"Wow" (stylized as "Wow.") is a song by American rapper
Post Malone
Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His music blends various genres including hip-hop, Pop music, pop, Contemporary R&B, R&B, Tra ...
, released as the lead single from his third studio album, ''
Hollywood's Bleeding'' (2019), via
Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...
on December 24, 2018.
The song was written by Malone alongside Billy Walsh, Anthoine Walters, Carl Rosen, and producers
Louis Bell and
Frank Dukes.
"Wow" peaked at number two on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, Post Malone's sixth top 10 hit.
Background
Post Malone stated earlier in December that he wished to release another "body of work" before the year was over; his previous single was "
Sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...
" with
Swae Lee, the lead single from the December 2018 movie ''
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' soundtrack.
The song, released on
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
, was accompanied with an animated Christmas-themed visualizer which premiered on Malone's
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel the same day.
Lyrically, "Wow" discusses Malone's climb to fame, wealth, and success while emceeing a
club environment.
Composition
"Wow" is written in the key of
F-sharp minor at a tempo of 100 beats per minute.
Critical reception
''HipHop-N-More'' stated that the song felt like "more than just a throwaway", saying it "could be another big moment for Post on the charts and radio". ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' called it one of Post Malone's "most stripped back recordings to date", saying his rapping over a beat is a "stark contrast" to his previous Autotuned vocals and "heavily produced" music. ''
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 said the song "bounces along on a tick-tock beat and deep bass thrum", further describing the song as a chronicle of Post's rise to fame.
Accolades
Commercial performance
"Wow." debuted at number 47 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. In its third week, it moved up to number 11 before ascending to the top 10, where it peaked at number two, being held off the top spot by "
7 Rings" by
Ariana Grande on April 6, 2019. It fell to number four the following week. Two weeks later it rose again to its peak of number two, this time blocked by the remix of "
Old Town Road" by
Lil Nas X
Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), better known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his 2018 country rap single "Old Town Road," the longest-running nu ...
featuring
Billy Ray Cyrus, remaining there for another week, totaling three non-consecutive weeks in the runner-up spot. It remained in the top ten for 24 consecutive weeks.
Remix
The official remix of the song, featuring fellow American rappers
Roddy Ricch and
Tyga
Micheal Ray Stevenson[Micheal Ray Stevenson](_blank)
, premiered on March 15, 2019. There are two versions of audio for the remix. One is the explicit version and the other is the clean edited version, which appears on the various artists compilation album ''Now That's What I Call Music! 71'' (2019) in the United States. The music video for the remix was published on March 25, 2019, on Malone's
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. The remix also appears in the soundtrack of the videogame ''
NBA 2K20'' (2019).
Music video
The music video for "Wow." was released on March 19, 2019, on Malone's
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. The "
video blog
A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...
-styled" video features footage of Malone with
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...
,
DJ Khaled
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...
and Mike Alancourt. The video was directed by James DeFina. It has a viewing of 308 million on YouTube as of June 15, 2023. The music video for the remix of the song featuring
Roddy Ricch and
Tyga
Micheal Ray Stevenson[Micheal Ray Stevenson](_blank)
was released six days after on March 25, 2019, on Malone's YouTube channel.
Personnel
Credits adapted from
Tidal.
*
Post Malone
Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His music blends various genres including hip-hop, Pop music, pop, Contemporary R&B, R&B, Tra ...
– principal vocalist, songwriting
*
Louis Bell – production, recording, vocal production, programming, songwriting
*
Frank Dukes – production, programming, songwriting
* Billy Walsh – songwriting
* Anthoine Walters - background vocals, songwriting
* Carl Rosen - songwriting
*
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...
– mixing
* Chris Galland – mixing assistant
* Robin Florent – mixing assistant
* Scott Desmarais – mixing assistant
*
Tyga
Micheal Ray Stevenson[Micheal Ray Stevenson](_blank)
– featured vocalist, songwriting
*
Roddy Ricch – featured vocalist, songwriting
*
Mike Bozzi – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
Wow (Remix)
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
*
List of highest-certified singles in Australia
This is a list of highest-certified singles in Australia according to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Since 1983, ARIA certifies a single Platinum for shipment of 70,000 copies across Australia. Single figures can include "qu ...
*
List of number-one singles of 2019 (Finland)
*
List of number-one singles from the 2010s (New Zealand)
*
List of number-one songs in Norway
This list shows the songs which have been number one on the official chart list (VG-lista) in Norway. The single list started in 1958, and the albums list in 1967. The show is broadcast every Wednesday by NRK P3, one of Norwegian Broadcasting ...
References
{{Authority control
2018 singles
2018 songs
2019 singles
Post Malone songs
Number-one singles in Finland
Number-one singles in Latvia
Number-one singles in New Zealand
Number-one singles in Norway
Songs written by Post Malone
Songs written by Frank Dukes
Songs written by Louis Bell
Song recordings produced by Frank Dukes
Song recordings produced by Louis Bell