Songfacts®:

• Travis Scott first began dating the youngest of the Kardashian clan, Kylie Jenner in the spring of 2017. Early in the following year Jenner gave birth to their first child, daughter Stormi Webster. The reality television star serves as inspiration for Scott's rhymes on this song.
• The Weekend croons the chorus and a verse in which he yearns for the one he loves. At the time of the song's release, he was in a relationship with Bella Hadid, and it is likely that their relationship served as inspiration for his lyrics.
• Astroworld was the third consecutive Travis Scott album to which The Weeknd had contributed following appearances on Rodeo's "Pray 4 Love" and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight's "Wonderful," The Toronto crooner also features on another Astroworld track "Skeletons."
• The song was originally intended for The Weeknd's My Dear Melancholy EP, but it didn't make it onto the final tracklisting as they wanted to revamp it. Producer Sevn Thomas told DJ Booth, he then sent the repurposed track to Travis Scott the same week he sent him another Astroworld song "Houstonfornification." He said:
  
  "Originally, [co-producer] Wallis [Lane] sent me a sample and I did my thing to it and chopped it up and then I got it to a tempo and a pace and did my thing to it. What happened was [co-producer] Frank [Dukes] repurposed the melodies and added a bridge to it, and that's how it got on Astroworld."
• The black-and-white video for "Wake Up" was directed by Jonah Hill. The 21 Jump Street actor previously directed the clips for Vampire Weekend's "Harmony Hall" and "Sunflower," as well as tracks for Sara Bareilles ("Gonna Get Over You" and Danny Brown ("Ain't It Funny").
  
  The visual follows Scott as he enters an antiquated mansion filled with unconscious people, seemingly in the aftermath of a party. Everyone appears lifeless as Scott comes through; the rapper strolls through the building until he enters a room that is weightless and starts to float.