"Wolves" 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 ...

, featuring vocals from

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

and

Vic Mensa Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense) ...

, from his seventh studio album '' The Life of Pablo'' (2016). It was produced by West, Cashmere Cat, and

Sinjin Hawke Alan Stanley Soucy Brinsmead, better known by the stage name Sinjin Hawke, is a Canadian-American electronic music producer and DJ. Career In late 2011, Sinjin Hawke released his first EP, "The Lights" on the Belgium-based Pelican Fly label and ...

and was originally planned to be the opening track to ''The Life of Pablo''. West debuted the song on February 12, 2015, at a fashion show where he also premiered his new

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shoe. The presentation was broadcast live to more than 40 locations around the world. "Wolves" became the second confirmed track from the album and originally featured Sia and Vic Mensa. The initial album version introduced a new verse from West and an additional outro from

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

, omitting Sia and Vic Mensa's contributions. However, in March 2016, the album was updated with a new version of the song that reinstated Sia and Vic Mensa's verses. Frank Ocean's outro has been split into a separate track, titled "

Frank's Track "Frank's Track" is a song by American musician Kanye West, which was added to his seventh studio album ''The Life of Pablo'' (2016) when updates were made to it on March 16, 2016. Background A track featuring Frank Ocean, the song originally serv ...

", which appears after "Wolves" on the track list. The song was used in the trailer for the

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crime drama series '' Ozark''. The song received widespread acclaim from music critics.

Composition

"Wolves" was produced by West, Cashmere Cat, and

and originally featured vocals by Australian singer and songwriter

and Chicago rapper

. The song has been described as "melancholic" and "somber" with a slower beat, a minimal arrangement, and a heavily

Auto-Tune 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 ...

d bridge. The "lurching" chorus is performed by Vic Mensa and includes the lyrics, "I'm just bad. Bad for you." Sia performs a "bluesy" rendition of West's words approximately two minutes and three seconds into the song. The original album version featured a rap from West and a moody outro from Frank Ocean, which replaced Vic Mensa and Sia's verses. An alternate version, however, was leaked online including Frank Ocean, Vic Mensa, and Sia. Unlike the album version, Frank Ocean's outro is featured at the start of the song, and West's rap is omitted. In March 2016, over a month after the album's release, West updated the album's Tidal track list with a reworked version of "Wolves", which includes the previously removed vocals from Vic Mensa and Sia. The outro sung by

was split into a separate track called "

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was released on July 29, 2016 as part of a Balmain advert campaign. It resonates with the emotional feel of the song as it features West and his wife Kim Kardashian in tears. The video also features Alessandra Ambrosio, Joan Smalls,

Jourdan Dunn Jourdan Sherise Dunn (born 3 August 1990) is a British model. She was discovered in Hammersmith Primark in 2006 and signed to The Squad Management in London. She began appearing on international runways in early 2007. In February 2008, she was t ...

Josephine Skriver Josephine Skriver-Karlsen (born 14 April 1993) is a Danish model, known for her work with Victoria's Secret. Early life Skriver was born and raised Copenhagen, Denmark. Her mother is an IT analyst and her father is a marine biologist. Her mothe ...

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of ...

, and

. The video is black-and-white and sees West and his wife wearing the same outfits designed for their appearance at 2015's Met Gala.

Critical reception

"Wolves" received widespread acclaim from music critics. Brittany Spanos of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' said the song was reminiscent of West's work on his fourth studio album '' 808s & Heartbreak'' (2008). The song was branded by Nosheen Iqbal of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as having 'brutal Yeezus-ish minimalism'. Spencer Kornhaber of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' viewed the song as being 'gorgeous and beguiling'. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

s Christopher Hooton wrote of the song: 'This is such a beautiful song and the off-kilter drums in the background throw it off balance in a good way.'

Commercial performance

"Wolves" debuted at number 1 on the US ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

upon the release of ''The Life of Pablo''. Within the same week, it debuted at number 39 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. The song also charted 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 ...

upon the album's release, reaching number 88.

Live performances

West was one of several musical guests for the '' Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special'', which aired on NBC in February 2015. He performed " Jesus Walks" and "

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", then Sia and Mensa joined him for the live debut of "Wolves". Due to the "claustrophobic, starkly black-and-white" set, all three vocalists crawled and crouched throughout the song due to their limited mobility, and Sia wore a large white bob wig.

Credits and personnel

Credits reflect the updated March 2016 version; adapted from Tidal. *Producers –

, Sinjin Hawke, Cashmere Cat, Mike Dean, Noah Goldstein *Co-producers – Noah Goldstein, Mike Dean *Composers and lyricists – Magnus Høiberg, Victor Mensah, Ryan McDermott,

Freddy Wexler Freddy Wexler is an American songwriter, producer and creator. He has written songs for artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Post Malone, BlackPink, Selena Gomez, Lil Wayne, Halsey, Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Pink, Kanye West, Push ...

, Malik Yusef, Lincoln Minutt, Mike Dean, Alan Brinsmead, Noah Goldstein, Elon Rutberg, Lincoln "Sugar" Minst, Kanye West, Sia Furler, Christopher Breaux *Additional procurers – Plain Pat, Boi-1da *Recording engineer – Noah Goldstein, Matt Larson, Mike Dean *Assistant recording engineer – Jordan Heskett *Mixer – Manny Marroquin

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Sia singles 2015 songs 2016 songs Black-and-white music videos Frank Ocean songs Kanye West songs Vic Mensa songs Music videos directed by Steven Klein (artist) Sia (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Cashmere Cat Song recordings produced by Kanye West Song recordings produced by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Cashmere Cat Songs written by Cyhi the Prynce Songs written by Frank Ocean Songs written by Kanye West Songs written by Kirby Lauryen Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Plain Pat Songs written by Sia (musician)