Handstand (song)

"Handstand" spans for two minutes and fifty seconds.[1] It contains an interpolation of Big Pun's 2000 single "It's So Hard", which itself is based around a sample of Danny Rivera's "En un rincon del alma", thus giving Big Pun, Julian Garfield, and Younglord songwriting credit.[2][3] The "muscle-bound"[4] song begins with a hook with vocals contributed from all of the performers,[5] which proceeds into the first verse provided by French Montana.[6] Rap-Up suggested that the line "You need a project bitch, a hoodrat bitch / One don't give a fuck / And said she took that dick" was inspired by "Project Bitch" from soundtrack of 2000 drama film Baller Blockin' performed by Cash Money Millionaires members Big Tymers, Lil Wayne and Juvenile.[2]

A "bright" moment on They Got Amnesia, "Handstand" is a "bouncy" effort in which the rappers showcases their sexual prowess.[7] The Source's Shawn Grant called it a "twerkable chant over sleek music".[6] Writing for HipHopDX, Vivian Medithi opined that the track is a "ready-made club jam for the ladies that seems destined for TikTok success". She also complimented Doja Cat's contribution, saying that she "sound[s] perfectly at home".[8] Regina Cho of Revolt dubbed it as the album's "stand-out",[5] similarly to Grant who said that it is amongst the "best" tracks on They Got Amnesia.[6]

On November 8, 2021, French Montana shared track listing for his fourth studio album They Got Amnesia unveiling "Handstand" as its eighth track.[9] The album was initially scheduled to be released on November 12, but was postponed for a week, hence "Handstand" music video was not finished.[10] Four days later, French Montana previewed a snippet of Doja Cat's verse "Handstand" on Instagram.[2] The song ultimately was chosen as the fourth single promoting the project.[11] Bad Boy Records and Epic Records issued the song to the American rhythmic contemporary radio format on November 23, 2021.[12] Next month, Sony Music sent the track to Italian radio airplay.[13]

During the debut radio week, "Handstand" became the most added song to urban contemporary panels.[6] It also generated over seven million streams throughout first three weeks of its release.[6][5] The single peaked at number 33 on the American R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart becoming French Montana's 17th, and Doja Cat's sixth, top 40 entry on the chart,[14][15] while on Rhythmic ranking, it was placed at number 21, being French Montana's 26th entry, Doja Cat's 12th, and Saweetie's eighth.[16][17] In New Zealand, it entered Hot Singles chart at last 40th position.[18]

French Montana (right) and Doja Cat (left) in the music video. The latter is wearing machine gun bikini, which reminded Rolling Stone writer Brenna Ehrlich of the 1968 film Barbarella.[19]

The music video for "Handstand" was directed by Edgar Esteves and Jon Primo,[19] and recorded on November 9, 2021. Two days later, French Montana posted a video with Doja Cat from the set of the music video.[2] The clip premiered on the rapper's YouTube channel on December 8, 2021.[20] It was sponsored by Russian vodka brand Beluga and mobile shopping app NTWRK.[21]

The video is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the rappers are fighting with armed people on the street.[20] They use baseball bats, laser eyes, while Doja Cat is wearing machine gun bikini.[19] During Saweetie's verse, she twerks over the burning city, whereas the cyborgs fight back against the protestors.[7][22] The clip ends with French Montana showing off his non-fungible token (NFT).[7] The visual gained comparitions to such films as The Warriors (1979), The Terminator (1984), and Barbarella (1968) by Rolling Stone's Brenna Ehrlich,[19] Waterworld (1995) by Vulture's Bethy Squires,[21] Planet Terror (2007) by Uproxx's Wongo Okon, while both Okon and Rap-Up also noted similarities to Mad Max series.[7][23] Bethy Squires from Vulture wrote that "[o]ther iconic hip-hop videos have placed themselves in a Thunderdome-like future, (...) [b]ut none of these videos, stunning though they are, had the boldness of vision to imagine a world where the only connection to the civilization we once knew is sponcon."[21]

Credits are adapted from Tidal.[1]