I Had Some Help

"I Had Some Help" is a song by American rapper and singer Post Malone featuring American country music singer Morgan Wallen. It was released through Republic and Mercury Records as the lead single from Malone's upcoming sixth studio album, F-1 Trillion, on May 10, 2024. Malone and Wallen wrote the song with producers Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome, and Hoskins, alongside Ernest, Ashley Gorley, and Chandler Paul Walters.

Commercially, "I Had Some Help" debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 with the highest weekly sales and streams since 2020, giving Malone his sixth number-one song and Wallen his second. It has now become the longest running number-one song of 2024, holding its position for six nonconsecutive weeks. It made history by debuting at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, and maintaining the top spot on each for its first five weeks, a feat never achieved before. The song also debuted at number one on the 2024 Billboard's Annual Songs of the Summer chart and concurrently tops the chart for a sixth week. Additionally, it debuted atop the Billboard Global 200 chart and peaked at number one on charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and Norway.

"I Had Some Help" has topped both the US Country Airplay and all-format US Radio Songs charts, making it the sixth song to achieve this milestone and the fastest to do so.

Release and promotion
On March 20, 2024, Malone previewed a snippet of the song through social media after a different snippet of a previous version leaked earlier, which had a problem with the mixing. On May 2, 2024, the two artists took to social media to announce the title of the song and its release date.

Composition
The song is written in the key of A minor, with a tempo of 128 beats per minute, the main chord progression is Dm–C–Am–G.

Music video
On May 10, 2024, Malone and Wallen released the official music video, which was filmed in Joshua Tree, California and directed by Chris Villa, with both artists playing leading roles.

Commercial performance
"I Had Some Help" earned 167 first-week adds at country radio, making it only the second song in history to clear the panel in its first week after Garth Brooks in 1997 with "Longneck Bottle". It also broke Spotify's single-day country streaming record with nearly 14 million streams, debuted at No. 1 on the streaming platform's Global Daily chart and became its top male collaboration debut of all time, in addition to topping Apple Music's Global chart and Pandora's Top Thumb Hundred chart, upon release.

In the United States, "I Had Some Help" debuted at number 18 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart dated May 18, 2024, climbing to number nine the following week, before eventually reaching number one for the week June 29, 2024 after spending seven weeks on the chart. It is the first song to reach the top 10 in two weeks or fewer since Brooks' "More Than a Memory" debuted at number one in September 2007, the fastest trip to number one since "More Than a Memory", as well as the fewest total cumulative weeks to reach number one since Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" reached the top spot in its seventh week in July 2004. In addition, it is Malone's first number one on the Country Airplay chart, as well as Wallen's thirteenth. The song would notch a second week at number one for the week of July 6, 2024 while Wallen's "Cowgirls" featuring Ernest held the number two position on the Country Airplay chart the same week, making Wallen the third artist in the chart's history to hold the top two positions concurrently. It would remain at the top for two additional weeks before being displaced by "Cowgirls" on the chart dated July 27, 2024, making it the first time that an act has achieved back-to-back number one singles since 2002 when McGraw topped the chart back-to-back, first as a featured artist on Jo Dee Messina's "Bring On the Rain" then with his own "The Cowboy in Me", and only the second time that such a distinction has been achieved in the chart's history. The song currently ranks at No. 3 onPop Airplay and no. 4 on Adult Pop Airplay.

On the Billboard Hot 100, "I Had Some Help" debuted at number one on the chart dated May 25, 2024, with first-week figures of 76.4 million official streams, 31.1 million radio airplay audience impressions and 69,000 copies sold. It registered the highest first-week streaming figure since Billboard removed YouTube song user-generated content from its chart metrics in year 2020, surpassing Taylor Swift and Post Malone's song "Fortnight". It is Malone's sixth number-one single, fifth as lead artist, and second number-one debut. Post Malone now holds the record as the fastest male artist to accumulate two No. 1 debuts on Billboard Hot 100 history, "Fortnight" and "I Had Some Help", within just four weeks. "I Had Some Help" is the first song to spend its first five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 1 since Miley Cyrus' "Flowers", which held the top spot for its first six weeks in January–March 2023. It is also the first song in nearly a year to spend five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, since Wallen's "Last Night" spent 10 straight weeks at the top out of 16 total weeks in May–July 2023. Additionally, it is the first song to log six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024, surpassing the five weeks on top, of six total dating to late 2023, for Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me.” Furthermore, it's the first song to have debuted atop both in Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and spent its first five weeks on each at No. 1.

On the Billboard Global 200, it debuted at No. 1 with 119 million streams and 81,000 sold worldwide in the week. It is the third Global 200 No. 1 that has topped Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, after Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em" and Taylor Swift's "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)".

On the US Radio Songs chart, "I Had Some Help" is the fastest song to hit in the top five since Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" in 2023. It's also the first song to reach the top five in as few as four weeks that has also hit the US Country Airplay chart's top five. The song also reaches number one on the US Radio Songs chart, becoming the sixth song to achieve this milestone and the fastest to do so, topping both the US Country Airplay and all-format US Radio Songs charts.

The song debuted at number one on the 2024 Billboard's Annual Songs of the Summer chart and has been on top for six consecutive weeks.

Live performances
On April 28, 2024, Malone and Wallen both performed their own sets at the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California, and Wallen brought Malone out to perform the song with him for the first time ahead of its release. On May 16, 2024, Malone performed the song at 59th Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas. On May 28, 2024, Malone performed the song at Louvre Museum in Paris. On June 7, 2024, Malone performed the song at Governor's Ball in New York City.

Personnel

 * Post Malone – vocals
 * Morgan Wallen – vocals
 * Louis Bell – producer, recording engineer, vocal engineer
 * Charlie Handsome – producer
 * Hoskins – producer, co-producer
 * Aaron Sterling – drums
 * Craig Young – bass
 * Derek Wells – electric guitar
 * Bryan Sutton – acoustic guitar
 * Dave Cohen – keyboards
 * Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar
 * Larry Franklin – fiddle
 * Ryan Gore – mixing
 * Ted Jensen – mastering