"Mo Bamba" is a song by American rapper
Sheck Wes. A
sleeper hit that achieved mainstream success despite limited promotion, it was produced by
Take a Daytrip and 16yrold. The song was independently released on music streaming site
SoundCloud by 16yrold in 2017, and became a word of mouth sensation without record label or radio support, reaching number six on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart.[1]
The song later served as a single from Wes' debut studio album, Mudboy. It remains his most popular and successful song.[2][3]
Producers 16yrold and Take a Daytrip consisting of Denzel Baptise and David Biral, who had met online, collaborated on the track's beat and composition.[1] 16yrold invited Wes to record in the studio with them.[5] Wes recorded the majority of the song in one take,[1][6] with additional ad-libs recorded afterwards.[6]
Baptise of Take a Daytrip looped the beat as Wes recorded his vocals. The beat cutting off at the 1:38 minute mark of the song was the result of the laptop used to record Wes’ vocals freezing. This caused concern among the producers who feared that the song would be ruined because the entire song up until that point had been recorded in one take without any issues. At the 1:40 minute mark of the song, someone can be heard in the background saying "whoa".[5] Wes shouting out, "Oh! Fuck! Shit! Bitch!", was his actual reaction to the beat freezing by accident. Shortly after, the beat unfroze as Wes proceeded to record a new verse on the spot.[5][6]
Music video
The song's music video was released on January 30, 2018, via
YouTube and was directed by White Trash Tyler, Nick Walker and Wes himself. It is a music video in
black and white and finds Wes on a basketball court.[7]
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 20193 into search. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
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ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201848 into search. Retrieved December 4, 2018.