"Sexual" (also known as "Sensual" in censored versions) is a song by Swedish collective

Neiked Neiked (stylised as NEIKED) is a Swedish artist collective of singers, songwriters and record producers. Victor Rådström and Mikael Rabus founded Neiked, a group that comprises rising artists, producers, writers and vocalists. History Rådstr� ...

featuring vocals from English singer Dyo. It was released for digital download on 26 August 2016 through Neiked Collective,

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

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 ...

Composition

"Sexual" is a high-energy pop track and has been described as having elements of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

Critical reception

Mike Wass of ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' described the song as a "future hit" and claimed that Dyo's vocals sounded like "

Kiiara Kiara Saulters (born May 24, 1995), known professionally as Kiiara, is an American singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Illinois. She is currently signed to Atlantic Records. Her 2015 single "Gold" peaked at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Ho ...

f shetook a handful of happy pills".

Commercial performance

The song was a commercial success in the United Kingdom and Australia. On the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

dated 8 September 2016, the song debuted at number 83. Eight weeks later, on the chart dated 3 November 2016, the song rose to number 6, becoming Neiked's first top ten hit, and Dyo's fifth. On its fifteen-week on the chart, dated 15 December 2016, the song moved to number five, becoming Dyo's fourth top five hit. On the

Australian 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 ...

dated 6 November 2016, "Sexual" debuted at number 33. On the chart dated 21 November 2016, it rose to number four, where it peaked.

Interpolations and remixes

Maroon 5

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

's 2017 single "

What Lovers Do "What Lovers Do" is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American singer SZA. It was released on August 30, 2017, as the third single from the band's sixth studio album '' Red Pill Blues'' (2017). The song contains an interpolation of the 20 ...

" contains interpolations of "Sexual", therefore Victor Rådström,

Elina Stridh Elina may refer to: *Elina (Epirus) an ancient Greek fortified town in the region of Epirus *'' Elina: As If I Wasn't There'', a 2002 Swedish film *Elina, protagonist of the '' Barbie: Fairytopia'' series of animated films * ''Elina'' (butterfly), ...

and Dyo are credited as songwriters.

Oliver Nelson Remix

In response to the Oliver Nelson remix of the song,

Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid p ...

described the song as "killer" and that he predicted it was "soon to be burning up dancefloors worldwide".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Dyo (singer) songs Casablanca Records singles Neiked songs Polydor Records singles Republic Records singles Song recordings produced by Neiked Universal Music Group singles