Nuketown (song)

"Nuketown"
Song by Ski Mask the Slump God featuring Juice Wrld
from the album Stokeley
Released	November 30, 2018 [1]
Genre	Hip hop hardcore hip hop trap metal
Length	2:46
Label	Victor Victor Republic
Songwriter(s)	Stokeley Goulbourne Eric Wall Jarad Higgins
Producer(s)	Fresh ThPharmacy
Music video
"Nuketown" on YouTube

"Nuketown," originally titled "Cutthroat" ^[2] is a song by American rapper Ski Mask the Slump God, featuring fellow American rapper Juice Wrld. It was released as the second track of the former's debut studio album Stokeley .

Background

"Nuketown" was the first track that the artists had recorded in mid-2018, being the only track that would be officially released during Juice's lifetime from the session. The track is very reminiscent of the loud aggressive tracks that Ski Mask used to release with the late XXXTentacion, with Juice Wrld paying homage to him on his verse on the track.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews. Writing for Pitchfork , Trey Alston praised the production and Ski Mask the Slump God's cadence, saying "[Ski Mask the Slump God] deflects attention from a mid-tempo, bass-heavy beat and allocates it to his jittery cadence". ^[3] Donna-Claire Chesman of DJbooth labelled the song "[a] dark [shout] of the SoundCloud era". ^[4]

Music video

The official music video for "Nuketown" was released on October 25, 2019. Directed by Cole Bennett, ^[5] the video sees Ski Mask the Slump God and Juice Wrld fighting enemies in a desert after their plane crashes. The video has over 75 million views as of January 2025. ^{[6] [7]}

Chart performance

Chart (2018–2019)	Peak position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [8]	81
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) [9]	10
US Billboard Hot 100 [10]	63
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [11]	32

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [12]	Platinum	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [13]	Silver	200,000‡
United States (RIAA) [1]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "American single certifications – Ski Mask the Slump God – Nuketown". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved December 23, 2024.
2. Norris, John (December 5, 2018). "Ski Mask the Slump God on His Eclectic Album 'Stokeley' & Life-Changing Advice Given to Him by XXXTentacion". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2025. It was called 'Cutthroat! When I played it for you in September, it was. But when I put out the snippet of the song, people only heard five seconds. And they would be like, 'Oh this is called "Cutthroat"'. But I didn't want people to know anything. So when I dropped the track list, I changed the names. So "Cutthroat" was changed to "Nuketown".
3. Alston, Trey. "Ski Mask the Slump God: Stokeley". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
4. Chesman, Donna-Claire. "Ski Mask the Slump God Is Spreading His Wings—We Should Let Him". DjBooth. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
5. "New Video: Ski Mask The Slump God Ft. Juice WRLD "Nuketown" - Rap Radar". rapradar.com. October 25, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
6. Elder, Sajae. "Watch Ski Mask The Slump God and Juice WRLD go to war in "Nuketown"". The fader. Andy Cohn. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
7. Mahadevan, Tara. "Ski Mask and Juice WRLD Join Forces in "Nuketown" Video". Complex. Rich Antoniello. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
8. "Ski Mask the Slump God Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
9. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
10. "Ski Mask the Slump God Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
11. "Ski Mask the Slump God Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
12. "New Zealand single certifications – Ski Mask the Slump God feat. Juice Wrld – Nuketown". Radioscope. Retrieved December 23, 2024.Type Nuketown in the "Search:" field.
13. "British single certifications – Ski Mask the Slump God – Nuketown". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved June 14, 2024.