It has been without a doubt since the hottest single out right now “Bad and Boujee” by the notorious group Migos, people more in particularly young women are now calling themselves just that. But what makes this song so significant? If you ever paid attention growing up and going to school, there was always at least one girl in your class you knew she thought she was too good to do anything. Nowadays, this song created shockwaves and girls think just because they act a certain way or think of themselves in a higher manner they are automatically called “boujee”.
At CAU, a lot of the student body consider themselves “trendsetters” mainly because our school has different sets of people from all over the country around the world where they bring their style to campus that would be considered “different” from their counterparts. But, one thing is for sure there is a difference between classy and boujee. Some collegiates and even our young men mix up or fail to understand that term “boujee” came from the original word bourgeois meaning a wealthy woman. In today’s society, we can detect someone who acts in that way because of their social status and lifestyle such as some of our favorite celebrities: Naomi Campbell, Beyonce, and Iman just to name a few, but sometimes we often misconstrued it and turned it into a negative connotation of being stuck-up or snobby. Prime examples of women who were deemed “bad and boujee”:
Whitley Gilbert from A Different World
She was the epitome of what it is to be boujee and at a HBCU like Hillman College. Her character brought insight of being from a wealthy African American household (her mother was a former model and her father was a wealthy businessman). The iconic outfits that a lot of us wanted to wear or be inspired from her, her room was decked out to the T because she felt like she needed everything (hence why many of collegiates including myself have a hard time moving out when school is out for the summer lol), and her attitude that at first brought many people to dislike her for her ways, but they understood that’s just how she was taught and brought up on.
Hillary Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Hillary just like Whitley came from a wealthy household (her father was a judge) and she brought a new flair to being boujee in the 90s. The effortless, but professional and chic attire gave young black women a new look to being classy. Hillary inspired a lot of us to be both boujee and professional because like most of us, we wanted to be successful in the workforce while maintaining our style.
Regine Hunter from Living Single
If anyone was able to fully execute the term “bad and boujee” it was Ms. Regine. She gave upscale when it was time for dates or formal events she attended with the girls, casual cute when she would be relaxing around the apartment and professional when she handling her business. Her aspirations of becoming a fashion buyer/designer and owning her boutique in New York one of the reasons why collegiates want to be businesswomen of the world and making a different for little black girls everywhere.
These three women are epitome of what it means to be “bad and boujee” and we often wonder, why is it a trend? If anyone can relate back to Tommie Lee from Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, she took an iconic picture of herself in an elegant gown with a cup of Ramen Noodles to signify that she can be a baddie and boujee while having that edge on her. That picture sparked the theme song of 2017 and now everyone wants to call themselves “bad and boujee”.
I asked one of our collegiettes on campus, Jelyn Andrews: senior, mass media arts major and she is apart of our Her Campus CAU team as our Membership Advisor to give her perspective on what’s commotion on being “bad and boujee”…
Why do you think the title “bad and boujee” correlates to the collegiates here at CAU? I believe the title “bad and boujee” correlates to the collegiates at CAU, because it explains that we, the collegiates of CAU, are women of intellect and beauty, as well as have high standards.
Is being classy a trend or are there people who have set the tone of what it is to be classy? Being truly classy is a lifestyle. Yes there are certain characteristics of a classy woman however those characteristics are more so guideline than they are mandatory rules.
Where do you think the term “bad and boujee” came from? People will say the phrase bad and boujee originated from the Migos popular hit, but the term boujee has been around for years. The word “boujee” is derived from the French word “bourgeois” meaning sophisticated and aristocratic. I’ve been called boujee my entire life, and although it some would take it and/or use the term as an insult, I embraced it. It meant you were exclusive lol
Who do you think is “black and boujee“? Celebs: Beyonce, Gabrielle Union, Zendaya, Rihanna; Regular People: Me & my friends