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Thats What I Want

"Thats What I Want" (stylised in all caps) is a song by American rapper Lil Nas X, released through Columbia Records on September 18, 2021, as the fourth single from his debut studio album Montero (2021). It is a pop rock song with elements of power pop, while the artist is singing about wanting love. It was written by Lil Nas X and the song's producers, Omer Fedi, Blake Slatkin, Ryan Tedder, and KBeaZy.

For the Barrett Strong song of a similar name, see Money (That's What I Want).

"Thats What I Want"

September 18, 2021

2020

2:23

Columbia

  • Omer Fedi
  • Blake Slatkin
  • Ryan Tedder
  • KBeaZy

It received favorable reviews, with critics comparing it to Outkast's work, especially to their 2003 single "Hey Ya!". The song's release was accompanied by a Stillz-directed music video featuring the rapper falling in love with a football player. It contains a cameo from Billy Porter and an homage to the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain. Lil Nas X performed this song for the first time on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. It became a top ten hit in 10 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Composition[edit]

"Thats What I Want" was written by Lil Nas X, and the song's producers: Omer Fedi, Blake Slatkin, Ryan Tedder, and KBeaZy.[1] It is a pop rock[2][3][4] song backed-up by acoustic guitar,[5] "breezy" rhythm,[6] "acoustic strums and hand claps and raindrop-bloopy synth notes."[7] The song was compared by the critics to Outkast's "Hey Ya!" (2003), Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" (2014) and the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber's "Stay" (2021).[6][7][8][9] The track begins with the rapper stating "Need a boy who can cuddle with me all night."[3] The song's chorus is accompanied by "power pop" background choir and it sees Lil Nas X singing that he wants to have a lover.[10] Sheet music for the song gives the key of C-sharp minor with a tempo of 88 beats per minute. Vocals range from the note of B3 and A5. [11]

Release and promotion[edit]

Lil Nas X first previewed the song on TikTok on February 14, 2021.[12] On August 26, 2021, Lil Nas X published another Montero announcement in a form of news, with "Thats What I Want" playing in the background.[4][13] Hours before the album's release, the rapper uploaded a video on his YouTube channel entitled The Montero Show, where he presents his music videos from the least to the most favorite, but when he is about to announce the "Thats What I Want" video his water breaks. Deryck Whibley and Jason McCaslin talks about the Underclass Hero single of the song from the video.[14] With the album's release, the song has been announced as its fourth single.[15] On the same day it received airplay premiere on Australian mainstream radio station The Music Network and British BBC Radio 1.[16][17] It impacted pop radios in Italy and the United States on September 24 and 28 respectively.[18][19] Later it was sent to the US rhythmic contemporary stations on October 5.[20] He debuted this song live on September 22, 2021, for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[21]

Critical reception[edit]

Carl Wilson from Slate stated that "Thats What I Want" is a "fantastic" song and an "anthem of same-sex longing";[7] while Mike Wass of Variety called it "toe-tapper with massive radio appeal".[3] Its chorus has been described as "indelible" by The Guardian's Alexis Petridis,[6] "snappy" by Gil Kaufman of Billboard,[22] and "stirring" in an article published on Entertainment Weekly by Maura Johnston.[10] Calling its beat "infectious", David Smyth of Evening Standard said that Lil Nas X could have made the pronouns ambiguous for "mass appeal", but opposing to that he made the song "[ring] completely true".[8] Writing for Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan assigned to the song adjectives such as "playful", "hopeful", "sweet", and "proud";[23] while New Statesman's Emily Bootle described it as an "innocent, emotive love song".[24] Zoya Raza-Sheikh from Gay Times said it is a "soaring track packed with unapologetic queer heartache that builds the record's momentum".[5] In an article published by Billboard in late September 2021, the song was described as "designed to be a charts favorite" by Stephen Daw, while Jason Lipshutz said that it "functions as a spiritual sequel to 'Montero (Call Me by Your Name)' (2021)".[9]

Commercial performance[edit]

"Thats What I Want" debuted at number 10 on Billboard Hot 100 on the chart issued October 2, 2021, giving Lil Nas X his third top ten debut and fifth top ten hit.[19] It later peaked at number eight on the chart issued April 2, 2022.[25] It charted within the top ten with the album's previous singles "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" and "Industry Baby", giving the rapper his first time where three of his songs were simultaneously within top ten.[26] It also appeared at number 5 on Streaming Songs chart with 24.2 million streams. Additionally, "Thats What I Want" debuted on the Mainstream Top 40 chart at number 34 and reached number one on the chart dated February 19, 2022, becoming Lil Nas X's third consecutive number one single on the chart.[27] The song also went on to become his first multi-week chart topper on the Pop Airplay chart, retaining the top spot for 4 non-consecutive weeks.[28]


It also debuted on Billboard's global charts, at number 4 on the main chart, while logging at number 8 on Excluding US chart with 39.6 million streams from outside the US.[29]


Elsewhere, "Thats What I Want" became highest debut in UK Singles Chart on chart issue September 30, 2021, logging at number 10.[30][31] It was also placed at number 7 on ARIA Singles Chart.[32]