past, such as her childhood and the time she served in the Navy, has shaped her current thoughts as a victim and survivor. The drums accompanying this lyric focuses and enhances the rhythm, and Poarch sings each word effortlessly and melodically, which has drawn praise.
There are also arguments regarding the official cover photo for the single overflow on her announcement post on Instagram, questioning her decision to expose her body in an attempt to re-own it.
Criticizing the way she chose to express her feelings and the image choice for her single, completely missing the intention of her choices. Nudity is a subjective term for many. Artists have their own reason for what they put up on their covers. This cover shows us not only a woman’s body, but a woman who can do what she wants with her body and that is empowering.
Most importantly, we all have different ways of dealing with different traumas, and her way of reclaiming her consent is through art and music. On her cover, the singer showed off her body of tattoos, one being the title of the new single on her side thigh. Despite the criticism, Bella Poarch’s cover for “Bad Boy!” is an empowering choice to take back control of her body image. Bella Poarch’s single “Bad Boy!” sends the message of re-owning her own body — what felt separated from her — and that in itself is empowering.
Verdict: This single is about staying brutally honest with yourself and getting into the nitty gritty of how you feel in the moment. Bella Poarch owns up to her emotions as she uses this single and her recent music to reclaim herself.
