"Wild Thoughts" is a song by American musician DJ Khaled featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna and American singer Bryson Tiller. It was released on June 16, 2017, by We the Best and Epic Records as the third single from Khaled's tenth studio album, Grateful (2017). Canadian singer PartyNextDoor assisted the artists in writing the song, with production handled by Khaled. A mid-tempo pop song, "Wild Thoughts" consists of Latin percussion, acoustic guitar lines and riffs that interpolate the 1999 hit single "Maria Maria" by Santana. Lyrically, the song praises a lover who inspires sexual thoughts.
Commercially, the song reached number one in the United Kingdom, marking Khaled's second and Rihanna's ninth number one. The song also saw chart success in Australia and Canada, where it peaked at number two. The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna's 31st top-ten song, Khaled's third, and Tiller's first.
The music video for the song was directed by Colin Tilley and was shot in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The music video was nominated in three categories at the MTV Video Music Awards for Video of the Year, Best Collaboration and Best Art Direction.
Background and composition
Bryson Tiller and Khaled had first collaborated on the track "Ima Be Alright" for Khaled's ninth studio album Major Key (2016). During Gratefuls recording, Khaled invited Tiller to his house for dinner. During dinner, Khaled played the initial demo of "Wild Thoughts" to Tiller and asked him if he could do something with the song. Tiller returned home and recorded his verse and sent it to Khaled who used it on the final recording. While talking about collaborating with Rihanna for the first time in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Khaled said; "Seven, eight years I've been trying to do this. I always put the kites out there that I wanted to work with her. But at the same time, while I was putting the kites out there, I was always getting the right record ready. You've gotta start with the right energy to see if something comes back that's possible."
"Wild Thoughts" is a mid-tempo pop song with Latin percussion and "slinky acoustic guitar lines." The song heavily samples the guitar riff from Santana's 1999 "Maria Maria", which features the Product G&B. Written in the key of C minor, it has a tempo of 96-100 beats per minute in simple quadruple () time. The song follows a chord progression of Cm–Fm–Cm, and Rihanna's and Tiller's vocals spanning from C4 to G5. Billboard editor Andrew Unterberger noted the "Wild Thoughts" featured the same groove and riff as "Maria Maria" and even featured Wyclef Jean's "murmuring" who supplied the original song's ad-libs. Vanessa Okoth-Obbo of Pitchfork described the track as relying heavily on a "Latin rock aesthetic", with lyrics that hear Rihanna and Tiller croon praise lovers who inspire wild thoughts. Okoth-Obbo described the lyrics as straddling the line between "innuendos and carnal statements", whilst also noting the singers' vocal performances as being restrained and controlled.
Release and reception
On June 9, 2017, Khaled released the album's track listing, which also included "Wild Thoughts". The song's artwork, which features Khaled's son Asahd, was revealed via Rihanna's Instagram account on June 15, 2017. "Wild Thoughts" was released on June 16, 2017, as the album's third single. Grateful was released on June 23, 2017.
Peter A. Berry from XXL wrote; "If all goes according to plan, it should go follow in the footsteps of 'I'm the One' and reach platinum status in the very near future." Janelle Okwode of Vogue said that the song "is an instant contender for song of the summer". Raisa Bruner from Time magazine listed the song on her list of five songs that should be heard. Bruner praised the song calling it an "irresistible, Latin-inflected summer jam with some smooth verses courtesy of the addition of Bryson Tiller." Bruner continued to state that the song was truly Rihanna's "but we all know this is Rihanna's show." In a second and more in-depth review Burner stated: