'Blue Strips' by Jessie Murph - Lyrics & Meaning

"BLUE STRIPS OUT FRIDAY. COACHELLA SUNDAY. U HAVE 3 DAYS TO LEARN EVERY WORD" Jessie Murph announced alongside a photo of a giant billboard in the Mojave desert on her socials on Wednesday 9th April ahead of her appearance on the last day of the first weekend of the legendary California festival.

After releasing the full-length mixtape drowning tin 2023, Jessie Murph leaned hard into her country roots on the countrified trap of ‘Cowboys and Angels’ and with collaborations with Jelly Roll on 'Wild Ones,' Maren Morris on 'Texas,' Koe Wetzel on 'High Road' and Bailey Zimmerman on 'Someone In This Room.'

“I’ve been wanting to incorporate country into what I do for a while because I grew up on it,” she explained in the lead up to her full-length debut, That Ain't No Man That's The Devil, in 2024. “Now that I’m connecting with my inner child and starting to heal a lot of the painful aspects of my life during that time, I’ve stepped into it more. It’s part of me and where I’m from, so I chose to be in touch with it. I just went back to my roots, while keeping it me.”

The follow up to 'Gucci Mane,' 'Blue Strips marked the second release in two weeks from the eclectic singer as she continues to hone her gangsta country style.

With its tinny 808 drumbeats, chorused vocals and distorted doomy basslines, Jessie Murph's post apocalyptic country pop feels like a blend of Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER project with Lana Del Rey's effortessly cool West Coast pop.

Where 'Gucci Mane' was a slice of brooding Southern gothic that interpolated the Gucci Mane classic 'Lemonade,' 'Blue Strips' on the other hand, feels like a more straight forward pop song, albeit with her distinctive gritty Southern twang that gives her trappy R&B pop its undeniable country edge.

"Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you I had to get back at you"

Jessie begins the song by letting her ex know that, although she doesn't hold any ill feelings towards him, she does want to get her own back on him for all the ways he mistreated her.

"I just bought a mansion in Malibu, you know how I get with an attitude"

It's implied that their relationship was a difficult one and that finances were often a source of some friction between them both. Because of that, one of the ways that Jessie feels like she could get some retribution would be to flaunt her wealth, particularly in relation to her property in Malibu, California, an area known for its strip beaches, luxury housing, conspicuous consumption and celebrity clientele.

It's important to remember that while properties do often appreciate in value and generate, this capital is not always actively generating income or earning interest, and property values can also decrease, particularly in a recession.

"Yeah you got me throwing blue strips
Bare tits
In a strip club"

Continuing the theme of money and wealth, the title of the song, 'Blue Strips,' most likely refers to the slang term for one hundred dollar bill notes, in particular referring to a blue 3-D security ribbon that is woven into the paper. This ribbon, when tilted, displays alternating "100"s and Liberty Bells that move side to side and up and down.

In this part of the song, Jessie has gone to a strip club where she is throwing blue stripped $100 bills at one of the dancers.

"Throwing ones
At your bitch"

It's implied that Jessie's ex may have been unfaithful with one of the dancers at the strip club and that this could have been instrumental in their break up. She throws $1 bills at this particular dancer, as opposed to the $100 bills she was throwing at the other dances to show her disrespect for her.

Jessie calls the dancer "your bitch," implying her ex may still be in a relationship with this dancer. Although the word "bitch" has in recent years been reclaimed by feminists to some extent, and can be attached to a woman who is revered as tough, empowered and assertive, it is still considered a misogynistic slur and an insult for a woman who is considered to be unpleasant or malicious.

"And I know you know what’s going on
I’m going home
I’mma take it off for him I’mma strip down
All your wrongs yeah"

Jessie let's her ex know that once she has finished at the strip club, she's going to go home and "strip down" for her new boyfriend, but the removal of her clothes has different connotations with regards to sex and power once displaced from the monetised customer-vendor model of exchange that takes place in a strip club.

"Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you yeah
Got a new man
Got a new damn mansion in Malibu I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you"

"Smoking cigarettes on balconies
I ain’t jumping but I’ll die to settle scores
All your bidness getting back to me
You don’t know it but it’s bout to be a war yeah"

She is in a raised smoking area of a club possibly or maybe outside in her Malibu mansion, but she lets her ex know that she has no interest in jumping off the balcony.

His shady dealings since the relationship ended have continued to affect her negatively and Jessie lets him know that she intends to escalate matters further.

As yet, Jessie Murph has not spoken about the song apart from asking her fans to learn the words ahead of her performance at Coachella festival on 13 April.

Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you I had to get back at you

I just bought a mansion in Malibu You know how I get with an attitude

Yeah you got me throwing Blue strips
Bare tits
In a strip club

Throwing ones
At your bitch
And I know you know What’s going on
I’m going home
I’mma take it off for him I’mma strip down
All your wrongs yeah

Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you yeah
Got a new man
Got a new damn mansion in Malibu I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you

Smoking cigarettes on balconies
I ain’t jumping but I’ll die to settle scores
All your bidness getting back to me
You don’t know it but it’s bout to be a war yeah

Blue strips Bare tits

In a strip club Throwing ones
At your bitch
And I know you know What’s going on

I’m going home
I’mma take it off for him I’mma strip down
All your wrongs yeah

Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you yeah
Got a new man
Got a new damn mansion in Malibu I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you
Had to get back at you
I just bought a mansion in Malibu

Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you yeah
Got a new man
Got a new damn mansion in Malibu I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you

Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad
Boy I ain’t mad at you
I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you yeah
Got a new man
Got a new damn mansion in Malibu I had to get back at you
I had to get back at you

--

For more on Jessie Murph, see below: