"OTW" (an acronym for "on the way") is a song by American singers

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

, and

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 ...

. The artists wrote the song with Brian Alexander Morgan, Idan Kalai and producer

Nineteen85 Anthony Paul Jefferies (born July 1, 1985), known professionally as Nineteen85, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He won the ASCAP Music Award twice consecutively in 2014 and 2015. His stage name is derived from his birth year. He is ...

. It was released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

on April 20, 2018, as a stand-alone single, before being added as a bonus track to the vinyl of Khalid's EP ''

Suncity ''Suncity'' is the first extended play by American singer Khalid. It was released on October 19, 2018 by RCA Records. It was supported by the single " Better". The EP debuted at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 50,000 album-equiva ...

'' (2018).

Release

On March 31, 2018, Khalid posted a snippet of the song on Twitter. He officially announced the single during the nominations announcement for the 2018 ''Billboard'' Music Awards.

Composition

"OTW" is a dark and melodic R&B song with

'90s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...

influences. It features a "silky smooth" and "mellow" production, backed by "a trap-infused R&B beat". A booty-call theme channels throughout the track, as the artists sing about meeting up with a love interest.

Critical reception

Michael Love Michael of ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

'' regarded the song as "a refreshing slice of smooth, radio-ready, but throwback '90s R&B". He praised the song's "undercurrent of bittersweet melancholy characteristic of the genre's most forward-thinking productions", describing it as "an addictively rhythmic tune".

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

' Ross McNeilage wrote: "The slick and sultry track is a nice extension from the sound of his debut album, and 6LACK and Ty Dolla $ign complement the song perfectly." Devin Ch of HotNewHipHop praised Khalid's songwriting talents, writing that "all performers adhere to the general 'vibe' of the song". Lauren O'Neill of ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

'' described the song as a destined summer track, writing that it "feels most like a head massage you'll hear all week". He complimented Khalid's ability to produce a "relentlessly catchy but also somehow extremely laid back hook".

Music video

The music video for "OTW", directed by

Calmatic Charles Kidd II (born September 25, 1987), known professionally as Calmatic, is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing several notable commercials and music videos as well as the films ''House Party'' (2023) and '' White Men Can’t Jump ...

, premiered via Khalid's

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel on July 3, 2018.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. * Nineteen85 – production * Eazy - vocal engineer * Denis Kosiak – mix engineer, record engineer * Chris Athens – master engineer * Andy Barnes – record engineer * JT Gagarin – record engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Khalid (singer) songs Ty Dolla Sign songs 6lack songs Songs written by Khalid (singer) Songs written by Ty Dolla Sign Songs written by 6lack Song recordings produced by Nineteen85 Songs written by Nineteen85 Songs written by Brian Alexander Morgan RCA Records singles