Gwen Stefani: the story behind 'Hollaback Girl'

Brut America

"So I heard that you were talking s––t."   Gwen Stefani told us the real story that inspired her hit single "Hollaback Girl."

Transcript

00:00This s*** is bananas, A-N-A-N-A-N.

00:04I don't think I ever imagined that me being a dyslexic girl that doesn't spell would teach

00:12the entire world how to spell bananas.

00:21I would describe the term hollaback girl as basically someone who is going to be like

00:28going back at somebody that's coming at them.

00:32And it could be, I guess, in a bad way or a good way.

00:36But the way that I use it, like, I wouldn't be that person.

00:42I'm above that kind of thing.

00:48I started hearing like rumors about me, like she's like, she's like a cheerleader, like

00:52a put down, you know.

00:54And so because I kind of always wanted to be a cheerleader and I really like the

00:59costumes and because I kind of threw that back and back in their face when they called

01:05me. So it was like, OK, yeah, I am.

01:08Yeah, I am a cheerleader.

01:09You watch me cheer myself on and get everybody to cheer for me.

01:14So it was kind of like it was my way of kind of answering back, but doing it in, I feel

01:22like, a cool way where I just used my own gift.

01:25Writing this song was all about writing with Pharrell Williams.

01:29And it wasn't just writing with somebody else, but writing with somebody that comes

01:32from a completely different genre of music that never worked outside of hip hop.

01:36And at that time, it was really weird for like our whatever kind of style music, no

01:41doubt, was to work like with hip hop people like that was just weird.

01:45But I was like so intrigued and wanted to work with him.

01:49I had the sense that he was super talented and and he had this freshness about him and

01:56he was not playing by any rules.

01:58You know, we wanted to bring something that was a completely a culture collision between

02:03the two of us. And we were more alike than we could ever imagine.

02:07Like he was into fashion.

02:08I was in a fashion. He loved Japanese culture.

02:10I love Japanese culture.

02:11And we knew when we wrote that song that that song was going to be huge.

02:19It's an inspiring song.

02:21It's a song that you can play like I think it's an amazing song to play at any kind of

02:26a sports event like that to me makes me really happy.

02:30It's an amazing song for dancers.

02:32It's amazing song for, you know, just sitting around with your headphones on getting

02:38recharged, getting ready to do anything.

02:41It's a good driving song.

02:43Doing this song live is it just never gets old.

02:46And I always, you know, either start with the song to be like, let me just explain

02:52something to you.

02:53We're going to start here and we are going to where the show is going to just it's never

02:59going to get below this level.

03:01And when I get to say this is bananas, like it's just like everybody's like, yes, we

03:07get to say I've never talked in depth about this song like this.

03:11This is like the first time like I'm like super old and now I'm like reminiscing back to

03:16try to remember.

03:17And it's it does it makes me feel really proud, you know, to be part of it.

03:21And Pharrell, if you're watching, thank you.

03:23I love you.

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