When Beyoncé surprise-dropped a new single on the Fourth of July, the internet did what it always does — streamed it, dissected it, and memed it into the stratosphere. But here at Fish Pot, we went straight to the credits. And there it was, in black and white: Angela "Cheeky Blakk" Woods, co-writer, right alongside Pharrell Williams, The-Dream, and Dixson. That name means something special around here — Cheeky was the very first artist Fish Pot ever made a music video for in New Orleans. More on that in a minute.
Let's say that again for the people in the back: "MORNING DEW (DONK)", the song that kicked off the 60-day countdown to the 20th-anniversary edition of B'Day (arriving September 4, 2026), carries the pen of a bounce legend from the Lower Ninth Ward. The biggest star on the planet reached into New Orleans bounce royalty to finish this record — and she reached for Cheeky.
The song
If "MORNING DEW (DONK)" sounds like it's been marinating, that's because it has. The track was originally cut during the sessions for Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled album, and a demo leaked in 2023, promptly going viral on TikTok. Fans begged for it for years. Now it's official: a flirty, sensual, R&B-meets-bounce strut, co-produced by Beyoncé and Pharrell, released July 4, 2026 as the opening move in the B'Day birthday celebration.
Hear it for yourself: Beyoncé — "MORNING DEW (DONK)" on YouTube.
And that "(DONK)" in the title? That's not decoration. That's a homing signal pointed directly at New Orleans.
The woman who named the twerk
Cheeky Blakk invented twerking as we know it. There — we said it. In 1994, on her debut album Gots 2 Be Cheeky, she released "Twerk Something" — the first song ever to put the word "twerk" in a title. Before Cheeky, the dance existed in New Orleans clubs under a name you couldn't say on the radio. So she gave it one you could. That's not just a song; that's a christening. One word, coined in the Ninth Ward, that went on to conquer the Oxford English Dictionary, the VMAs, and every wedding reception dance floor on Earth.
Rolling Stone lists "Twerk Something" among the essential bounce songs of all time, yet as the word traveled the world, the credit rarely traveled with it — a story New Orleans knows all too well. Every global twerk moment of the last three decades — every pop star who "discovered" the dance — was standing on a foundation Cheeky poured. Beyoncé, a Houston girl raised on Southern sounds, clearly knows exactly whose blueprint this is. Putting Cheeky's name in the credits isn't a footnote. It's a correction of the record.
Our Cheeky story
We've got skin in this game. When Fish Pot started shooting music videos in New Orleans, the very first artist in front of our camera was Cheeky Blakk — that was "Ride Fa My Nigga" (2015), still up on YouTube.
Before anybody else trusted us with their image, Cheeky did. That's who she's always been — a door-opener, from her teenage years dancing for Ju'C, one of the first ladies of bounce, to mentoring and repping the culture at SXSW panels and Tulane classrooms. She's duetted with Rebirth Brass Band, Trombone Shorty, Galactic, and PJ Morton. She's appeared on HBO's Treme and American Horror Story. She's also — because New Orleans women contain multitudes — a registered nurse.
So when we saw her name in Beyoncé's liner notes, it didn't feel like a surprise. It felt like the universe finally catching up.
Give her the flowers
There's a long, ugly tradition of New Orleans culture feeding the world while the cooks go uncredited. Bounce beats have powered global hits for decades, often without a check or a thank-you finding its way back to the Calliope, the Magnolia, or the Lower Nine. That's what makes this moment matter: a credit. A name on the biggest release of the summer. Publishing. Recognition, in writing, that the road from "Twerk Something" to "MORNING DEW (DONK)" runs straight through Cheeky Blakk.
Thirty-two years after she turned a word you couldn't say on the radio into a global phenomenon, Cheeky Blakk is a co-writer on a Beyoncé single. The girl from the Lower Ninth Ward named the dance, and now the biggest artist alive has co-signed the source.
Queen Bey, meet the Queen of Bounce. We had her first.
Fish Pot made its first New Orleans music video with Cheeky Blakk. The B'Day anniversary edition arrives September 4 — stream "MORNING DEW (DONK)" everywhere now.
Sources & further reading: Genius: MORNING DEW (DONK) lyrics · Genius news · Hamada Mania: release & credits · Deadline · Wikipedia: Cheeky Blakk · Gambit Q&A with Cheeky Blakk · Blavity: Giving Cheeky Blakk Her Flowers