Drowning (A Boogie wit da Hoodie song)

"Drowning"
Single by A Boogie wit da Hoodie featuring Kodak Black
from the album The Bigger Artist
ReleasedMarch 9, 2017
Recorded2017
GenreTrap
Length3:29
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Sweet
  • Quasi
A Boogie wit da Hoodie singles chronology
"My Shit"
(2016) 		"Drowning"
(2017) 		"Horses"
(2017)
Kodak Black singles chronology
"Tunnel Vision"
(2017) 		"Drowning"
(2017) 		"Horses"
(2017)
Music video
"Drowning" on YouTube

"Drowning" (also known as "Drowning (Water)" or simply "Water") is a song by American rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie featuring fellow American rapper Kodak Black, released on March 10, 2017, by Highbridge and Atlantic Records as the lead single from A Boogie's debut studio album, The Bigger Artist (2017)[1][2] Written alongside producers Jahaan Sweet and Quasi, it peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.[3]

Commercial performance

Drowning debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the week of April 22, 2017 and has peaked at number 38 on the chart.[3] The song spent 21 weeks on the charts before it dropped out on the week of September 16, 2017. It was A Boogie's highest-charting single and first top 40 single and Kodak Black's second Top 40 single. On July 27, 2017, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over a million units in the United States. As of June 2024, Drowning is certified Diamond by RIAA.

Music video

The song's accompanying music video premiered on October 4, 2017, on A Boogie's YouTube account. The music video currently has 80 million views as of March 2023, while the audio video has 190 million views.

In the start of the video, a muffled audio clip of a news report is heard as the melodic piano arrangement of the song begins. A grand piano and a chain that reads "A Boogie" floats in the ocean before the rapper appears onscreen to deliver the chorus. He sings underwater as all his possessions, from his watch to stacks of money swim around him. Boogie is later accompanied underwater by two mermaids before footage of the actual heist gets spliced in the middle of the visual. Kodak Black's verse is replaced by a clip of A Boogie and his counterpart preparing for their robbery. As the robbery takes place, A Boogie's song "If I Gotta Go" plays in the background. The clip cuts to footage of the high-speed chase and then returns to A Boogie wit da Hoodie's underwater performance.[4][5]

Sequel

On December 6, 2022, A Boogie and Kodak would release "Water (Drowning Pt. 2)" on A Boogie's fourth studio album, Me vs. Myself. It was released on A Boogie's 27th birthday. It would go on to peak at 97 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[11] Gold 15,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[12] 8× Platinum 640,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[13] Gold 5,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[15] Diamond 10,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "My S**t - Single". iTunes.
  2. ^ "Drowning". Billboard.
  3. ^ a b c "A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  4. ^ "Watch A Boogie shine underwater in his "Drowning" video". The Fader. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Raps Underwater in 'Drowning' Video". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  6. ^ "A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  7. ^ "A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  8. ^ "A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  10. ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  11. ^ "Austrian single certifications – A Boogie wit da Hoodie ft. Kodak Black – Drowning" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  12. ^ "Canadian single certifications – A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Drowning". Music Canada. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "Portuguese single certifications – A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Drowning" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  14. ^ "British single certifications – A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Drowning". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  15. ^ "American single certifications – A Boogie wit da Hoodie – Drowning (feat. Kodak Black)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 25, 2024.