"Please Me" is a song by American rapper Cardi B and American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, released as a single by Atlantic Records on February 15, 2019. The song was included on a digital reissue of her second studio album Am I the Drama? (2025). It was written by the artists alongside James Fauntleroy and The Stereotypes—collectively Jonathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves, and Ray McCullough II, who also produced the song with Mars. "Please Me" is an R&B, hip-hop and soul ballad that is reminiscent of the 1990s R&B with "trap stylings"; its lyrics are about two lovers flirting with each other and the way their night will proceed before they go into a bedroom.
Music critics gave "Please Me" mostly positive reviews and praised Cardi B's presence and verses on the track, as well as Mars' vocals. They also said the song is ideal for Valentine's Day. "Please Me" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It peaked at number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rhythmic charts, and on the Chile General Monitor Latino chart. It also entered the top 20 in Canada, Greece, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Mars and Florent Dechard directed the song's music video, in which Mars and Cardi B meet after a party, perform suggestive dance moves and ride around Los Angeles. Cardi B performed the song live at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 1, 2019, while Mars performed it as a medley with different songs on his shows of Bruno Mars Live (2022–2024). "Please Me" was nominated for several awards, including Best Collaboration and Video of the Year at the BET Awards 2019, Best Pop Video at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards and Best Collaboration Performance at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards.
Background and production On February 10, 2019, Cardi B won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album for her debut studio album Invasion of Privacy (2018) at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. On the same date, after receiving criticism on social media due to her win at the ceremony, the rapper deactivated her Instagram account due to the frustration this caused. Cardi B returned to the platform on February 13 to announce a new song she recorded with American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars would be released on the following Friday. "Please Me" is their second collaboration after Cardi B's remix of Mars's single "Finesse" (2018). Cardi B shared the song's cover art on her Instagram account.
Atlantic Records released "Please Me" for digital download and streaming on February 15, 2019, and issued the song to American contemporary hit radio and rhythmic contemporary stations the same day. On the same date, Warner Music Group (WMG) issued the track for radio airplay in Italy. BBC Radio 1Xtra began adding the song onto their playlists on February 15, 2019. On February 19, 2019, the single was re-released to contemporary hit radio. The song was included on the "Bardi Gang Edition" of Cardi B's second studio album Am I the Drama? (2025), available as a limited-time digital download on September 25, 2025. It was later included on the "Ultimate Edition" of the album, released for digital download and streaming on November 12, 2025. The song was also included on Mars's first compilation album, Collaborations (2026).
"Please Me" was written by Cardi B, Bruno Mars, James Fauntleroy and The Stereotypes—collectively Jonathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves and Ray McCullough II, who with Mars co-produced and programmed the song. Mars and Christopher Brody Brown played guitar and keytar, and Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers provided additional background vocals. "Please Me" was engineered by Charles Moniz, mixed by Serban Ghenea with John Hanes serving as a mixing engineer. It was mastered by Randy Merrill.
Composition
"Please Me" is an R&B, hip-hop and soul ballad that has a "mid-tempo retro groove" with a "burbling synthesizer bass" in its instrumentation. The song is composed in the key of F minor at a tempo of 68 beats per minute. Mars and Cardi B's vocals range between the notes of E♯3 and E♯5. The song has a chord progression of Bm7–C♯7(♯5b9)–E/F♯–F♯7(b9). "Please Me" is a "silky, flirty slow jam" that resembles "steamy 90s' RnB". NMEs Rhian Daly stated it is "a mix of modern and classic – a smooth slow jam with trap stylings". Mars's vocals are described as "silky and begging" while Cardi B's show "confident rapping".
"Please Me" starts with two "pulsing bass notes" and Cardi B saying "Uh" and "C'mon". It leads to "a disco-style bassline" before beginning the "chord loop" that is present during the song. At this point, Mars's "backward-processed" vocals create "a ramp effect" to start the duet. It is followed by the chorus and its "four-chord loop", which is influenced by pop, trap and R&B/soul. The "jazzier chord extensions" are similar to those used by the "romantic 90s artists". The first half of the chorus features a hi-hat, a handclap, a saw-wave synth, a soft pad sound and an echo effect on the keyboard. The chorus starts slowly and increases in intensity when Mars's vocals are accompanied by the bassline and back-up harmony. For the most part, Cardi B's rap follows the song's tempo, except on the second and third lines, where "her intense rhythmic style" appears. At this point, the tenor background vocals disappear, enhancing the drum programming. The hi-hats give "motion" to Cardi B's rapping and there is a "plink" sound that "repeats on the beat".
