"Calling My Phone" is a song by American rapper and singer

Lil Tjay Tione Jayden Merritt (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) (born April 30, 2001), known professionally as Lil Tjay ( ), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence with his 2017 single "Resume", and signed with Columbi ...

featuring fellow American singer

6lack Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he gained recognitio ...

. It was released on February 10, 2021, through Columbia and

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

as the fourth single the former's second studio ''

Destined 2 Win ''Destined 2 Win'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil Tjay. It was released on April 2, 2021, through Columbia Records. This serves as the follow-up to his 2019 debut album "True 2 Myself (Lil Tjay album), True 2 Myself". The produc ...

'' (2021).

Background

The song was steadily teased by Tjay on

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and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

among other social media accounts starting in December 2020. Intended as a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

gift to his fans, the artist announced the release of the single on February 4, 2021. A teaser for the song was released on February 5 revealing its title and release date and that an unknown feature will appear on the song. Speculations on the feature for the song began to spread and was eventually confirmed on February 8 on a

post that the feature would be 6lack. Originally, American singer-songwriter

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

was going to be on "Calling My Phone", but she scrapped her verse because she thought she would not add anything valuable to the song; this became public knowledge years later in June 2023, when her verse leaked online and all three artists acknowledged it.

Composition

Generally, the "lovelorn" song talks about trying to escape "the grasp of a former lover, who can't seem to understand that the relationship has ended" while "Tjay wrestles with the demise of a relationship" and 6lack "holds down the hook". It was furthermore described as "introspective", with Tjay reflecting "on a relationship coming to an end over a slowed piano sample and moody bass, settling perfectly in that particular tone that Atlanta crooner 6lack thrives in."

Music video

The music video was released on February 12, 2021, and was directed by Cam Busby. It mainly features the rappers going through different situations while trying to move on from past relationships. It has more than 138 million views as of April 2022.

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Calling My Phone" debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, number two on the

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

, and number one on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

, becoming both Lil Tjay and 6lack's highest-charting single and first top 10 on all charts.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. *

– vocals, songwriting, composition *

– vocals, songwriting, composition * Brendan Walsh – songwriting, composition, production * Luis Campozano – songwriting, composition, production * Ryan Martínez – songwriting, composition, production * Eric Lagg – master engineering * Barrington Hall – recording engineering * JT Gagarin – recording engineering *Henock Siyoum – composition, melody

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{SZA songs 2021 singles 2021 songs Lil Tjay songs 6lack songs Songs written by Lil Tjay Songs written by 6lack Columbia Records singles Sony Music singles Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles