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Walk on Water (Eminem song)

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"Walk on Water"
Single by Eminem featuring Beyoncé
from the album Revival
ReleasedNovember 10, 2017 (2017-11-10)
Studio
Genre
Length5:03
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eminem singles chronology
"Kings Never Die"
(2015) 		"Walk on Water"
(2017) 		"River"
(2017)
Beyoncé singles chronology
"Mi Gente (Remix)"
(2017) 		"Walk on Water"
(2017) 		""Perfect Duet" version"
(2017)
Music video
"Walk on Water" on YouTube
"Walk on Water"
A 33-second sample of "Walk on Water".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Walk on Water" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring vocals by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on November 10, 2017, as the lead single from Eminem's ninth studio album Revival. The song was written by the artists alongside Skylar Grey, who produced it with Rick Rubin. It has reached the top 10 in Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom, as well as the top 20 in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Lebanon, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States. The music video received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards.

Production

[edit]
A woman stands with a microphone
Beyoncé served as the vocalist for the song.

The song started as a hook written by Skylar Grey, who also co-wrote Eminem's 2010 hit single "Love the Way You Lie".[2] Eminem came across the hook when he was working with Rick Rubin and became enamoured of the lyrics.[2] Previously Eminem and Rubin had been discussing the phenomenon of mumble rap, specifically Eminem's frustration with its mainstream popularity, and the hook served as a vehicle for him to vent them.[2] Rubin subsequently played the song for Jay-Z, who was then able to get his wife, Beyoncé, to sing the chorus.[2] Eminem said on the Malcolm Gladwell Broken Record Podcast that the verses were written in Glasgow, Scotland while on tour in 2017.[3] Upon the release of the single, Grey tweeted, "This is the song I've been trying to write since age 6. Every time I wrote a song I hoped it would be this good. I am truly proud of everything I've created, but this is the one."[4]

Critical reception

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"Walk on Water" received negative reviews from general public and critics.[5] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork described the song as a "joyless trudge of a power ballad that pairs a softly crooned hook with fuming, escalating verses of rage-spittle."[6] Vulture's reviewer Frank Guan said that it "isn't a great song".[7]

Release and promotion

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On November 8, 2017, Eminem tweeted a picture of a doctor's prescription note with the words "'Walk on Water', take as needed" written on it.[8] This has caused speculation that the first single will be titled "Walk on Water".[9] The fake doctor's note was labeled with the logo for Revival. On November 9, Paul Rosenberg shared a video on Instagram that showcased Trevor the spokesperson for the Revival campaign stating that "you will be able to Walk on Water with Revival at noon EST", confirming the song. An audio and a lyric video was uploaded to Eminem's YouTube channel. As of December 25, 2017, the video has over 50 million views and 1 million likes.

Music video

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On December 23, 2017, the music video for the song was released exclusively on Apple Music and Eminem's official Vevo channel. It was directed by American director Richard "Rich" Lee, who previously directed Eminem's videos for "Not Afraid", "Rap God", "The Monster" and "Phenomenal". Beyoncé does not appear in the video. As of April 8, 2022, the video has over 75 million views and 1.2 million likes.

The video starts with a beam of light that turns out to be a special on a microphone. Eminem is sitting next to it lamenting when he finally decides to come up to the mic. The lights slowly come up to reveal an auditorium during the second chorus. Many clones of Eminem are seen typing gibberish into a typewriter. There is then a montage of set pieces being placed on stage to resemble concerts he has performed. During the third chorus, there is a time lapse of fans in the auditorium seats. The fans leave during the third verse when Eminem glitches between different personas and it starts to snow. Eminem is seen in a barren wasteland of ice. He finds a huge statue covered, then, with deliberation, pulls it off. Back to the typewriter room, Eminem starts to write the lyrics to "Stan" and then pulls it out of the typewriter and delivers the closing line, "Bitch, I wrote 'Stan'".[10]

The video received a nomination at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Visual Effects.[11]

Live performances

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The song was first performed by Eminem at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 12 with co-producer and writer Skylar Grey on vocals.[12] Both also performed the song on Saturday Night Live on November 18, along with his previous songs "Stan" and "Love the Way You Lie".[13]

Commercial performance

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In the United States, "Walk on Water" debuted and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 57th entry for both artists on the chart. As a result, they tied with Madonna and The Rolling Stones for the 19th highest number of overall songs to enter the chart. It also arrived at number 2 on the Digital Songs chart with 64,000 downloads and the Streaming Songs chart at number 15 with 18.3 million streams.[14][15]

The song opened the UK Singles Chart at number seven, becoming Eminem's 28th entry to reach the nation's top 10 and Beyoncé's 35th.[16] Upon entering at number 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart, it became the rapper's thirteenth song as a lead artist to reach the top 10 in Australia and first since "The Monster" in 2013, and Beyoncé's 22nd, the first since 2011's Run the World (Girls)".[17] Elsewhere, the song debuted at number eight on the Irish Singles Chart,[18] number nine in Sweden,[19] and number four in Scotland.[20]

Awards and nominations

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Year Ceremony Award Result
2018 MTV Video Music Awards Best Visual Effects Nominated

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from Revival album liner notes.[21]

