Waves (Kanye West song)

"Waves"
Song by Kanye West
from the album The Life of Pablo
Released February 14, 2016
Recorded 2015-16
Genre
Length 3:01
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

"Waves" is a song by American rapper and producer Kanye West from his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016), which features vocals from recording artists Chris Brown and Kid Cudi.[1] It charted in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada in 2016. A music video was recorded for it in April 2016, but West chose to never release it. The song was commercially successful, being certified Platinum and Silver in United States and United Kingdom respectively.

Background

In a 2016 interview, Theophilus London claimed that he was forced by West to write "Waves" and did do so, but received no credit for it.[2] Within August of the same year, West's wife Kim Kardashian listed the track among her top 28 favourite songs by her husband.[3] It was revealed by Cudi that West sent him an early version of the song in December 2015.[1] By the time that all of the changes had been made to the album in June 2016, West made sure to re-record the first verse of the song for prevention of it being swallowed by the track's production.[4] The song includes a sample of "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" by hip-hop group Fantastic Freaks.[5]

On February 18, 2016, West's demo of it leaked online along with demos of a number of other songs by him, including fellow The Life of Pablo tracks "FML", "Fade" and "Highlights".[6] On May 24, around three months after the album had been released, Chance the Rapper shared his demo of "Waves" along with one of fellow album track "Famous" on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show.[7] His version of "Waves" was previewed with snippets on Snapchat within the same month as the release of the album that features the real song.[8] Despite not being featured on the actual track, Chance was still given a writing credit because lyrics from his demo were used in it throughout the second verse.[9]

An unofficial remix featuring West and Chance both rapping their versions was uploaded online in July 2016, which was distributed across the internet.[10]

Release

Kanye was planning to title his 2016 album "Waves" at one point and have the song play the role of title track, until the album's title was changed to The Life of Pablo on February 11, 2016, despite the song still being on the tracklist.[11][12][13] On one of the proposed tracklists, the album was split into three separate acts and the track was part of the first one.[11] Just one day before the album was officially released, it was revealed by Chance that he'd fought to keep the track as a part of it and that was why it was released later than the scheduled date of February 12, 2016.[14] West tweeted out that Chance was to blame for the delay, due to him really wanting "Waves" on The Life of Pablo and revealed that it was still being worked on by February 13.[15] Cudi revealed on April 23, 2016 that him, Mike Dean and Plain Pat were involved in this too.[1]

When the information was revealed that West had shot a video for the track, speculation began that it was set to be released as a single, but he never chose to do this.[16]

Critical reception

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian had great feelings towards "Waves", describing it as: 'simultaneously euphoric and elegiac'.[17] Pitchfork felt positively towards the track, describing it as sounding: 'momentarily benevolent' and voicing the comparison that it has a 'similar energy' to fellow album track "Famous".[18]

Live performances

On April 9, 2016, West performed "Waves" live for the first time, alongside fellow The Life of Pablo tracks "Pt. 2" and "Famous" in the Philippines, shortly before he traveled to Scotland for filming of the music video.[19][16] On November 20, as part of the very same tour, he was joined on stage by Cudi in Sacramento to perform it, in what was a rather emotional performance - this was at the exact same concert that West controversially ranted against Jay-Z, Hillary Clinton and more.[20][21] Every time that the previous album song "I Love Kanye" has been recorded as performed live, West has performed the track straight after it.[22]

Chance gave a live performance of his demo on April 25, 2017, during the Be Encouraged Tour.[23] He also performed the official version live on the very same tour, alongside fellow The Life of Pablo tracks "Ultralight Beam" and "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1" on June 5, 2017.[24]

Music video

On April 3, 2016, the information was revealed that a music video had been shot for "Waves" by West in Scotland's Isle of Skye, which began speculation of it being released as a single.[16] He traveled there shortly after a live performance in the Philippines, where the song was actually part of the set list.[25][19] Shooting the Hype Williams directed video took several days and West brought 60 crew members with him during his stay on the island, along with several helicopters.[26] After West had finished his stay there at Skeabost Hotel, one of its owners told Daily Record that he: "was the perfect guest — charming, courteous and polite" and a spokesperson for the hotel revealed that photos were banned during the rapper's stay and that his wife didn't accompany him.[25]

By the time West had marked his first solo release of material since The Life of Pablo with single "Lift Yourself" in 2018, the music video hadn't been released, meaning that it's most likely never going to become available.[27] This doesn't mark the only time that West left the video of a song from the album unreleased, since he never released the music video for "Highlights" either.[28]

Commercial performance

Despite West never releasing it as a single like speculation had it that he would, "Waves" still managed to chart in a total of four countries worldwide.[16] The track debuted at its peak of number 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100 upon the release of The Life of Pablo.[29] On the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, it peaked at number 24 in the same week as peaking on the Hot 100 and spent a total of three weeks on the chart.[30] It performed the same upon the album's release in the UK that it did in the US, debuting and peaking at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart.[31] The song also did this on the Canadian Hot 100, reaching number 86 on the chart.[32] "Waves" barely managed to scratch the Irish Singles Chart, only managing to chart at number 95 upon The Life of Pablo's release and this placed the track alongside "Ultralight Beam" as the only non-single releases from the album that managed to reach the charts in Ireland.[33]

It was certified Platinum in the US on April 19, 2018, over two years after having been made available to legally stream or download.[34] This made "Waves" join "Ultralight Beam" as the only non-single releases from West's seventh studio album to be achieve this certification in the US.[34] As well as this, the track was certified Silver in the UK on September 7, 2018.[35]

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[36] 86
Ireland (IRMA)[37] 95
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[38] 77
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[39] 20
US Billboard Hot 100[40] 71
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[41] 24
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[42] 17

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[43] Silver 200,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[44] Platinum 1,000,000double-dagger

double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Credited as co-producer
  2. ↑ Credited as additional producer

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kid Cudi Talks About Working With Kanye West Again and Reveals Why 'Man on the Moon III' Isn't Happening". Complex. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  2. ↑ "#82: Theophilus London by A Was". SoundCloud. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Stream Kim Kardashian's playlist of her favourite Kanye West tracks". NME. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Every Change Kanye West Made to 'The Life of Pablo'". XXL. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  5. ↑ "The Life of Pablo – Credits". www.kanyewest.com. Kanye West. February 17, 2016. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  6. ↑ "An album's worth of unreleased Kanye West music has just leaked online". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Listen to Chance the Rapper's Demos for Kanye's "Waves" and "Famous"". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Chance The Rapper Shares Alternate Version of "Waves" on Snapchat". XXL. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  9. ↑ "A Guide to Understanding Kanye West's The Life of Pablo". Vulture. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Somebody Mixed Chance The Rapper's Version of "Waves" with Kanye West's Original". PigeonsandPlanes. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Kanye West Debuts Several 'Waves' Tracklists". Billboard. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Kanye West reveals fourth title for his new album: The Life of Pablo". The Guardian. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Kanye West officially titles new album The Life Of Pablo, shares tracklist". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Chance The Rapper Says He Fought To Keep "Waves" On Kanye West's Album". Vibe. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  15. ↑ "'Blame Chance': Kanye West Explains 'Life of Pablo' Album Delay". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Kanye West Reportedly Shot Music Video For "Waves" In Scotland". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Kanye West: The Life of Pablo review – 'You can see why his immodesty rubs people up the wrong way'". The Guardian. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Kanye West: The Life of Pablo Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  19. 1 2 "Watch Kanye West perform 'The Life Of Pablo' songs live for first time". NME. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Watch Kanye West and Kid Cudi Hug, Perform "Waves"". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Here's A Full Transcript Of Kanye West's Sacramento Concert Speech". The FADER. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  22. ↑ "I love kanye/ WAVES, kanye dancing". YouTube. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Watch Chance The Rapper Perform An Original Version Of Kanye West's "Waves"". PAPER. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Chance the Rapper nods to Kanye West with Waves, Ultralight Beam, Father Stretch My Hands covers". Business Insider. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  25. 1 2 "Kanye West Shoots 'Waves' Video in Scotland". Rap-Up. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Kanye West in Scotland shooting scenes for new music video". HeraldScotland. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Kanye West's New Song "Lift Yourself" Is Here & Fans Have So Many Emotions". Bustle. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Kanye West Reportedly Filmed "Highlights" Video In Iceland". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Kanye West Waves Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Waves | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  33. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track". GFK Chart-Track. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  34. 1 2 "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Brit Certified". BPI. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  36. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  37. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 15, 2016". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  38. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  39. ↑ "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  40. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Kanye West Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  43. ↑ "British single certifications – Kanye West – Waves". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 September 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Waves in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  44. ↑ "American single certifications – Kanye West – Waves". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 17, 2018. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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