Work (Rihanna song)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"Work"
Rihanna covering her face with her hands
Single by Rihanna featuring Drake
from the album Anti
Language
ReleasedJanuary 27, 2016 (2016-01-27)
RecordedDecember 2015
Studio
Genre
Length3:39
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Boi-1da
Rihanna singles chronology
"American Oxygen"
(2015)
"Work"
(2016)
"Kiss It Better" / "Needed Me"
(2016)
Drake singles chronology
"Jumpman"
(2015)
"Work"
(2016)
"Summer Sixteen"
(2016)
Music video
"Work" on
YouTube

"Work" is a song by Barbadian singer

Noah "40" Shebib were additional producers. Incorporating elements of dancehall, reggae, pop, and R&B, "Work" contains an interpolation of Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Here Tonight" (1985). Written in the English-based creole languages of Jamaica and Barbados,[1][2] its lyrics are about fragile relationships and yearning for intimacy.[3]

"Work" was accompanied by two music videos directed by Director X and Tim Erem, and both were released on February 22, 2016. The first depicts Rihanna and Drake dancing in a club, and the second shows them in a room alone. Rihanna performed the song live at the Brit Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards, both in 2016, and it was included on the set list of her Anti World Tour. The single spent nine weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and helped Rihanna surpass Michael Jackson as the artist with the fourth-most US number-one hits. It peaked at number one in Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, and South Africa, and received many multi-platinum certifications, including a Diamond certification in France and nine-times Platinum certifications in Canada and the United States. "Work" had sold 32.5 million units worldwide by January 2021.

At the time of its release, critical response to "Work" was mixed; reviews that praised the song highlighted Rihanna's return to the dancehall sound of her early career and embrace of Caribbean culture, while reviews that were less enthusiastic labeled its production as repetitive and the lyrics as insubstantial. However, critical opinion improved over time; the song was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards, and publications such as NME and Pitchfork ranked it among the best songs of the 2010s decade. Some journalists credit "Work" with reinvigorating dancehall in mainstream popular music in the mid-2010s.[citation needed]

Background and release

Following the release of Rihanna's seventh studio album, Unapologetic, and its accompanying tour, Rihanna took a step back from music.[4] Rihanna aimed to take a hiatus from recording music stating; "I wanted to have a year to just do whatever I want artistically, creatively," Rihanna went on to state that this hiatus lasted a week and she had returned to the recording studio. Following the release of three singles in 2015—"FourFiveSeconds" (with Kanye West and Paul McCartney), "Bitch Better Have My Money" and "American Oxygen"—Billboard announced that Rihanna was set to premiere a new single on January 27, 2016, at 8 am EST.[5] That same day, "Work" premiered on several radio stations worldwide including the BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, it was made available for digital download in most countries worldwide via the iTunes Store and was added for streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal.[6]

Writing and recording

"Work" was written by

Noah "40" Shebib.[7] In the summer of 2015, Thomas, Ritter, Boi-1da, and Martin Mason, among others, stayed at Drake's house in Los Angeles for a mid-week period. Thomas described the time spent at the home as a "beat factory, everyone was sitting there working and collaborating with each other."[8]

Thomas created a beat which was

When the song's music was finished, Boi-1da sent it to PartyNextDoor who wrote the lyrics, "he's an incredible writer, and he's Jamaican as well. I think so that's how he's able to come up with those vibes and feels," noted Thomas. PartyNextDoor originally wrote the record as a breakup song,[10] after Drake heard the song he loved it and decided to write and record a verse on it. The original reference track contained Braithwaite's vocals and a tweaked verse from Drake. It leaked as a snippet in February 2016,[11] the full version was released online in April 2016.[12] At first the intent was to keep the song as a collaboration between the two or give to Alicia Keys.[13] Shortly after Braithwaite stayed at Rihanna's home in Malibu, where he played her the song,[8] afterwards "it was all that she could sing around the house" and it was her "family's favourite song".[13]

Rihanna's vocals were recorded by Marcos Tovar and

What's My Name?" in 2010 and "Take Care" in 2012.[15]

