Wolves (Kanye West song)

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"Wolves"
Song

"Wolves" is a song by American rapper Kanye West featuring Sia and Vic Mensa. It was produced by Cashmere Cat and Sinjin Hawke and was originally planned to be the opening track to his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, although it is the thirteenth track on the final version. West debuted the song on February 12, 2015 at a fashion show where he also premiered his new Adidas shoe.[1] The presentation was broadcast live to more than 40 locations around the world.[2][3] "Wolves" became the second confirmed track from the album[4][5] and originally featured Sia Furler and Vic Mensa. The initial album version introduced a new verse from West and an additional outro from Frank Ocean, omitting Sia Furler and Vic Mensa's contributions. However, in March 2016, the album was updated with a new version of the song that reinstated Sia and Vic Mensa's verses. Frank Ocean's outro has been split into a separate track.

Composition

"Wolves" was produced by Cashmere Cat and Sinjin Hawke and originally featured vocals by Australian singer and songwriter Sia and Chicago rapper Vic Mensa. The song has been described as "melancholic" and "somber" with a slower beat, a minimal arrangement, and a heavily Auto-Tuned bridge.[2][6] The "lurching" chorus is performed by Vic Mensa and includes the lyrics, "I'm just bad. Bad for you."[2][6] Sia performs a "bluesy" rendition of West's words approximately three minutes and fifteen seconds into the song.[6]

The album version features a rap from West and a moody outro from Frank Ocean, replacing Vic Mensa and Sia's verses.[7] An alternate version, however, was leaked online including Frank Ocean, Vic Mensa, and Sia. Unlike the album version, Frank Ocean's verse starts the song, and West's rap is omitted from the song.[8]

In March 2016, over a month after the album's release, West updated the album's Tidal track list with a reworked version of "Wolves", which includes previously removed vocals from Vic Mensa and Sia, and separated the ending portion sung by Frank Ocean into a separate track called "Frank's Track".[9]

Live performances

West was one of several musical guests for the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, which aired on NBC in February 2015. He performed "Jesus Walks" and "Only One", then Sia and Mensa joined him for the live debut of "Wolves".[10] Due to the "claustrophobic, starkly black-and-white" set, all three vocalists crawled and crouched throughout the song due to their limited mobility, and Sia wore a large white bob wig.[11][12]

Reception

Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone said the song was reminiscent of West's work on his album 808s & Heartbreak (2008).[2]

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[13] 1
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[14] 39

References

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  13. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for Kanye West. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Kanye West – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Kanye West. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
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