4x4 (song)

"4x4" is a song by American rapper and singer Travis Scott. It was released as a single through Cactus Jack and Epic Records on January 24, 2025. He wrote the song with Douglas "Dougie F" Ford, producers Tay Keith and FnZ (Finatik and Zac), with additional writing credits going to Honorable C.N.O.T.E., as the song samples the 2016 Tennessee State University marching band playing an instrumental version of the song "Say Sum" by Migos. Mike Dean mixed and mastered it with Thomas "Tommy Rush" Mikailin providing assistance in the mixing.[1]

Background and promotion

The song was first played through the speakers during Scott's performance at a nightclub called the Joy Room in Mexico City on September 22, 2024.[2] The song was further teased on October 18 on an episode of WWE SmackDown when WWE Superstar Roman Reigns had a file of the song in advance.[3] Scott performed it live for the first time during the final show of his Circus Maximus Tour at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on October 30. He then performed a shortened version of it during his headlining performance at the Rolling Loud music festival on December 14. On January 6, 2025, Scott appeared in-person at WWE Raw's premiere on Netflix, in which the song's title was revealed and it was confirmed to serve as the program's opening theme.[4] He performed the song at the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship during the halftime show on January 20.[5] On the same day, he shared a link to pre-save the song and restocked new merchandise on his website, in which all the proceeds would support people who were affected by the 2025 California wildfires.[6]

Music video

A music video directed by Gabriel Moses was released during the song's release and was posted on Travis Scott's YouTube channel. It was filmed in Houston, Travis Scott's hometown, and some sequences were made with black-and-white imagery. The music video starts with an alternate version of Columbia Pictures' logo, which represents Scott and the words "CACTUS" are displayed there. He later shows his middle finger before the song's start. During the video's first sequence, a group of men running in a highway is shown with a vintage 4x4 car. When the song starts, Scott, wearing a Houston Astros cap and drinking a bottle of water, is later accompanied by footages of a horn section and drives the car with the running men behind him. A girl later opens a door and dances to the song with her phone, followed by the horn section performing in a football field surrounded by female dancers. Scott later dances with a dog at a corridor with the Texan flag shown in the background. The following sequence shows a cowboy keeping up his cow and training it, two girls battling in a car crash, a boy standing in a helicopter while dressed as a superhero, and Scott performing with the horn section behind him at the grandstand. Scott is later shown with wrestling belts while watching a wrestling game to represent his engagement with the WWE. He later drinks a can and is joined to the game attacking the others. After that, Scott is seen keeping up cows at a stable. The video's last sequences shows real-life images of a herd of police cars in a highway, attacking the 4x4 car driven by Scott, as well as a black-and-white sequence of the superhero boy standing in the dark and previous sequences of the video. Towards the end, a monkey depicted as a commentator is seen while listening to the song.

Commercial performance

"4x4" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 dated February 8, 2025 (with 16.2 million streams, 2.9 million airplay audience, and 167,000 sold), giving Scott his fifth number-one single in the country.[7] The following week, it registered the biggest drop from number one by plummeting down to number 57, surpassing Jimin's "Like Crazy" (which had descended to 45).[8] The song spent four total weeks on the chart, tying 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj's "Trollz" as the second-fastest number-one song to depart from the chart.

Charts

Chart performance for "4x4"
Chart (2025) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[9] 53
Australia Hip Hop/R&B (ARIA)[10] 8
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[11] 12
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12] 24
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[13] 30
France (SNEP)[14] 75
Germany (GfK)[15] 20
Global 200 (Billboard)[16] 18
Greece International (IFPI)[17] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[18] 47
Italy (FIMI)[19] 54
Latvia (LaIPA)[20] 7
Lithuania (AGATA)[21] 40
Luxembourg (Billboard)[22] 14
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] 65
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[24] 30
Nigeria (TurnTable Top 100)[25] 74
Norway (VG-lista)[26] 35
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[27] 15
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[28] 18
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 97
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 10
UK Singles (OCC)[31] 23
UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC)[32] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[33] 1
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[34] 1
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[35] 10

References

  1. ^ Richardson, Kalea (January 21, 2025). "Travis Scott Debuts New Single '4x4' at College Football National Championship Game". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  2. ^ @RodeoTheAlbum (September 23, 2024). "Travis Scott bout to drop album of the year" (Tweet). Retrieved January 21, 2025 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Saponara, Michael (November 18, 2024). "Travis Scott Pens New Theme Song for WWE's 'RAW' & Will Appear at 2025 Debut". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  4. ^ Saponara, Michael (January 7, 2025). "Travis Scott Escorts WWE's Jey Uso to Ring With Apparent Joint In Hand: Watch". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  5. ^ Price, Joe (January 21, 2025). "Travis Scott Debuts New Song "4x4" at College Football Playoff National Championship Halftime Show". Complex. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  6. ^ Lynch, Jessica (January 21, 2025). "Travis Scott Debuts '4×4' Live, Merch Proceeds to Support Wildfire Response". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  7. ^ Trust, Gary (February 3, 2025). "Travis Scott's '4X4' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 - Week of February 15, 2025". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 11, 2025.
  9. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3 February 2025". The ARIA Report. No. 1822. Australian Recording Industry Association. February 3, 2025. p. 4.
  10. ^ "ARIA Top 40 Hip Hop/R&B Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. February 3, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  11. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  12. ^ "Travis Scott Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  13. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 5. týden 2025 in the date selector. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  14. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4" (in French). Le classement de singles. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  15. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  16. ^ "Travis Scott Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  17. ^ "Official IFPI Charts − Digital Singles Chart (International) − Εβδομάδα: 05/2025" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  18. ^ "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  19. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4". Top Digital Download. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  20. ^ "Latvijas mūzikas topa 2025. gada piektajā nedēļā dominē divi izteikti līderi" [Two clear leaders dominate the fifth week of the Latvian Music Chart 2025] (in Latvian). TV Net [lv]. February 4, 2025. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  21. ^ "2025 5-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. January 31, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  22. ^ "Travis Scott Chart History (Luxembourg Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  23. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  24. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  25. ^ "TurnTable Nigeria Top 100: February 7th, 2025 – February 13th, 2025". TurnTable. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  26. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4". VG-lista. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  27. ^ "OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży – single w streamie" (Select week 24.01.2025–30.01.2025.) (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  28. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 5. týden 2025 in the date selector. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  29. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4". Singles Top 100. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  30. ^ "Travis Scott – 4x4". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  31. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  32. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  33. ^ "Travis Scott Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  34. ^ "Travis Scott Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  35. ^ "Travis Scott Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2025.