Written by the singer and its producer Rob Fusari in 2006, it is an uptempo dance-pop and disco-funk song that makes heavy use of synthesizers.

She claims it is about how "whoever you are or where[ver] you live – you can self-proclaim this inner fame based on your personal style, and your opinions about art and the world, despite being conscious of it", and also about her experiences as a struggling artist working in the Lower East Side.

[2] The line "Daddy, I'm so sorry, I'm so s-s-sorry, yeah", according to Gaga, was inspired by "rich kids" in the area who she would hear calling their parents for money to buy drugs with.

[9] The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 89 due to strong digital downloads, on the issue dated February 21, 2009.

[10] As of March 2020, the song has sold 53,000 copies and acquired 2.57 million streams, making it Gaga's biggest non-single from The Fame in the UK.

[14] The video is set in a mansion, and starts with Gaga making her way down a hallway with several people who are either walking behind her, holding an umbrella over her, dancing in front of her, or tossing dollar bills around her.

The performance of "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" followed, with Gaga frolicking with her dancers and wearing an "austere" blonde bob wig.

[16] The song was the end of the first of four parts of the show, and was followed by a video clip, "The Brain", which featured Gaga as her alter ego, Candy Warhol, brushing her hair.

During the revamped show, Gaga performed the song while scaling various pieces of scaffolding and shouting at the audience to "get those guns out and shoot that money ... you don't need it!

Rolling Stone staff writer Brittany Spanos felt that the performance of this song, along with another track, "The Fame" "celebrate those early, broke years as a starving artist stalking the streets of New York City’s Lower East Side", and helped the show's narrative in "revisiting [the singer's] past".