"OTW" (an acronym for "on the way") is a song by American singers

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname.

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

, and

6lack Ricardo Archibald Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American singer and rapper. He initially gained notable recognition following the release of his single, "Prblms" ...

. The artists wrote the song with

Brian Alexander Morgan Brian Alexander Morgan is an American record producer from Wichita, Kansas, United States, best known for his work writing and producing with the R&B group SWV. Career In his early 20s, Morgan recorded a demo tape with his childhood friend LaChe ...

, Idan Kalai and producer

Nineteen85 Anthony Paul Jefferies (born July 1, 1985), known professionally as Nineteen85, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. Nineteen85 holds the distinction of winning an ASCAP Music Award back-to-back in 2014 and 2015. He is best known for p ...

. It was released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

on April 20, 2018 as a stand-alone single, before being added as a bonus track to the vinyl of Khalid's EP ''

Suncity ''Suncity'' is the first extended play by American singer Khalid. It was released on October 19, 2018 by RCA Records. It was supported by the single " Better". The EP debuted at number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200. Singles The EP was supporte ...

'' (2018).

Release

On March 31, 2018, Khalid posted a snippet of the song on Twitter. He officially announced the single during the nominations announcement for the 2018 ''Billboard'' Music Awards.

Composition

"OTW" is a dark and melodic R&B song with '90s influences. It features a "silky smooth" and "mellow" production, backed by "a trap-infused R&B beat". A booty-call theme channels throughout the track, as the artists sing about meeting up with a love interest.

Critical reception

Michael Love Michael of ''

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'' regarded the song as "a refreshing slice of smooth, radio-ready, but throwback '90s R&B". He praised the song's "undercurrent of bittersweet melancholy characteristic of the genre's most forward-thinking productions", describing it as "an addictively rhythmic tune".

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

' Ross McNeilage wrote: "The slick and sultry track is a nice extension from the sound of his debut album, and 6LACK and Ty Dolla $ign complement the song perfectly." Devin Ch of HotNewHipHop praised Khalid's songwriting talents, writing that "all performers adhere to the general 'vibe' of the song". Lauren O'Neill of ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

'' described the song as a destined summer track, writing that it "feels most like a head massage you'll hear all week". He complimented Khalid's ability to produce a "relentlessly catchy but also somehow extremely laid back hook".

Music video

The music video for "OTW", directed by

Calmatic Charles Kidd II (born September 25, 1987), known professionally as Calmatic, is an American filmmaker from Los Angeles known for music videos and commercials. He gained widespread fame in 2019 for directing the video for " Old Town Road" by Lil Na ...

, premiered via Khalid's

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

channel on July 3, 2018.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. * Nineteen85 – production * Eazy - vocal engineer * Denis Kosiak – mix engineer, record engineer * Chris Athens – master engineer * Andy Barnes – record engineer * JT Gagarin – record engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Khalid (singer) songs Ty Dolla Sign songs 6lack songs Songs written by Khalid (singer) Songs written by Ty Dolla Sign Songs written by 6lack Song recordings produced by Nineteen85 Songs written by Nineteen85 Songs written by Brian Alexander Morgan RCA Records singles