"Sicko Mode" (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a song by American rapper Travis Scott featuring Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, with additional vocals from fellow American rappers

Swae Lee Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown (born June 7, 1993), known professionally as Swae Lee, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Lee first saw mainstream recognition as one half of the Mississ ...

and the late

Big Hawk John Edward Hawkins (November 15, 1969 – May 1, 2006), better known by his stage names Big Hawk and H.A.W.K., was an American rapper from Houston, Texas and a founding member of the late DJ Screw's rap group the Screwed Up Click. Life and ...

. It was originally released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

on August 3, 2018, as the third track from '' Astroworld'' (2018), before being released as the second single on August 21. "Sicko Mode" was Scott's first number one single on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (although Drake is not credited on the ''Billboard'' charts), as well as the first hip-hop song in history to spend at least 30 weeks in the chart's top ten region. It was universally acclaimed by critics, and received nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

. The song contains a sample from "Gimme the Loot", written by the Notorious B.I.G. and

Easy Mo Bee Osten S. Harvey Jr. (born December 8, 1965), better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is an American hip hop and R&B record producer and DJ, known for his production work for artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Miles Davis, as well as his a ...

, as performed by the former and an interpolation from "I Wanna Rock", written and performed by Uncle Luke. On December 9, 2020, the song was certified

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Composition

The song is in three distinct movements. There is the first movement, which starts from the beginning of the song to the one minute mark. It features introductory vocals from

. The second movement starts at the one minute mark and ends before the three minute mark, featuring lead vocals from Scott. The third movement starts at the three minute mark to the end of the song with lead vocals from both Scott and Drake. The first movement is written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

, the second movement is written in the key of

C-sharp minor C-sharp minor is a minor scale based on C, with the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of four sharps. The C-sharp natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale ar ...

, and the third movement is composed in the key of E-flat minor. The first movement reminiscences about a time with friends in winter. The second movement reminisces about past relationships with women. The third movement reminisces about the rappers'

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

years, but now enjoys the luxury of flying out of a fixed base operator. The overall theme of the song is about reminiscing about past events in the rappers' lives and where they are now.

Critical reception

"Sicko Mode" received critical acclaim, with some critics considering it the highlight of ''Astroworld''. Writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Christopher R. Weingarten deemed the "hard-knocking" track the "album highlight", while Brendan Klinkenberg from the same magazine described it as "the apex of Scott's synthetic instincts". Brian Josephs of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' called it a "mini-suite of bangers". Roisin O'Connor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' felt Drake "sounds more important on this record than he did at any point on his own recent release, ''

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

'', with a ballsy, confident flow".

Chart performance

"Sicko Mode" debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, It reached number two following the release of its music video, originally behind " Girls Like You" by

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

featuring

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

, and then behind " Thank U, Next" by

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

. It later became his first number one on the issue dated December 8, 2018, after seventeen weeks in the top 10, aided in part by the Skrillex remix; had Drake been credited, it would have been his 7th number-one hit. The single also became Scott's first top 10 on the Radio Songs chart. It finished 3rd in

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

's Hottest 100 2018. Reflecting on its commercial impact, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's Andrew Unterberger called the song "a three-part prog-rap odyssey that would've been unimaginable as a radio single years earlier, but which got audiences so hyped with its unexpected beat switches and back-and-forth hooks that the pop world had no choice but to meet it halfway". "Sicko Mode" was the only number-one hit during the 2010s decade to feature a key change.

Music video

The music video for "Sicko Mode" was directed by Dave Meyers and Travis Scott. It was released on October 19, 2018. The video starts off with Scott's red head on a building while a camera zooms into it, and cuts to the next scene of people getting back into some multi-colored houses. Following scenes show Drake walking a dog while being burned by an eclipse and Scott riding a horse. The video ends with Drake and Scott walking away. As of May 2022, the video has over a billion views.

Live performances

Travis Scott performed the song at the

2018 MTV Video Music Awards The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Monday night, August 20, 2018 at 9:00–11:43pm EDT at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City. The 35th annual award show aired live from the venue for the 12th time, t ...

and the Super Bowl LIII halftime show.

