"Wow."
Single by Post Malone
from the album Hollywood's Bleeding
ReleasedDecember 24, 2018 (2018-12-24)
Recorded2018
GenreTrap • Hip hop
Length2:29
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Post Malone singles chronology
"Sunflower"
(2018) 		"Wow."
(2018) 		"Goodbyes"
(2019)
Music video
"Wow." on YouTube

"Wow" (stylized as "Wow.") is a song by American rapper and singer Post Malone, released as the lead single from his third studio album, Hollywood's Bleeding (2019), via Republic Records on December 24, 2018.[2] The song was written by Malone alongside Billy Walsh, Anthoine Walters, Carl Rosen, and producers Louis Bell and Frank Dukes.

"Wow" peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, Post Malone’s sixth top 10 hit.

Background

Post Malone stated earlier in December that he wished to release another "body of work" before the year was over; his previous single was "Sunflower" with Swae Lee, the lead single from the December 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack.[2] The song, released on Christmas Eve, was accompanied with an animated Christmas-themed visualizer which premiered on Malone's YouTube channel the same day.

Lyrically, "Wow" discusses Malone's climb to fame, wealth, and success while emceeing a club environment.[3]

Composition

"Wow" is written in the key of F-sharp minor at a tempo of 100 beats per minute.[4]

Critical reception

HipHop-N-More stated that the song felt like "more than just a throwaway", saying it "could be another big moment for Post on the charts and radio".[5] NME called it one of Post Malone's "most stripped back recordings to date", saying his rapping over a beat is a "stark contrast" to his previous Autotuned vocals and "heavily produced" music.[6] Billboard magazine said the song "bounces along on a tick-tock beat and deep bass thrum", further describing the song as a chronicle of Post's rise to fame.[7]

Accolades

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2019 American Music Awards Favorite Song — Rap/Hip-Hop Nominated [8]
Rockbjörnen Foreign Song of the Year Nominated [9]
Teen Choice Awards Choice Song: R&B/Hip-Hop Nominated [10]
Choice Song From a Movie Nominated

Commercial performance

"Wow." debuted at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. In its third week, it moved up to number 11 before ascending to the top 10, where it peaked at number two, being held off the top spot by "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande on April 6, 2019. It fell to number four the following week. Two weeks later it rose again to its peak of number two, this time blocked by the remix of "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, remaining there for another week, totaling three non-consecutive weeks in the runner-up spot. It remained in the top ten for 24 consecutive weeks.[11]

Remix

The official remix of the song, featuring Compton, Californian rappers Roddy Ricch and Tyga, premiered on March 15, 2019. There are two versions of audio for the remix. One is the explicit version and the other is the clean edited version, which appears on the various artists compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 71 (2019) in the United States. The music video for the remix was published on March 25, 2019, on Malone's YouTube channel. The remix also appears in the soundtrack of the videogame NBA 2K20 (2019).[12]

Music video

The music video for "Wow." was released on March 19, 2019, on Malone's YouTube channel. The "video blog-styled" video features footage of Malone with Red Hot Chili Peppers, DJ Khaled and Mike Alancourt. The video was directed by James DeFina.[13][14] It has a viewing of 308 million on YouTube as of June 15, 2023. The music video for the remix of the song featuring Roddy Ricch and Tyga was released six days after on March 25, 2019, on Malone's YouTube channel.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[15][16]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[83] 6× Platinum 420,000‡
Belgium (BEA)[84] Gold 20,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[85] Diamond 800,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[86] 2× Platinum 180,000‡
France (SNEP)[87] Platinum 200,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[88] Gold 200,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[89] Platinum 50,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[90] 2× Platinum 60,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[91] Platinum 20,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[92] 3× Platinum 30,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[93] Gold 20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[94] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[95] 8× Platinum 8,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States December 24, 2018 Contemporary hit radio Republic [96]
Rhythmic contemporary radio [97]
Various May 24, 2019 7-inch single [98]

See also

References

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