"Moon" is a song by American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

from his tenth studio album, ''

Donda ''Donda'' is the tenth studio album by American rapper Kanye West, released through GOOD Music on August 29, 2021, with distribution handled by Def Jam Recordings, his last release with the label. West recorded much of the material at multiple ...

'' (2021). The song features fellow American rappers

Don Toliver Caleb Zackery "Don" Toliver ( ; born June 12, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He released his first major label mixtape, ''Donny Womack'', in August 2018. He is known for his singles "No Idea (song), No Idea" and "After Party ...

and

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...

. It initially only had an appearance from Toliver, however Kid Cudi was added after the album's first listening event. The song peaked at number 17 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also reaching number 7 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart.

Background

"Moon" was debuted during the album's first listening event July 23, 2021, at

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in August 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) ...

in Atlanta, though only

guested on the version played. By the time the second listening party for ''Donda'' was held at the stadium on August 5, 2021, the song had been updated to include an appearance from

alongside Toliver. The rapper tweeted that the final version was new to him since he had not heard it before the event, clarifying that he knew of his presence on the album and only did not "hear final mixes". Kid Cudi also recalled he was not on the album when he tweeted he was not, admitting West contacted him the next week and they "made it work". The rapper also recorded for fellow album track "

Remote Control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such as ...

", though his contributions were removed from the final version. A new version of "Moon" was played for ''Donda''s third listening event at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

in Chicago on August 26, 2021, which replaced Kid Cudi with the

Sunday Service Choir The Sunday Service Choir, (commonly known as Sunday Service) is an American gospel group led by artist and producer Kanye West and conducted by choir director Jason White. Beginning in January 2019, the group has performed every Sunday, as well ...

. The version of the track that was included on the album three days later restored his appearance. During a

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

on September 7, 2021, fellow rapper

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Boat, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He first gained recognition on the internet in 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" (featuring ...

, who appears on ''Donda'' track "Ok Ok", revealed that he was behind Kid Cudi being included on "Moon". The rapper recalled an excerpt from the song being played on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

after the album's first listening party, to which him and "everyone in the comments" responded by expressing that Kid Cudi "would sound great" on it. Lil Yachty said he contacted fellow rapper and ''Donda'' contributor

Vory Tavoris Javon Hollins Jr. (born August 17, 1997), known professionally as Vory (formerly King Vory), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He won a Grammy for his work on The Carters' ''Everything Is Love'' and has released several solo p ...

after the excerpt gained popularity on TikTok, declaring that Kid Cudi "''gotta'' get on 'Moon'". The rapper explained that Vory reached out to West, who then contacted Kid Cudi for the song; he concluded by joking, "Y'all can thank me." In an interview with Ebro on ''In The Morning'' on Hot 97, Don Toliver noted that the final version of "Moon" was completely different from what he initially recorded on.

Commercial performance

Upon the release of ''Donda'', "Moon" debuted at number 17 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song simultaneously entered at number six on both the US

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...

and

Gospel Songs Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

charts. It further reached number seven on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, placing among West's seven simultaneous top-10 hits that led to him tying

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's record on the chart. In Canada, the song charted at number 21 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. The song was most successful in New Zealand, reaching number nine on the

NZ Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. In Australia, it entered the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

at number 15. The song performed similarly in Iceland, debuting at number 12 on the Icelandic Singles Chart. It reached numbers 22 and 23 on the Danish

Track Top-40 Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and Norwegian Topp 20 Singles charts, respectively. Top-40 positions were also attained by the song in Lithuania, Ireland, and Portugal, while it charted at number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

producer, songwriter * E. Vax producer, songwriter * BoogzDaBeast co-producer, songwriter *

DJ Khalil Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard (born October 16, 1973), professionally known as DJ Khalil, is an American music producer and DJ from Los Angeles. He is the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Self Scientific (along with rapper Chace Infinite) an ...

co-producer, songwriter * Caleb Zackery Toliver songwriter *

Scott Mescudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...

songwriter * Irko mastering engineer, mix engineer * Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawsøn recording engineer * Drrique Rendeer recording engineer * James Kelso recording engineer * Josh Berg recording engineer * Mikalai Skrobat recording engineer * Roark Bailey recording engineer * Will Chason assistant recording engineer *

Louis Bell Louis Russell Bell (born May 27, 1982) is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. Bell's work includes production for Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, 5 Seconds of Summer, T ...

vocal editing * Patrick Hundley vocal editing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Kid Cudi songs 2021 songs Kanye West songs Song recordings produced by DJ Khalil Song recordings produced by Kanye West Songs written by DJ Khalil Songs written by Don Toliver Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Kid Cudi Don Toliver songs Kid Cudi songs