Yikes (song)

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"Yikes"
Single by Kanye West
from the album Ye
Released June 8, 2018 (2018-06-08)
Recorded 2018
Studio West's ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Genre
Length 3:08
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kanye West singles chronology
"Watch"
(2018)		 "Yikes"
(2018)		 "All Mine"
(2018)

"Yikes" is a song by American recording artist Kanye West from his eighth studio album, Ye (2018). The song includes echoing voices and a chilling bass in its composition, and was produced by West, while co-produced by Mike Dean, with additional production from Pi'erre Bourne and Apex Martin. The song was written by West, Dean, Aubrey Graham, Cydel Young, Dexter Mills, Danielle Balbuena, Jordan Jenks, Asten Harris, Malik Yusef, Kenneth Pershon, Terrence Boykin and Jordan Thorpe, with the information being revealed what content Graham, professionally known as Drake, was responsible for.

An aggressive track that resembles West's song "Wolves", "Yikes" contains samples of "Kothbiro", written by James Mbarack Achieng and Ayub Ogada, and performed by Black Savage. The lyrics include West rapping about tweaking on drugs and the outro sees West deliver spoken word in reference to his bipolar disorder. Since being released, the song has received generally positive reviews from music critics. The majority of them commended its production, while some critics drew comparisons between the song and West's previous works.

"Yikes" was serviced to UK mainstream radio and US rhythmic contemporary radio stations as the lead single from Ye on June 8 and June 11, 2018, respectively, with both releases being through GOOD Music and Def Jam. Despite debuting the album without a single, West decided on the song being released as the lead single in the United States due to him having to choose one for promotion. The song attained a peak position of number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time that West had reached the top ten of the chart with a solo track since 2008. It charted in a total of 19 countries worldwide in 2018, and was ultimately certified Platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Background

File:Drake Summer Sixteen Tour.jpg
Drake had worked with West in the past and contributed to the writing of the track.

Canadian musician Drake had first worked with West for the latter's fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010.[1] Drake later helped write the tracks "Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1" and "30 Hours" for West's seventh studio album The Life of Pablo (2016), and flew to Wyoming while West was recording for Ye.[1] Radio host Peter Rosenberg originally reported Drake to have contributed songwriting to "Yikes", which was initially uncredited due to GOOD Music leaving Drake's credit off the album, and his contribution was revealed as writing the chorus.[1] American producer Pi'erre Bourne also claimed that he worked on the track, apparently having been involved with the production, but the credits hadn't been updated to show his contributions days after release.[2] The digital credits for the track were ultimately updated on June 13, 2018 to reveal a total of 11 credited writers, with the inclusion of Drake's name on the songwriting credits under his real name of Aubrey Graham, though the update occurred at the same time as the controversy between Drake and West's signee Pusha T over the former's usage of ghostwriters.[3] Simultaneously, Pi'erre Bourne and Apex Martin were newly credited as producers.[4] West produced it, with co-production from Mike Dean, and additional production from Pi'erre Bourne and Martin.[5] Kenyan musicians Ayub Ogada and James Mbarack Achieng received writing credits due to having wrote the work that "Yikes" samples, while the track was written by West, Dean, Graham, Cydel Young, Dexter Mills, Danielle Balbuena, Jordan Jenks, Asten Harris, Malik Yusef, Kenneth Pershon, Terrence Boykin and Jordan Thorpe.[5][6] During an interview with The New York Times on June 25, West revealed that Drake wrote a first verse for the track that did not make the final cut.[7]

When questioned about receiving credit on the track due to having helped write the work sampled within it during a June 2018 phone call with The Nation, Ayub Ogada claimed that after having "done so many projects" he "cannot remember everything."[6] Ayub Ogada elaborated, stating: "I cannot remember at what moment in time I did that job," and commented that people use his "music to do their own projects."[6] However, Ayub Ogada revealed that he had not been in contact with Achieng for "nearly 10 years."[6] In response to the sampling within the track, Eothen "Egon" Alapatt said: "Kanye's going in there and sampling Black Savage. Who's doing that? Not many people are digging deep to find the dope moments on the Black Savage record."[8] He also claimed that after first hearing the sampled record in 2006, he "thought it would be an incredible sample source."[8]

Composition and lyrics

"Yikes" is an aggressive track that has a resemblance to West's 2016 track "Wolves".[9][10][11][12][13] The song contains samples of the vocals parts and melodies from "Kothbiro", written by Achieng and Ayub Ogada, and performed by Black Savage.[14] Within the song, West raps over echoing voices and a chilling bass.[15]

The lyrics feature West rapping about tweaking on drugs, with him having had apparent experiences with the psychedelic drugs 2C-B and DMT.[15][16] Multiple references to #MeToo are made by West within "Yikes" and the chorus sees West rap about scaring himself.[12] West uses certain lyrics to shout-out Wiz Khalifa, Prince, Michael Jackson and Mahatma Gandhi.[12][15][17] The outro consists of West delivering spoken word that paints his bipolar disorder as being a strength.[18]

Release and promotion

On June 1, 2018, "Yikes" was released as the second track on West's eighth studio album Ye, replacing the track "XTCY" that was originally slated to be released from this position under the title of "Extacy".[19][20] The song was sent to UK mainstream radio stations by West's labels GOOD Music and Def Jam as the lead single on June 8, 2018.[21] Despite debuting the album without a single, West made the decision on June 11 to release the song as the lead single from it in the United States, with such a release being rumored beforehand, and the song was serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations through the aforementioned labels on the same day.[22][23][24] Though most people had already heard Ye at the time of this decision, a lead single still had to be chosen for promotion.[22] Once West chose it to be a single, the song was set to be the focus of promotion for radio stations and streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music; it was promoted on Spotify's Rap Caviar, among various other playlists.[22][23] West had enjoyed success on radio stations across the US in promotion of his previous album The Life of Pablo in 2016 when the two-part single "Father Stretch My Hands" became popular on urban contemporary radio.[23]

It was suggested by HotNewHipHop that the track would be the first from the album to have an accompanying music video, if West did chose to release any.[22] Though lyric videos were released for "Violent Crimes" and "All Mine" in July 2018, West hadn't put out music videos for any of the Ye tracks.[25] After "Yikes" didn't perform well on record charts as the first single, West's labels tried to prevent the album from losing momentum by pushing "All Mine" as the second single in July after he selected it for such a release.[26] Though "Yikes" proved to not be a chart success, the song experienced continuous popularity on streaming services.[26]

Critical reception

The song has received generally positive reviews from music critics, with praise mostly going towards the production. Ann-Derrick Gaillot of The Outline viewed the song's instrumental as being "sparse, horror film-esque" and labeled it as "evoking 'Wolves'."[11] Christopher Hooton of The Independent branded "Yikes" as having "The kind of pop opening to a track we haven't heard Kanye since his 808s and Heartbreak days" and he called the instrumental "a chopped-up beat that reminds me of TLOP's 'Famous'."[27] Hooton continued, claiming that West referencing #MeToo "perhaps isn't surprising as he has been brutally honest about verbally abusive past relationships in previous songs, along with his promiscuity," and he compared the song to the track "FML" from The Life of Pablo.[27] The song was ranked by Eric Renner Brown from Billboard as the eighth best track from the five albums that West produced in 2018,[lower-alpha 1] with him describing it as a "bleak, spiritual successor to Pablo's 'FML'" and pointing out the "instrumental that conjures early Crystal Castles" as the strongest point of the song.[28] Writing for The A.V. Club, Clayton Purdom claimed in reference to West rapping over the instrumental that "he goes into squealing, self-satisfied mania over the bleating MDMA pulse."[29] Rodney Carmichael and Ann Powers from NPR viewed the Black Savage sample as reminding them of West's sixth studio album Yeezus (2013), calling it a "perfect sonic companion to drug-induced paranoia" and noting West employing the "obscure pop sampling of his earlier works."[30] Lucy Jones of The Daily Telegraph claimed that the song "rolls on a tropical-style, meandering beat, veering between moods" and called its chorus "the kind of melodic, emotional stanza you could imagine hearing in a Linkin Park song."[31]

Reviewing Ye for Vice, Robert Christgau named "Yikes" as one of the best tracks and said that it featured the "assiest moment," when West: "claims #MeToo for his foggy fat self, and if it's also the catchiest, fuck you if you can't take a joke - her too."[32] The song was also listed among the album's best tracks by Wren Graves of Consequence of Sound, who praised West referencing his bipolar disorder as personal content related to his mental health.[33] Referencing the song, Tom Breihan from Stereogum wrote that "the humid bloom of the bass" and "the way the drunken drums and MPC hiccups stagger upwind through that distorted drone" stand among the "moments of true, transporting beauty on Ye."[34] In comparison to West's April 2018 singles "Lift Yourself" and "Ye vs. the People", Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield described the song as West having "even drearier complaints on deck."[35] Maura Johnston of Time expressed mixed feelings, claiming that West's rapping "doesn't deviate too much from the lyrical concepts of Pablo-it blends the trivial and the life-or-death," though viewed the song as a "darkened-club" track.[36] Meaghan Garvey was somewhat negative in Pitchfork, writing of West's rapping that "he scoffs in an anesthetized Juvenile flow," while labeling "Yikes" as aptly-named.[37] Garvey also criticized the lyrical content, describing it as what "offers no further insight into West's beliefs because there is not much more to say" and deemed one of West's #MeToo references as being cringey.[37]

Commercial performance

Kanye West working in the studio
"Yikes" was West's first top ten song in the UK and US as a solo artist since the single "Heartless" in 2008.

The song debuted at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 upon the release of Ye, prior to being released as a single.[24] By doing so, it stood as the highest-charting track from the album and the only one to reach the top ten of the Hot 100.[24] This entry marked West's first track to debut in the top ten of the chart since the single "Forever" that also includes Drake, Lil Wayne and Eminem entered at number eight in 2009, though it stood as his first track to reach the top ten since the joint single "FourFiveSeconds" with Rihanna and Paul McCartney attained a peak position of number four in 2015, and his first solo track to make its entry in the top ten of the Hot 100 since the single "Heartless" debuted at number four in 2008.[38] West's 16th Hot 100 top ten was also marked by the debut, tying him with Nicki Minaj for the sixth-most top tens among rappers.[38] "Yikes" entered the US Streaming Songs chart at number three with 34.2 million streams, two places behind "All Mine" with 36.3 million streams, though the song gave West his second highest debut on the chart.[39] However, it had a higher debut on the Hot 100 than the track due to receiving more radio airplay and logging 13,000 first-week sales, in comparison to the 6,000 logged by "All Mine", which charted at number 11.[38][39] The song debuted at number seven on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and gave West his 25th top ten entry, with "Yikes" and "All Mine" simultaneously becoming West's first tracks to reach the top ten of the chart since "All Day" in 2015.[40] The song descended 32 places to number 40 in its second week on the Hot 100.[41] It spent five weeks on the chart, being outperformed by "All Mine", which lasted for nine weeks.[42][43] On August 14, 2019, "Yikes" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of 1,000,000 units in the US, becoming the second single from Ye to achieve the certification.[44]

The track performed best in Canada, charting at number six on the Canadian Hot 100.[45] After being released as a single, the track made its debut at number ten on the UK Singles Chart and stood as West's 19th top ten single on the chart.[46] This ranked as the highest chart position attained by a song from the album and the second highest entry of the week on the chart, respectively.[46] With its debut, the track gave West his first top-ten single in the United Kingdom since "FourFiveSeconds" reached number three in 2015 and his first as a solo artist since "Heartless" reached the position of number ten in 2008.[47] However, the track failed to reach the top ten in New Zealand, entering at number 11 on the NZ Singles Chart.[48] It debuted at number 13 on the Slovakia Singles Digitál Top 100.[49] The track peaked at number 16 on the Irish Singles Chart, while attaining a similar position of number 17 on the Greece International Digital Singles chart.[50][51] On the ARIA Singles Chart, the track entered at number 18, giving West his second top 20 entry in the week of Ye's release.[52] The track attained a peak position of number 30 on the Portuguese Singles Chart, while also entering the top 40 of the Danish Hitlisten, Swiss Hitparade, Czech Republic Singles Digitál Top 100, and Hungary Single Top 40 charts.[53][54][55][56][57] "Yikes" experienced lesser performance in Austria, charting at number 44 on the Ö3 Austria Top 40.[58]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[5]

  • Kanye West – production, vocals
  • Mike Dean – co-production, engineering, mixing
  • Andrew Dawson – engineering, programming
  • Mike Malchicoff – engineering
  • Zack Djurich – engineering
  • Sean Solymar – assistant recording engineering
  • Jess Jackson – mixing
  • Pi'erre Bourne – additional production
  • Apex Martin – additional production
  • Noah Goldstein – recording engineering

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[59] 18
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[58] 44
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[60] 6
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[56] 33
Denmark (Tracklisten)[54] 32
France (SNEP)[61] 68
Germany (Official German Charts)[62] 84
Greece International Digital Singles (IFPI)[51] 17
Hungary (Single Top 40)[57] 34
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[63] 21
16
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[64] 77
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[65] 11
30
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[66] 83
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[49] 13
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[67] 73
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[55] 32
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[68] 10
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[69] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[70] 8
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[71] 7
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[72] 25

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[73] Platinum 1,000,000

xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
United Kingdom June 8, 2018 Mainstream radio
[21]
United States June 11, 2018 Rhythmic contemporary radio [23]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Pusha T's Daytona, Ye, Kids See Ghosts' Kids See Ghosts, Nas' Nasir, and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E.[28]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201823 into search. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  50. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ire
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  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 "Swisscharts.com – Kanye West – Yikes". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201823 into search. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 "Austriancharts.at – Kanye West – Yikes" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  59. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Kanye West – Yikes". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  60. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Kanye West. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  61. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Kanye West – Yikes" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  62. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kanye West – Yikes". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
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  64. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kanye West – Yikes" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  65. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Kanye West – Yikes". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  66. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20180608". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
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  68. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20180608" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  69. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20180608" UK R&B Chart. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  70. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Kanye West. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  71. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Kanye West. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  72. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Kanye West. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  73. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links

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