Recording and management

Personnel

  • Eminem – vocals, songwriter
  • Beyoncé – vocals, songwriter
  • Skylar Grey – songwriter, co-producer, piano
  • Rick Rubin – producer, turntables
  • Mike Strange – recording engineer
  • Joe Strange – recording engineer
  • Jason Lader – recording engineer, bass, drum programmer, moog, synthesizer, string arranger
  • Stuart White – recording engineer
  • Rob Bisel – assistant engineer, digital editor
  • Johnnie Burik – assistant engineer, digital editor
  • Tony Campana – assistant engineer
  • The Section Quartet – strings
  • Manny Marroquin – mixer
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering engineer
  • Jesse DeFlorio – photography

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Walk on Water"
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[22] 10
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[23] 13
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 32
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[25] 49
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[26] 22
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[27] 95
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[28] 27
Denmark (Tracklisten)[29] 24
France (SNEP)[30] 73
Germany (GfK)[31] 16
Hungary (Single Top 40)[32] 19
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[33] 20
Ireland (IRMA)[18] 8
Israel (Media Forest TV Airplay)[34] 1
Italy (FIMI)[35] 22
Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20)[36] 13
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[37] 24
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] 22
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 18
Norway (VG-lista)[40] 16
Philippines (Philippine Hot 100)[41] 84
Portugal (AFP)[42] 24
Scotland (OCC)[20] 4
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[43] 19
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[45] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 14
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[46] 6
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[47] 23

Certifications

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Certifications for "Walk On Water"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[48] Platinum 70,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[49] Gold 20,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[50] Platinum 80,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[51] Gold 25,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[52] Gold 20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[54] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Release dates for "Walk on Water"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various November 10, 2017 Digital download
[55]
United States November 14, 2017 Rhythmic contemporary radio [56]
Contemporary hit radio [57]
Italy November 17, 2017 Universal [58]
United Kingdom Polydor [59]

References

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  1. ^ Trust, Gary (November 20, 2017). "Post Malone's 'Rockstar' Tops Hot 100, Camila Cabello's 'Havana' Is Top Seller & Imagine Dragons Rule Radio". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Gladwell, Malcolm. "Broken Record". Art19 (Podcast). Art19. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  3. ^ "Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell Launch New Podcast: Listen to First Episode With Eminem". Pitchfork. November 10, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  4. ^ @SkylarGrey (November 10, 2017). ""This is the song I've been trying to write since age 6.Every time I wrote a song I hoped it would be this good. I am truly proud of everything I've created, but this is the one."" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "The 13 Best Twitter Reactions to Eminem & Beyoncé's 'Walk on Water'". Billboard. November 10, 2017.
  6. ^ ""Walk on Water" [ft. Beyoncé] by Eminem Review". Pitchfork. November 10, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  7. ^ "Eminem Sounds Uncommonly Quiet on 'Walk on Water'". November 10, 2017.
  8. ^ Mathers, Marshall (November 8, 2017). "pic.twitter.com/VXgVGHK5TN". @Eminem. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  9. ^ "Eminem Teases Possible New Single Called 'Walk On Water'". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  10. ^ EminemVEVO (December 23, 2017), Eminem - Walk On Water (Official Video) ft. Beyoncé, retrieved December 23, 2017
  11. ^ "Cardi B to Open the 2018 MTV VMAs". Billboard. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "eminem is performing a new song at the 2017 ema". mtvema. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  13. ^ "5 Things We Want to See from Eminem on 'Saturday Night Live'". Billboard. November 18, 2017.
  14. ^ Trust, Gary (November 20, 2017). "Post Malone's 'Rockstar' Tops Hot 100, Camila Cabello's 'Havana' Is Top Seller & Imagine Dragons Rule Radio". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  15. ^ a b "Eminem Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  16. ^ Myers, Justin (November 17, 2017). "Camila Cabello sees off Rita Ora to land third week at Number 1 with Havana". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  17. ^ "Camila Cabello's Havana hits #1". Australian Recording Industry Association. November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  18. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Eminem". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  20. ^ a b "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  21. ^ Revival (Media notes). Eminem. Aftermath Entertainment / Shady Records / Interscope Records. 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  23. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  24. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  25. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  26. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  27. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 52. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  28. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 46. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  29. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Tracklisten. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  30. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  31. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  32. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  33. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  34. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé - Walk on Water Media Forest". Mediaforest.biz. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  35. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Top Digital Download. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  36. ^ "Eminem – Lebanese Chart Top 20 History". The Official Lebanese Top 20. December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  37. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 48, 2017" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  38. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  39. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  40. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". VG-lista. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  41. ^ "BillboardPH Hot 100". Billboard Philippines. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  42. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  43. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 46. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  44. ^ "Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  45. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  46. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  47. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  48. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  49. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Eminem – Walk on water" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  50. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Eminem Ft Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Music Canada. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  51. ^ "Italian single certifications – Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved October 1, 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Walk on Water" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  52. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 51, 2017 | Sverigetopplistan" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  53. ^ "British single certifications – Eminem Ft Beyoncé – Walk on Water". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  54. ^ "American single certifications – Eminem feat. Beyoncé – Walk on Water". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  55. ^ "Walk on Water (feat. Beyoncé) - Single by Eminem". iTunes. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  56. ^ "Top 40/R Future Releases". All Access. All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  57. ^ "Top 40/M Future Releases". All Access. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  58. ^ "Eminem - Walk on Water (feat. Beyoncé) RadioDate". Radiodate.it. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  59. ^ "BBC – Radio 1 – Playlist". BBC Radio 1. November 17, 2017. Archived from the original on November 20, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
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