Cardi B dropped her highly-anticipated album Invasion Of Privacy last night, and one of her most danceable tracks is the bilingual Bad Bunny and J Balvin collaboration “I Like It.” Fans may have noticed that it samples the classic 1967 song “I Like It Like That” by Pete Rodriguez.
The sample kicks off Cardi’s track on the intro, incroporating lyrics from the throwback song:
Yeah baby
I like it like that
You gotta believe me when I tell you
I said I like it like that
You gotta believe me when I tell you
I said I like it like that
The catchy “I like it like that” hook can be also heard on the chorus and bridge, while a sample of the Latin beat and blaring horns play in the background. Balvin and Bad Bunny serve up verses in Spanish, but Balvin also drops an English reference to Lady Gaga’s 2008 hit “Paparazzi.”
“I Like It Like That” was written by Manny Rodriguez and Tony Pabon for pianist Rodriguez, who led the band previously known as Pete Rodríguez y Su Conjunto.
Rodriguez, a native of the Bronx like Cardi, helped pioneer the boogaloo genre that blended Latin and soul beats, and crossed over into mainstream success with “I Like It Like That.”
The song became a radio sensation at the time and has slipped back into popular culture over the past decades. It was covered by supergroup Blackout Allstars for the 1994 film I Like It Like That, and the group’s version received a chart boost in ‘96 thanks to a feature in a Burger King commercial.
The track has also been remade by numerous Latin stars, most notably by Tito Nieves who starred in a 2016 off-Broadway musical inspired by the song.
Now in his 80s, Rodriguez isn’t as active in music anymore but he performed “I Like It Like That” in 2015 at Bronx’s Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture. He explained in a 2017 interview with DNAinfo that he tries to keep up with local artists and radio hits, so chances are he’s heard “Bodak Yellow.”
Check out all the lyrics to Cardi B’s “I Like It,” and the rest of her debut, here on Genius.
