"Watch" is a song by American rapper

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

featuring fellow American rappers

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commer ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. Written alongside producer

Pi'erre Bourne Jordan Timothy Jenks (born September 19, 1993), known professionally as Pi'erre Bourne (), is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and audio engineer. He is known for producing the 2017 singles " Magnolia" for Playboi Carti ...

, it was released by Cactus Jack,

Grand Hustle Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an American hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper and record executive T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. The label was distribut ...

, and

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 May 4, 2018. It was expected to be the second single from Scott's third studio album '' Astroworld'', before being excluded when the album was released on August 3, 2018.

Release

American supermodel and reality star and Travis Scott's girlfriend at the time,

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and then the Hulu reality televisi ...

, first teased the track via her Snapchat story on April 24, 2018, West also teased it on Twitter the following day. A day before the song's release, Scott revealed its release date and cover art, the latter of which includes a roller coaster, a skull with fire in its eye sockets, flowers and a gem-encrusted gold watch. On May 11, Scott premiered a vertical video for the song exclusively on Spotify, in which Uzi and West were absent. It was shot at

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...

Composition

"Watch" is a trap song which samples

Ronald Jenkees Ronald Jenkees is an American composer, musician, and YouTube personality known for his energetic keyboard performances and original electronic music. He blends genres such as IDM, electronic rock, techno, and hip hop. Jenkees gained popularity o ...

' 2012 song "Early Morning May" and KSupreme's unreleased song "Expensive Shit". According to ''

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 ...

''s Althea Legaspi, "the track opens with an amusement park clip of a child at AstroWorld, and a whimsical, woozy musical vibe follows that befits that theme". Lyrically, Uzi raps about their cash flow, while West raps about

opioid Opioids are a class of Drug, drugs that derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy plant. Opioids work on opioid receptors in the brain and other organs to produce a variety of morphine-like effects, ...

addiction and addresses his controversial social position. The outro was spoken by Scott's girlfriend

Critical reception

Sheldon Pearce of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' regarded the song as "an enjoyable ego trip full of empty-calorie raps, reliant entirely on the premise that you are as enthralled by these three artists as they are with themselves". He noted "Pi'erre's superb ear-bending production" as "the song's best feature", writing that "Scott is largely forgettable" due to his "toneless, flat, and unchanging" hums.

Live performances

On May 6, 2018, Scott made a live performance debut of the song during an appearance at Avenue nightclub in Los Angeles.

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 ...

. *

– vocals *

– production * Jimmy Cash – engineering * Noah Goldstein – engineering * Mike Dean – mixing engineering, mastering engineering

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Lil Uzi Vert 2018 songs 2018 singles Epic Records singles Grand Hustle Records singles Travis Scott songs Kanye West songs Lil Uzi Vert songs Songs written by Travis Scott Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Lil Uzi Vert Songs written by Pi'erre Bourne Vertically oriented music videos