Fast-forward six weeks from that chilly September reception, though, and this past Saturday I watched as “Hot Nigga” enjoyed the most unanimous reaction of my set, wholeheartedly embraced by the same white girls who had scorned it weeks earlier. “OH MY GOD, YASSS!” howled a brunette bachelorette as the song’s opening siren boomed through the club speakers, celebratory shrieks usually reserved for the latest Rihanna confection. This constituted a highly unlikely Becky U-Turn.

I tickled my chin in wonder. How the hell did “Hot Nigga” become the new “Drunk in Love?”

As I rolled home in my Uber that night, I racked my brain over the track’s unlikely rise to the top of the class, scrolling through my iPhone for clues. After some serious pondering I think I got some answers, or at least solid guesses. So here’s why white girls are Shmoney-ing:

1. The Video

The base of the song’s unlikely success is grounded squarely in the now. The 30 million YouTube views on the “Hot Nigga” video are factored into its Hot 100 points and are the track’s primary chart fuel. Moreover, the fact that the song arrived in the top ten by non-traditional means has, on its own, piqued curiosity, press coverage and thereby the track’s visibility with white people, fundamental in creating a popular music sensation in America. The mere fact that it’s a hit has made it a hit, so to speak.

So, you ask, what drew crowds to this video? Two words for you: “Shmoney Dance.”

2. The Shmoney Dance

So, remember when I said I couldn’t picture white girls Shmoney-ing? Well, I was very wrong indeed. The languid, syncopated body motion debuted by Shmurda in the “Hot Nigga” video has proved major here. It’s a movement that’s a movement unto itself. Even Beyonce did the Shmoney Dance on stage during the On the Run Tour.

Left-field pop hits like Los Del Rio’s “The Macarena” and Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” and even more commonly left field hip-hop pop hits, often come with a dance attached: Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” Unk’s “Walk It Out,” Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How To Dougie,” the list seems endless.

The Shmoney Dance may even be “Hot Nigga’s” de-facto, non-verbal hook.

That said, “Hot Nigga” is far less inherently poppy, and the dance far more ethereal, than the hits mentioned above. Anyway a dance is not, on its own, enough for a top ten appearance. Here’s where cultural gatekeepers come into play.

3. The New Cultural Gatekeepers*

(*Mostly Just Beyonce)

This is perhaps the biggest key in “Hot Nigga’s” success.

Sure, the public has largely rejected the gatekeepers of yore: label executives, A&Rs and radio programmers. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a new set of cultural gatekeepers who help catapult an underdog song’s mainstream cache.

The Shmoney Dance is likely what helped endear the song to the next layer of gatekeepers, the ones with access to white audiences who don’t frequent hip-hop blogs, listen to Hot 97 or watch BET, all of which were “Hot Nigga’s” initial champions. The new gatekeepers who expand awareness around viral hip-hop songs use social media voraciously. They also tend to be cultural critics, bloggers and, perhaps most crucially, trendsetting celebrities who all appeal to white girls. Remember when Taylor Swift rapped “SuperBass?”

In the case of “Hot Nigga,” a series of Vines brought it to the iPhones of white audiences at large. Beyonce’s 10-second Stadium Shmoney served as the Taylor Swift rap this time around. Giggling at a Vine or ogling Bey as she Shmoney-ed, perhaps via Slate or The Village Voice or Vogue, lead to an even wider cultural fixation on “Hot Nigga’s” music video.

A nod from Beyonce also helped recast the aforementioned machismo inherent in the song’s DNA as something fun, playful and cool for girls to like, instead of sheer menacing ball-grabbing. Beyonce is, after all, the new spokeswoman for feminism, right?

I imagine it worked something like this: brunette bachelorette sees Beyonce’s Shmoney on Vogue.com > YouTubes “Shmoney Dance” > hits play on the “Hot Nigga” Video > goes HAM to “Hot Nigga” during my set on the LES. It’s simple math. Pop Culture is essentially synonymous with Beyonce at this point, anyway.

4. Bobby is Cute

Girls, this author included, like cute male pop stars and Bobby Shmurda is a cutie. He has style and allure. This may seem shallow, but it’s an important point and immediately separates him in this sphere from, say, Meek Mill (sorry Meek Mill ☹).

5. Ending a Testosterone Drought

The basic fact that “Hot Nigga” stands out worked in its favor. I mean this in terms of the song being unique sonically—it’s counter-programming if you will — but also in that its masculinity actually helped rather than hurt. Sure, the top ten is always largely female friendly. But the current winner’s circle—“All About That Bass,” “Shake It Off,” “Break Free,” “Bang Bang,” “Habits”—is especially estrogen-y. In fact, it’s unprecedentedly so. Even ladies needed a break from Ariana Grande. This track served as a bit of a respite from the girl talk.

6. “X” Factor (Def Not the TV Show, Though)

On the flipside of “Hot Nigga’s” unlikely rise are tracks that seems like forgone conclusions, ones that fit squarely in chart’s historic sweet spots, have all the makings of a hit—the brand name, the shimmering hook, the gleaming production values, but for whatever reason just don’t fully connect. “Hot Nigga” came together—the right place, right time—and some of its success is simply unquantifiable, even by fools like yours truly who have spent too many late night Uber rides thinking about this. “Hot Nigga” is an awesome song, plain and simple. Also, did I mention the Shmoney dance?