On the surface, “Girls Like” is a lust fuelled club song. However, themes of sexual empowerment hide within collaborator Zara Larsson’s lyrics.

While Tinie Tempah delivers pop culture references and braggadocio lyrics on the refrain and verse, Swedish sensation Zara Larsson delivers the sexually empowering hook and tongue-in-cheek interlude.

Zara’s lyrics play into the stereotype that all guys want is sex, but at the same time, asserts that there’s nothing wrong with girls being comfortable with their sexuality and seeking the same thing.

In an interview with Noisey, Zara revealed she’d asked a guy out in London via Instagram (bucking the traditional “guy asks the girl out” cliché) and commented on “why boys are so annoying”:

I honestly don’t know. It’s not boys themselves—it’s just how society raised them. Y’know what I mean? It’s just the whole macho culture and like… BLERGH, URGH… I don’t like it.

Tinie Tempah filmed the music video in South Africa minus Zara, explaining:

With the video for ‘Girls Like’, we really tried to push the boat out and do something completely different to what we’d done before. We headed to some of the most beautiful parts of Africa to film this, and the participation of the locals gave it a really different energy and vibe. Africa is part of my heritage and this video shows me and aspects of my world in a way that I have never done before. I’m really inspired by South African house music at present, and this video represents that very authentically with plenty of dancing and loads of really cool moves.