Ricky Reed produced the song and wrote it with Trainor and Jacob Kasher Hindlin; Epic Records released it as the album's lead single on March 4, 2016.

A dance-pop song inspired by 1990s pop music and R&B, "No" has lyrics about sexual consent and empowerment, encouraging women to reject unwanted advances from men.

It also reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Austria, Israel, Latvia, South Africa, and Scotland, attaining multi-platinum certifications in the former two and Poland.

Fatima Robinson directed the music video for "No", which features Trainor performing choreographed dances in a warehouse and entwining her arms with accompanying female dancers.

L.A. Reid, the chairman of the label, encouraged Trainor to go back to the drawing board because she lacked a proper lead single for the project: "You don't have your bullet.

[8] In a Fuse interview published in February 2016, Trainor confirmed the lead single's title as "No" along with a March 2016 release date, calling it an anthem for women about telling a man they are fine by themselves: "No no no.

[7] Trainor opens it by singing doo-wop vocals over retro style music reminiscent of her debut major-label studio album, Title (2015), which transitions into crisp guitar instrumentation and a beat that recalls The Neptunes.

"[7] Fuse's Emilee Lindner compared Trainor's flow on the song to Mýa's 2003 single "My Love Is Like ... Wo", noting that the chord progression in the chorus is akin to the work of Max Martin.

[23] Spin's Brennan Carley and Time's Nolan Feeney compared its melody and guitar squeals to early Britney Spears and NSYNC songs.

[5] MTV News's Lucy Bacon praised the empowering lyrics and catchy chorus, foreseeing greater success than "All About That Bass" for the song.

[26] Chris Conaton of PopMatters wrote that though it strays from the "doo wop and early girl group-inspired songs" that popularized her, it fits her area of expertise.

[29] Writing for Spin, Dan Weiss stated that with its TLC-influenced chorus, "No" alleviates the soft-hued trauma from "All About That Bass", calling the end result faultless and magnificent.

[4] Glenn Gamboa of Newsday described it as Trainor's version of "the usual club tale", on which she was inspired by Destiny's Child to create an empowering song so memorable it would be difficult to escape.

[31] Writing for ABC News, Allan Raible stated that though "No" is well-intentioned, it comes across as neoteric and is a diluted version of the Destiny's Child and En Vogue songs that precede it by several years.

[32] In a negative review, Slant Magazine's Alexa Camp likened the song to a suffragette's anthem and said it pretends that dismissing an uninvited admirer is the unsurpassed assertion of a woman's agency.

[36] On the other hand, Time named it the eighth-worst song of 2016, noting that it appeared to be a corrective measure for criticism she had received for "espousing anti-feminist messages" in the past, but was insubstantial, unimaginative and repetitive.

[40] The Recording Industry Association of America certified the song 2× Platinum, which denotes two million units based on sales and track-equivalent on-demand streams.

[72] Black and red shots of a female silhouette are interspersed with the routine, which MTV News's Sasha Geffen deemed reminiscent of 1990s iPod commercials.

[74] In another scene, Trainor, in a fishnet bodysuit, entwines her arms with the dancers, and brushes her cleavage; Evan Real of Us Weekly compared it to Spears' music video for "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001).

Lynch thought it marked a shocking transition from the light colors and old-world adorable tone featured in Trainor's early videos, describing it as a sultrier look for her.

[73] Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly noted that unlike her video for "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" (2015), Trainor attempted legitimate pop star dancing in it.

"[80] In a less enthusiastic review, Spin's Rachel Brodsky found the visuals endearing but thought Nicki Minaj played the underground seductress better in her music video for "Only" (2014).

[45] Trainor sang it on The Voice UK's fifth season finale on April 10,[84] and The Ellen DeGeneres Show ten days later; she accompanied both performances with one-armed choreography.