"Wow" (stylized as "Wow.") is a song by American musician Post Malone, released as the lead single from his third studio album, Hollywood's Bleeding (2019), via Republic Records 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" with Swae Lee, the lead single from the December 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack. The song, released on Christmas Eve, was accompanied with an animated Christmas-themed visualizer which premiered on Malone's YouTube 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 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 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 Year Ceremony Category Result 2019 American Music Awards Favorite Song — Rap/Hip-Hop Rockbjörnen Foreign Song of the Year Teen Choice Awards Choice Song: R&B/Hip-Hop Choice Song From a Movie
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 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, 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 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 channel. The "video blog-styled" video features footage of Malone with Red Hot Chili Peppers, DJ Khaled 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 was released six days after on March 25, 2019, on Malone's YouTube channel.
Personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.
Post Malone – 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 – mixing Chris Galland – mixing assistant Robin Florent – mixing assistant Scott Desmarais – mixing assistant Tyga – featured vocalist, songwriting Roddy Ricch – featured vocalist, songwriting Mike Bozzi – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peakposition Estonia (Eesti Tipp-40) 2 Greece International (IFPI) 2 Latvia (LAIPA) 1 Lithuania (AGATA) 1 Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20) 11 Malaysia (RIM) 8 Mexico Airplay (Billboard) 32 Romania (Airplay 100) 68 Singapore (RIAS) 12 US Rolling Stone Top 100 16
Wow (Remix) Chart (2019) Peakposition New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 13
Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Australia (ARIA) 7 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 44 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) 58 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 9 Denmark (Tracklisten) 10 Germany (Official German Charts) 39 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 74 Ireland (IRMA) 14 Italy (FIMI) 72 Latvia (LAIPA) 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 80 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 4 Norway (VG-lista) 19 Portugal (AFP) 17 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 19 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 34 UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 17 US Billboard Hot 100 5 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard) 10 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 4 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard) 9 US Rhythmic (Billboard) 1 US Rolling Stone Top 100 3
Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Billboard Hot 100 64
Certifications
Release history Region Date Format Label United States January 8, 2019 Contemporary hit radio Republic Rhythmic contemporary radio Various May 24, 2019 7-inch single
See also List of highest-certified singles in Australia 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
References