"The Box" is a song by American rapper Roddy Ricch, released as the fourth single on December 6, 2019^[4][5] from his debut studio album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial (2019). Prior to the song being released as a single,^[6][7] it became Roddy Ricch's highest-charting song worldwide, spending eleven weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the charts in Canada, New Zealand, Hungary, and peaking at number two in both the UK and Ireland. The song received critical acclaim, with praise for Ricch's vocal delivery.^[8][9] Its popularity on social media apps is credited to Ricch's iconic^[10][11] "eee err" ad-lib. A music video was released on February 28, 2020, directed by Ricch.

In the US, "The Box" was the biggest song of the final half of 2019, selling 4.7 million equivalent units as of July 2, 2020.^[12] Apple Music named it Song of the Year.^[13] It received three nominations at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, including for Song of the Year.^[14]

"The Box" was the last song Ricch made for Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial.^[6] It was recorded in roughly 15 minutes^[1] in the early morning hours in New York after Ricch had been recording all night.^[6] The song begins with a "triumphant introduction that amounts to an orchestral swell", which many listeners attributed to as a sample of the intro on "Love Sex Magic" by Ciara.^[15] However, the song's producer, 30 Roc, has insisted that though similar, the "swell" is not a sample of "Love Sex Magic", explaining: "It is not a sample. It's really a VST [plug-in] using Omnisphere [production software]."^[15] Ricch said he decided to place "The Box" as track two on the album, because "it just bangs [and] the 808s hit so hard".^[16]

The song's intro contains a "squeaky sound", known as the "eee err" sound, which is also heard throughout the rest of the song. According to Atlantic Records A&R Keefa Black, after the song was finished, Ricch said "Wait let me add something", and came up with the sound himself.^[17] Speaking on where the inspiration for the sound came from, he said "I seen Michael Jackson do it...That's what made me want to do it. Cause he was in the studio one time and he was talking about some song that he made but he started beatboxing and he said he put that in the beat".^[18] The squeaky sound has inspired many memes online.^[19] Musicologist and Northeastern University professor of music Andrew Mall said the "eee err" sound is not exactly the most interesting component of the song's beat, instead pointing out Ricch's skill as a songwriter: "I'm really taken by the atmospheric synths that underpin the track and provide the central harmonic component, particularly since there is no bass to speak of aside from a pitched bass drum sample". Regarding Ricch's craft as a writer, Mall noted "the fact that he retains writing credit here and on several other tracks that are charting, including those where he is a featured artist, speaks to a strong business savvy on his part".^[20]

Vulture's Paul Thompson said Ricch "raps with verve", calling the song "strange and eccentric", while noting Ricch's vocal versatility in the song, writing, he "moves easily between vocal modes, sounding defiant ('I won't ever sell my soooooouuuuuullllll, and I can back that'), conspiratorial ('Got a bitch that's looking like Aaliyah — she a model'), or playful — like when he cackles unnervingly at the beginning of the second verse".^[7] The song's title has been noted as being a possible reference to jail ("the box" being a slang term for "jail").,^[19] "The Box" is played in the tempo of 117 BPM and key signature of B♭ minor with a time signature of 4/4 in common time.

The song was acclaimed by music critics. Along with the tracks "Boom Boom Room" and "Start wit Me" featuring Gunna, Darryl Robertson of Vibe felt that "The Box" is "further proof that the Atlantic Records-signee can pen addictive radio-friendly records".^[21] Josh Svetz of HipHopDX echoed a similar sentiment, writing that "The appeal to Roddy is simple; the kid can write a hell of a hook. Whether it's the head-bopping harmony on 'The Box' or the flute backed, Gunna-assisted single, 'Start Wit Me,' Roddy excels at producing choruses that stick and only get better with repeat listens."^[22] Writing for Pitchfork, Alphonse Pierre stated that on the song, which features a "hard-hitting beat that sounds like a teapot is boiling in the background, [Ricch] finds a new delivery and pitch nearly every 10 seconds. The track is the best example of Roddy's versatility, which has been both a blessing and a curse."^[23]

Praising the song, HotNewHipHop's Mitch Findlay asserted that although its parent album "yielded plenty of highlights, none stood out quite so much as 'The Box'". Findlay called the song's "eee err" intro "creative and soon-to-be-iconic" and labeled Ricch's flow as confident and charismatic.^[10] Heran Mamo of Billboard opined that Ricch "comes armed and ready with his verses despite the rather lighthearted 'hee-hoo' ad-libs in the background". Mamo noted that in the song, Ricch raps about acquiring and protecting "his necessary riches".^[24]

"The Box" spent eleven weeks at the top spot of the US Billboard Hot 100,^[25][26] after debuting at number 47 on the issue dated December 21, 2019, and reaching number one four weeks later, becoming Ricch's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the first new song to top the chart in the 2020s decade—since both "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey and "Circles" by Post Malone began their runs at the top position in 2019. During the same week, the song logged its second week at number one on Billboard's Streaming Songs chart (drawing 68.2 million streams) and jumped to number eight on the Digital Songs chart as well, with 11,000 downloads sold. Additionally, the song reached the top spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts as well, becoming Ricch's first number-one song on both charts.^[27][25]

The song's audio video was released on December 6, 2019,^[28] while a lyric video was uploaded on January 10, 2020,^[4] the former accumulating 486 million views on YouTube as of April 2023, and the lyric video has 60 million views as of June 2022.

The song's official music video premiered on YouTube on February 28, 2020, and has over 556 million views as of February 2024. It was directed by Ricch, with co-direction by Christian Breslauer, who also directed Ricch's previous two music videos, for "Boom Boom Room" and "Tip Toe".^[29][30] Ricch explained via Twitter the reason why the video took a "lil time" to be released was because he directed it.^[31]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[41]

• Roddy Ricch – vocals, songwriting
• 30 Roc – songwriting, production
• Datboisqueeze – songwriting, production
• Zentachi – songwriting, additional production
• Chris Dennis – recording
• Curtis "Sircut" Bye – engineering assistant
• Cyrus "NOIS" Taghipour – mixing
• Derek "MixedByAli" Ali – mixing
• Nicolas de Porcel – mastering

• List of Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles of 2020
• List of number-one singles from the 2020s (New Zealand)
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2020
• List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 2020
• List of number-one Billboard Streaming Songs of 2020