"Waves" is a song by Dutch singer and rapper Mr. Probz. Originally released through Left Lane Productions on 26 April 2013, the song became an international hit upon being remixed in a more up-tempo fashion by German DJ and record producer

Robin Schulz Robin Alexander Schulz (; born 28 April 1987) is a German musician, DJ, and record producer. On 4 February 2014, he released the first single from his debut album, a remix of "Waves (Mr. Probz song), Waves" by Dutch hip hop artist Mr. Probz. T ...

, with Schulz's remix topping the charts in multiple countries, including Austria, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. "Waves" was sent to US

dance radio Dance radio is a type of radio format that focuses on dance music, dance and electronic music. These formats typically feature current and recent hits in the genres, and may often include DJ mix, mixshows featuring songs mixed by Disc jockey, DJs ...

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...

on 14 April 2014. The remix was the fourth best-selling song of 2014 in the UK, selling over 800,000 copies.

Background

Mr Probz told ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' about writing the song: "It was like someone put a hard drive in the back of my head and boom! The song was there. Everyone knows this type of situation, where the distance between you and a certain person is growing, every time you fight or whatever." The original version of the song debuted in the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...

and also became a hit in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand and South Africa.

Robin Schulz remix

In 2014, "Waves" was remixed in a more up-tempo fashion by German DJ and record producer

. "At the time there were a lot of remixes and bootlegs everywhere after the original hit the ceiling in Holland. But when my manager told me about Robin Schulz’s version, I gave it a listen and right away we already knew that if we would want to make a move like that, it should be that version," Mr. Probz told ''

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 ...

''. "After numerous labels outside of Holland started hitting us up to see if we would be interested in releasing it officially it was all a no brainer from there. We contacted Robin's people after that and the rest is history." Schulz's remix was released as a single on 4 February 2014 in North America and 7 February in Europe. The remix propelled the song to greater success, topping the charts in Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and peaking within the top five of the charts in Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland and Italy. The remix is strongly inspired by the track "Mr Probz - Waves (Roter & Lewis Edit)", released in mid-2013. An alternate version of the Schulz remix was released on November 11, 2014, featuring additional vocals from American rapper

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

and American singer

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

. This version is featured on the

compilation album '' Ultra Dance 16''.

Chart performance

On 27 April 2014, "Waves" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, selling 127,000 copies in its first week, and then remained there the following week. The song also peaked at number one in Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. In the United States, the remix reached number one on the ''

Dance/Mix Show Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance musi ...

chart for the issue dated 16 August 2014. "Waves" also topped the UK's

Official Audio Streaming Chart The Official Audio Streaming Chart (previously the Official Streaming Chart) is a music chart based on plays of songs through audio streaming services (including Spotify, Deezer, Google Play Music, Apple Music and Tidal (service), Tidal) in the ...

for eight consecutive weeks and ended 2014 as both the UK's fourth most streamed track and fourth best-seller, with 32.1 million streams and selling 815,000 copies.

Music video

The music video for the remix of "Waves" was directed by Petro Papahadjopoulos. It was filmed in

Tulum Tulum (, ) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. T ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and released on 3 February 2014; another identical version was uploaded by Ultra Music the following day. Belarusian model

Maryna Linchuk Maryna Linchuk (; born 4 September 1987) is a Belarusian model. Early life Linchuk was raised by her single mother in a communal house. Her mother later remarried and they moved to another place. Modeling career Linchuk was scouted as a ...

and British model James Penfold star in the video as a couple, with Mr. Probz in a cameo in a bar. The video begins with Penfold swimming towards a desert island. After reaching the shore and knocking some coconuts down from a tree, he recounts a time when he and his girlfriend were on holiday together. They are shown to get on very well at first, but then have several arguments, and this culminates in them breaking up one evening. The scene switches to Penfold sitting in a Jacuzzi and drinking several shots of vodka, revealing that the desert island never existed and was only in his mind. He then collapses back-first into the Jacuzzi and drowns. The video ends with Penfold lying dead in the middle of the ocean. The video has over 600 million views as of November 2024.

Track listings

Digital download # "Waves" – 2:54 Digital download (remix) # "Waves" (

radio edit) – 3:28 Digital download (remix) # "Waves" (Robin Schulz radio edit) – 3:10 CD single # "Waves" (Robin Schulz radio edit) – 3:28 # "Waves" (original edit) – 2:54

Charts

Original version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Robin Schulz remix

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2013 songs 2013 singles 2014 singles Mr Probz songs Epic Records singles Ultra Music singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Greece Number-one singles in Hungary Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Poland Number-one singles in Scotland Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland UK singles chart number-one singles Tropical house songs Remix singles