"Ransom" (stylized as "RAN$OM") is a song by American rapper

Lil Tecca Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe (born August 26, 2002), known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper and singer. He rose to mainstream fame with the release of his 2019 single "Ransom", which peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

, initially released independently on May 22, 2019, then later through Galactic Records and

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. It serves as the second single from his debut mixtape ''

We Love You Tecca ''We Love You Tecca'' is the debut mixtape by American rapper Lil Tecca. It was released on August 30, 2019, through Republic Records. The mixtape contains a sole guest appearance from Juice Wrld. It features Tecca's breakout hit, "Ransom", which ...

''. The song has since come to be regarded as Lil Tecca's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

. The song was produced by

Nick Mira Nicholas Warren Mira (born August 25, 2000) is an American record producer from Richmond, Virginia, who is part of the producer collective Internet Money, a record label he co-founded with fellow producer Taz Taylor. He gained notoriety for dev ...

and Taz Taylor, and debuted at number 93 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 before reaching number 4. Outside the United States, "Ransom" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It was later followed up by a remix with fellow rapper

Juice Wrld Jarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice Wrld (pronounced "juice world"; stylized as Juice WRLD), was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was a leading figure in the emo rap and So ...

in August 2019.

Background

The song was considered the breakthrough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

-based rapper Lil Tecca, who began releasing songs through

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

in 2018.

Critical reception

Sheldon Pearce of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' said Lil Tecca's "bounce in his singsong flows owes a lot to"

AutoTune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

, and his "bittersweet melodies are as indebted to local hero A Boogie wit da Hoodie as they are sourpuss king

". Although finding that the lyrics follow the "traditional rapper playbook practically to the letter, Pearce said "even now he's capable of making the profound seem simple".

Music video

The music video was released on May 22, 2019, and was directed and edited by

Cole Bennett Cole Michael Bennett (born May 14, 1996) is an American business executive, videographer, and music video director. His multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade, started in 2013 as an internet blog while he was in high school. Early life Cole Be ...

. It was shot in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

Remix

On August 14, 2019, Lil Tecca released the remix of the song on his

with

, who has also worked with Nick Mira on other songs, including "

Lucid Dreams A lucid dream is a type of dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming while dreaming. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment; however, this is n ...

". The remix was released on other platforms the following day. The track was mixed by Taz Taylor and Nick Mira. The remix later got added to his debut mixtape ''

'' alongside the original version.

Charts

Original version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Remix

Certifications

References

{{Juice Wrld 2019 singles 2019 songs Lil Tecca songs Music videos directed by Cole Bennett Republic Records singles Song recordings produced by Taz Taylor (record producer) Songs written by Nick Mira Songs written by Taz Taylor (record producer) Songs written by Lil Tecca