The pre-chorus has Cardi B and Mars explain their intentions. The bass again disappears in the first half of the second chorus and a synth with echoes continues through the rest of the chorus as the backup vocals harmonize. The previous bassline is present in Cardi B's second section but the vocal harmonies are absent. During the rap portions, the overdubs "overlap with the main vocal". On the pre-chorus, Cardi B's vocals are split into harmonies and Mars's vocals on the background are foregrounded. Afterwards, Cardi B raps a single bar over an 1980s-style synth chord "before the drums and backing vocals" emerge, increasing "the energy levels" on the bridge. The latter features new harmonic rhythm and chords with "tension-building" as Mars's reaches his "highest pitched notes". Then, Cardi B performs a rap breakdown that features only a "synth line and lo-fi drums". The last chorus begins with a bassline and "finger-clicks", after which the full instrumental comes back and Mars reaches a "high note".
It was first thought "Please Me" samples Jodeci's "Freek'n You" (1995) but Time magazine later confirmed it does not sample that song. Cardi B, however, references the 1990s R&B artist Jodeci in her verses. Bethy Squires from Vulture said "Please Me" is reminiscent of "the R&B fuck jams of the mid-90s" and compared it to an upbeat version of "Red Light Special" (1995) by TLC. Some publications compared the song's style to that of Mars's and Cardi B's previous collaboration "Finesse" (2018). Other publications, however, said the songs are quite different, and that "Please Me" has a slower tempo and is more "sexy". MTV News' Trey Alston called the track a "sexy spiritual sequel" of "Finesse" that deals in terms of lust. Maeve McDermott writing for USA Today said its R&B style is closer to "Mars' brand of smooth love songs than Cardi's bawdier anthems".
The lyrics of "Please Me" concern sexual pleasure and desire. Cardi B and Mars flirt with each other; Mars is "pleading for some loving" and Cardi B answers with the desire of "getting down on the dancefloor before taking it to another level". Sesali Bowen of Nylon said Cardi B slows "her flow as Bruno taps into the classic R&B tradition of 'begging for pussy'". First, Cardi B teases Mars "with her moves and figure", leaving him "on the receiving end of this sexual punishment", driving him crazy with anticipation of intimacy. Cardi B describes her next move, which starts with "twerkin' in some J's on the dancefloor" and deciding if he will "sample what's on the chef's menu" as "Mars pleads for carnal activity". During her second verse, Cardi B "honors her Hispanic roots" and shows her sexual dominance, saying; "Your pussy basura / My pussy horchata", using the Spanish words for "trash and the sweet", respectively. In the end of the song, Mars is begging and "Cardi is more than willing to oblige".
Critical reception "Please Me" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Claire Rowden of MTV praised the collaboration; she called Mars's vocals "sweet and charming" and Cardi B's verses "heated and fiery". Mike Nied writing for Idolator called the song "a sensual bop" and said Mars "shows off his velvety vocals on the seductive chorus" while Cardi B's verses are "self-assured and smooth". Times Andrew Chow said "Please Me" shows "Cardi's elasticity in style and form" and her "unfettered, bombastic joy". Chow added while everyone expects "everything Cardi does to be a confrontation", she flirts on the track. Consequence of Sounds Lake Schatz praised Cardi B's rap verses, such as "Do my back like I do these records, break that shit". According to Colin Joyce of Vice and Liz Calvario of Entertainment Tonight the song is "perfect" for Valentine's Day. Joyce added "horny, performative..." Tara Martinez from Elite Daily said "Please Me" is "extremely suggestive" and "unapologetically sexy". Lucas Villa writing for AXS said "Cardi and Mars aim to please once again with this R&B throwback-styled romp". XXLs Tony Centeno called the track a "bedroom banger" and Cardi B's rap verses "extra raunchy".
Although Rhian Daly from NME did not consider "Please Me" to be Cardi B's best song because "she's far better when she's got some fire beneath her", Daly praised it by saying Cardi B "dominates" the track because most songs have "the man calling the shots". Daly also said Cardi B calls the shots "while making sure she's getting what she wants too". Daly said Mars's vocals show "sensual R&B" and that Cardi B's rapping is "something far more x-rated". Pitchforks Michelle Kim criticized "Please Me", saying Mars "attempts to make his own bump 'n' grind anthem" but that "his request feels painfully safe and vanilla, like if a bot was programmed to write sexts". Kim also said the song has an "awkward tempo" and is "definitely not sexy enough to be played in the bedroom".
Accolades In 2019, "Please Me" was nominated for Best Collaboration at the BET Awards 2019; Best Collab, Duo or Group at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards; and Best Collaboration Performance at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2020, "Please Me" received two awards from ASCAP—one from the Pop Music Awards because it was one of the winners of Most Performed Song and another from the Rhythm & Soul Music Awards as one of the receivers of Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The track also won a BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards at the BMI Awards.
Commercial performance