"Wicked Games" is the debut single by Canadian singer
the Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...
. It was recorded at Site Sound Studios and
mixed at Liberty Studios in Toronto.
Producers
Doc McKinney
Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. McKinney is a Grammy-award-winning producer. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. His work with fellow Toronto artist The ...
and
Illangelo
Carlo Montagnese (born July 29, 1987), known professionally as Illangelo, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, musician and mixing engineer from Calgary, Alberta, who came to attention as long-time collaborator of the Weeknd. A Grammy Aw ...
co-wrote the song and performed all instrumentation.
Originally recorded for The Weeknd's 2011 mixtape ''
House of Balloons
''House of Balloons'' is the debut mixtape by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on March 21, 2011, by the artist's own record label XO. The mixtape was released for free on the Weeknd's website and was the subject of increased media d ...
'', the song was
remastered and released as the
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
for his 2012 compilation album ''
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
''. It was released as a
digital single
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
on October 22, 2012, by
XO and
Republic Records.
Upon release, the single received widespread acclaim from music critics. On May 9, 2013, "Wicked Games" was certified
double platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 2,000,000 units in the United States.
The song was featured on the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
for the movie ''
Southpaw'', the soundtrack's executive producer being American rapper
Eminem who went on to produce a remix with The Weeknd on his later song "
The Hills".
Music video
The music video for "Wicked Games" premiered on October 18, 2012, on the Weeknd's YouTube account on
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, ...
. The video starts off with a woman dancing in a coat with no clothes underneath, before the camera pans to the singer, who is shown singing expressively. Since its release, the music video has received over 200 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
.
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes for ''
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
''.
*
The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...
– composer, primary artist
*
Doc McKinney
Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. McKinney is a Grammy-award-winning producer. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. His work with fellow Toronto artist The ...
– composer, instrumentation, producer
*
Illangelo
Carlo Montagnese (born July 29, 1987), known professionally as Illangelo, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, musician and mixing engineer from Calgary, Alberta, who came to attention as long-time collaborator of the Weeknd. A Grammy Aw ...
– composer, instrumentation, mixing, producer
* Rainer Millar Blanchaer – composer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
In other media
An orchestral cover version of the song was used in
Westworld season 3 episode "
The Mother of Exiles" arranged and composed by
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2011 songs
2012 debut singles
The Weeknd songs
Songs written by the Weeknd
Songs written by Illangelo
Songs written by Doc McKinney
Song recordings produced by Illangelo
Republic Records singles
XO (record label) singles
Black-and-white music videos
Songs about drugs
Quiet storm songs