Remixes and covers

On November 28, 2018, an electronic remix by American record producer

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

was released. The remix's accompanying audio and lyric videos were released to Scott's and Skrillex's YouTube channels on the same day. Skrillex would later release a previously unfinished version of his remix as "Baby Royal" on his fourth studio album, '' Fuck U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol but Ur Not!! <3'', on April 1, 2025. On February 28, 2020, Swae Lee released the single "Someone Said", based on his line from the song.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal and liner notes. Performance * Travis Scott – vocals, songwriting *

– vocals, songwriting *

– additional vocals, songwriting *

– additional vocals, songwriting Production * Rogét Chahayed – production, songwriting (Part I) *

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), known professionally as Hit-Boy, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He first signed with fellow producer Polow da Don in 2007 as in-house production staff for his l ...

– production, songwriting (Part I) * OZ – production, songwriting (Part II) *

Cubeatz Cubeatz (sometimes stylized as CuBeatz) are a German hip hop production and songwriting duo from Hildrizhausen, consisting of twin brothers Kevin and Tim Gomringer. Originally embarking on their careers within German hip hop in 2008, they have si ...

– production, songwriting (Part II) * Tay Keith – production, songwriting (Part III) * Mike Dean – production assistance, songwriting *Mirsad Dervić – programming, songwriting * Cydel Young – songwriting Technical * Travis Scott – recording engineer, mixing * Ben Sedano – assistant engineer * Jimmy Cash – assistant engineer * Jon Scher – assistant engineer * Sean Solymor – assistant engineer * Mike Dean – mixing, mastering Additional songwriting credits as pertaining to the samples: "I Wanna Rock" as performed by

Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...

, written by

Luther Campbell Luther Roderick Campbell (born December 22, 1960), also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke and simply Luke, is an American rapper, promoter, record executive, actor, and former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew. He is known for having hel ...

Harry Wayne Casey Harry Wayne Casey (born January 31, 1951), better known by his stage name KC, is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter. He is best known for his band, KC and the Sunshine Band, with co-founder Richard Finch (musician), Richard Fi ...

and Richard Finch; and "Gimme the Loot" as performed by the Notorious B.I.G., written by Christopher Wallace,

Osten Harvey Osten S. Harvey Jr. (born December 8, 1965), better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is an American hip hop and R&B record producer and DJ, known for his production work for artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Miles Davis, as well as his a ...

Bryan Higgins Bryan Higgins (1741 – 1818) was an Irish natural philosopher in chemistry. He was born in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland. His father (d. 1777) was also called Dr. Bryan Higgins. Higgins entered the University of Leiden in 1765, whence he qu ...

, Trevor Smith, James Jackson, Malik Taylor, Keith Elam, Christopher Martin, Kamaal Fareed, Ali Shaheed Jones-Muhammad, Tyrone Taylor, Fred Scruggs, Kirk Jones and Chylow Parker.

Track listing

A-side

# "Sicko Mode" – 5:12

B-side

# "Sicko Mode" (Skrillex Remix) – 5:05

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Accolades

Release history

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2018 songs 2018 singles Travis Scott songs Drake (musician) songs Swae Lee songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Song recordings produced by Cubeatz Songs written by Cyhi the Prynce Song recordings produced by Hit-Boy Song recordings produced by Mike Dean (record producer) Song recordings produced by Tay Keith Songs written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad Songs written by Busta Rhymes Songs written by DJ Premier Songs written by Drake (musician) Songs written by Easy Mo Bee Songs written by Harry Wayne Casey Songs written by Hit-Boy Songs written by Cubeatz Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Phife Dawg Songs written by Oz (record producer) Songs written by Q-Tip (musician) Songs written by Richard Finch (musician) Songs written by Rogét Chahayed Songs written by Swae Lee Songs written by the Notorious B.I.G. Songs written by Travis Scott Epic Records singles Cactus Jack Records singles Grand Hustle Records singles Song recordings produced by Oz (record producer)