My P.Y.T.
by Wale

Album: Shine (2016)
Charted: 54
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Songfacts®:

  • Wale pays homage to Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," on this rap ballad. The DC rapper and Sam Sneak croon some of the classic Thriller song's lyrics during the hook:

    I want to love you
    Pretty young thing
    You need some lovin'


    Wale told Entertainment Tonight: "The day I wrote this record, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's mother, and it inspired me so much that it was pretty much all I could think about in the studio later that night. I wanted to pay homage to the legend that is Michael in some way, and the chorus popped into my head and just felt right with the music. It's just one of those songs that's been omnipresent in my life since I was a kid."
  • This was released as the lead single from Wale's fifth album Shine. The LP had disappointing first week sales, debuting at #16 on the Billboard 200. The Washington D.C. rapper admitted on the May 8, 2017 episode of Complex's Everyday Struggle that he wasn't surprised about the low-ish chart position.

    "I knew projections was low 'cause I always come out with a big radio record," he said, before adding that certain life changes - including a new management team and a daughter - prevented him from following up "My P.Y.T." with another commercial hit. "And certain things wasn't looking right, so I had to fall back," Wale said.

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