For the Night

"For the Night" is a song by American rapper Pop Smoke, featuring vocals from fellow American rappers Lil Baby and DaBaby. It was released as the third single from Smoke's posthumous debut studio album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. The track was originally set to feature YoungBoy Never Broke Again, however Pop Smoke's team felt "the timing wasn't right". It is Pop Smoke's highest-charting song, debuting and peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

"For the Night"
Single by Pop Smoke featuring Lil Baby and DaBaby
from the album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
ReleasedOctober 3, 2020
Length3:10
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Pop Smoke singles chronology
"Mood Swings"
(2020)		 "For the Night"
(2020)		 "What You Know Bout Love"
(2020)
Lil Baby singles chronology
"Why Do You Lie to Me"
(2020)		 "For the Night"
(2020)		 "Pardon"
(2020)
DaBaby singles chronology
"Levitating"
(2020)		 "For the Night"
(2020)		 "Nah Nah Nah (Remix)"
(2020)
Audio video
"For the Night" on YouTube

Background and composition

According to CashMoneyAP, Pop Smoke found the song's original beat on Danish record producer Palaze's YouTube channel. CashMoneyAP commented that they got help to rework the song with Palaze, Daniel Mxras, Jess Jackson, and Mike Dean. CashMoneyAP added keys and bass while he got help from Palaze with the drums. Steven Victor stated when Pop Smoke recorded his part of the song, they were all very excited as it was their first time hearing Pop Smoke rap in a different tone. Victor later recalled that they were in the Bahamas working on the album when Pop Smoke played the song out of nowhere. Victor lauded the song and said they need to add Lil Baby to it. Victor said it was originally supposed to feature Lil Baby and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. CashMoneyAP had been communicating with YoungBoy Never Broke Again before the song's creation and thought the song was his type of music. YoungBoy Never Broke Again wanted to be on it, but CashMoneyAP later changed his mind because he felt the timing wasn't right.[1]

Victor thought having Lil Baby on "For the Night" would be "creatively" and "sonically" good. Pop Smoke had always wanted to work with Lil Baby and have him on his album. When Lil Baby sent his vocals to Victor, the record executive thought the song was even more complete.[1] After 50 Cent joined Victor on completing Pop Smoke's album, he called DaBaby to be part of the song. DaBaby initially didn't know that Lil Baby would also be part of the track. DaBaby mentioned that it was a pleasure to be part of the song, saying it was special to work on it after Pop Smoke was murdered at the age of 20.[2] Jess Jackson had to figure out how to combine Lil Baby's timbre work with DaBaby on "For the Night". He opined that Lil Baby and DaBaby had "such bright, mid-forward, nasally vocal voices", while Pop Smoke was completely the opposite. Jess Jackson had Mike Dean had mixed and added additional production and for the track. The song originally had an original sample, but it wasn't clearable. The two producers recreated all of the music from scratch while keeping CashMoneyAP's drums.[1]

Musically, "For the Night" is a hip hop, drill, trap, soul song.[3][4][5] The song incorporates an acoustic guitar, folk flutes, heavily autotuned vocals, and processed moans from Lil Baby and DaBaby.[6][7][8] Wongo Okon of Uproxx wrote that the Pop Smoke, DaBaby, and Lil Baby "fantasize about nighttime occurrences".[9] Hannah Giorgis of The Atlantic commented that Lil Baby and DaBaby add arioso and vigor to the song.[10] Jade Gomez of Paste and Heran Mamo of Billboard magazine noted that DaBaby pays tribute to Pop Smoke in his verse: "Rest in peace to the Pop, make me smoke ya."[11][12] August Brown of the Los Angeles Times regarded DaBaby's verse as an elegy for Pop Smoke.[13] Briana Younger of NPR said DaBaby eulogizes Pop Smoke "explicitly", and noted the song's "syrupy" hook stands out from Pop's usual fare.[14]

Critical reception

Variety's A.D. Amorosi complimented Pop Smoke's ability to step outside his conventional style, writing: "[The song makes] you realize Pop Smoke had the potential for languorous, even sweet, song-craft beyond drill".[7] The staff of the Independent Tribune described the song as a "monster hit that also featured other acts leading the new class of rap".[5] Giorgos opined that the song evokes the "recklessness of a summer party or the languid flirtation of stoop-side conversations",[10] while Okon labeled the track as "sinister".[9] In his review for Pitchfork, Alphonse Pierre regarded it as a "forced Rap Caviar-bound marathon".[15] The Independent critic Roisin O'Connor stated that the song's autotuned vocals and folk flutes seemed "passé ahead of Pop Smoke's gruff".[6] The Los Angeles Times ranked "For the Night" as one of the best song's of 2020, with August Brown saying it was a "convincingly dragged-out, haunting angle on his craft at the precipice of global stardom".[16]

Ashton Howard of Earmilk declared the rappers delivered a "phenomenally charismatic appearance".[17] In their review for HipHopDX, David Aaron deemed the song a "social media-ready smash".[18] The staff of Billboard magazine explained the song helped Pop Smoke prove his versatility, arguing that "he held court between the twin hurricanes that are all-stars Lil Baby and DaBaby, each of whom delivers succinct displays of just what make them such singular characters in the current hip-hop scene".[19] Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Mark Richardson noted the song was "warmer" and "more welcoming" than Pop Smoke's earlier songs.[8] In a less enthusiastic review, Charles Lyons-Burt of Slant Magazine saw it didn't "adept at complex wordplay", but praised DaBaby's vocals as "tough-talking" and a "chest-puffing brio".[20]

Release and commercial performance

"For the Night" was released on Pop Smoke's posthumous debut studio album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, as the seccond track on July 3, 2020.[21] The song was later released as the album's fourth single on October 3, 2020, by Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records.[22]

Following the release of Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, "For the Night" debuted and peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[23] giving Pop Smoke his first, Dababy his fourth, and Lil Baby his fifth top 10 hit in the US.[12][24][25][26] The song simultaneously peaked at number four on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number one on the US Rhythmic charts, becoming Pop Smoke's first song to top the Rhythmic chart and any Billboard chart altogether.[27] "For the Night" remained atop the Rhythmic chart five nonconsecutive weeks, making it Pop Smoke's longest reign at number one.[28] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the single a platinum certification, which denotes a million units based on sales and track-equivalent on-demand streams.[29]

Track listings
  • For The Night - EP[30]
  1. "For the Night" (featuring Lil Baby and DaBaby) - 3:12
  2. "Hello" (featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie) - 3:11
  3. "The Woo" (featuring 50 Cent and Roddy Ricch) - 3:22
  4. "Got It on Me" - 2:45
  5. "Creature" (featuring Swae Lee) - 3:23
  6. "Aim for the Moon" (featuring Quavo) - 2:56

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[31]

  • Pop Smoke – lead artist, songwriting
  • Lil Baby – featured artist, songwriting
  • DaBaby – featured artist, songwriting
  • CashMoneyAP – songwriting, production, programming
  • Palaze – songwriting, production, programming
  • Jess Jackson – additional production, mixing
  • Mike Dean – additional production
  • Daniel Moras – songwriting, additional production, programming
  • Wylo – songwriting, additional production
  • Corey "Cutz" Nutile – recording
  • Sage Skofield – mixing assistant
  • Sean Solymar – mixing assistant
  • Rose Adams – mixing assistant
  • Thomas "Tillie" Mann – vocal mixing
  • Princeton "Perfect Harmony" Terry – engineer
  • Stephen "DotCom" Farrow – engineer

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[69] Platinum 70,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[70] Gold 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[71] Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA)[29] Platinum 1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
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