The fiery “No” was created when Meghan Trainor presented her sophomore album Thank You to Epic Records label head L.A. Reid. He responded by telling her the album didn’t have a suitable lead single that would build upon the massive success of her breakout hits like “All About That Bass.” Frustrated following their meeting, Trainor channeled that energy into this song.

L.A. is famous for this, he will always sit down the artist at the very end and say you don’t have a single,” she says with a laugh. “He didn’t do this with my first one [2015’s Title] because I came in with ‘All About That Bass,’ but on this one he did. I told him I’m not going to write ‘All About That Bass’ 2.0. — I’m not going to give you another one of those. He was like, ‘I’m not asking for that, I promise, but I know you as a songwriter can do better and I know if I push you, you will do better.’

Trainor left the meeting angry, she said, but she took that energy and unleashed it on “No.”

We wrote this fiery anthem…and it turned into a great women’s anthem.

The track’s producer, Ricky Reed aka Wallpaper., referred to the song as “bizarre,” evolving from a dance-hall rhythm to a rap and chant to a track with “a very strong female-forward message.” He’s worked with Jason Derulo and Twenty One Pilots, and is an apt navigator of both R&B and pop.