Wow (Post Malone song)

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

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

Background

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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

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

Critical reception

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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

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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

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"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

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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

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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

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Credits adapted from Tidal.[15][16]

  • Post Malone – principal vocalist, songwriting
  • Louis Bell – production, recording, vocal production, programming, songwriting
  • Frank Dukes – production, programming, songwriting
  • Billy Walsh – songwriting
  • Anthoine Walters - background vocals, songwriting
  • Carl Rosen - songwriting
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing
  • Chris Galland – mixing assistant
  • Robin Florent – mixing assistant
  • Scott Desmarais – mixing assistant
  • Tyga – featured vocalist, songwriting (remix)
  • Roddy Ricch – featured vocalist, songwriting (remix)
  • Mike Bozzi – mastering (remix)

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[83] 10× Platinum 700,000
Belgium (BEA)[84] Gold 20,000
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[85] 2× Diamond 320,000
Canada (Music Canada)[86] Diamond 800,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[87] 2× Platinum 180,000
France (SNEP)[88] Platinum 200,000
Germany (BVMI)[89] Gold 200,000
Italy (FIMI)[90] Platinum 50,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[91] 2× Platinum 60,000
Poland (ZPAV)[92] Platinum 20,000
Portugal (AFP)[93] 3× Platinum 30,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[94] Platinum 60,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[95] 3× Platinum 1,800,000
United States (RIAA)[96] Diamond 10,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States December 24, 2018 Contemporary hit radio Republic [97]
Rhythmic contemporary radio [98]
Various May 24, 2019 7-inch single [99]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "BMI | Songview Search".
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  6. ^ Reilly, Nick (December 24, 2018). "Listen to 'Wow', the new song from Post Malone". NME. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  7. ^ "Post Malone Drops Surprise Single: Listen to 'Wow.'". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
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