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Work" is a

Complex wrote that the song "is slower and very rhythmic with Rihanna showing off her vocal skills over the crafty production."[22] The song is written in the key of C# Dorian (same key signature as G minor) in common time with a tempo of 92 beats per minute. The vocals in the song span from F3 to E5.[23] Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine called it "an understated midtempo jam in the vein of Janet Jackson's recent 'No Sleeep', with a percolating beat, sinuous synth lines, and vocal samples stretched and pulled in a way that recalls Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis's masterful production work on Janet's 1997 album The Velvet Rope."[24] The Guardian's Harriet Gibsone wrote: "The glossy, modernist 'Work' skewers elements of dub and dancehall: her voice is at times Auto-Tuned, and a distant sample of what sounds a little like Grace Jones's "My Jamaican Guy" haunts its empty spaces."[25]

verses, choruses and bridge fade into themselves, "forgoing soft-to-loud explosions or exciting rhythmic changes".[28] He also noted that, Boi-1da also tries to create "escalation" in the song by adding additional drums for the second chorus, flutes, autotuned harmonies and back-off piano.[28] The New York Times' Jon Caramanica noted Rihanna at times "barely even relies on words, truncating her syllables past patois to something far less exact."[29] Lyrically, "Work" is "about working for a paycheck no matter what else is going on in your life."[28] Additionally, it focuses on "a fragile relationship" that can be seen in the lines, "If I get another chance to, I would never, oh never, neglect you," which Rihanna sings.[17]

Reception

"Work" has received mixed reviews from critics. Editor Joe Lynch wrote that the track finds Rihanna "reteaming with frequent collaborator/ex Drake, but that's the only predictable thing about this song—while it's hardly a 180-degree turn for Rih, its minimal production subverts expectations of what you'd expect a major pop star to release when they're gearing up to drop their long-delayed new album."

Idolator's Robbie Daw's review was mixed, writing "Musically, the track is a charming, if also somewhat sparse, affair that feels like it blew in on a tropical, warm June wind and nestled up beside our ears."[33]

Robin Reiff of The A.V. Club wrote: "the sheer repetition of the hook creates a built-in expiration date for when this song transitions from catchy to mildly annoying."[34] Taj Rani of Billboard stated "Work" has brought the genre of dancehall to the forefront of American music (again), as it became the first dancehall song to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Sean Paul's "Temperature" in 2006. She opined that the song is a prime example of "an unapologetic black woman proudly showing her heritage at a time when our politics are dominated by #BlackLivesMatter and Donald Trump's racist, xenophobic and misogynistic tirades." Rani continued to state that although mainstream critics are uncomfortable with Rihanna's use of patois (describing it as "gibberish"), she is able to display West Indian culture front and center without appropriation from mainstream culture.[35]

Accolades

minimalist banger? One of America's most reliable singles artists created an arch, moody album instead of a handful of chart-ready pop confections, but we still couldn't resist this barely-there tune with a beat like a dancehall wisp and lyrics like a freestyle."[36]
The Guardian named it "Best track of 2016", writing: "Work was off-kilter, lacked a big chorus and weaved in a dubious 80s ballad. It also clicked perfectly, a song that captured two era-defining artists and one all the more infectious for its rule-defying restraint."[37] The British magazine
Village Voice's Pazz & Jop mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2016, "Work" was tied at number 9, with David Bowie's "Blackstar".[43] It was ranked in 2010s-decade-end lists by NME,[44] Consequence of Sound,[45] Slant Magazine,[46] Pitchfork.[47]

"Work" has been nominated for the

Record of the Year at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.[48] "Work" won the awards for "R&B Song of the Year" and "Best Collaboration" at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards.[49]

Commercial performance

"Work" debuted at number nine on the US

Radio Songs
chart with 44 million audience impressions, becoming the highest debut of her career.

The following week, "Work" sold an additional 156,000 copies and moved up to number seven on the Hot 100 chart.

The song was most successful on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs where it debuted atop the chart, becoming Rihanna's fifth chart-topper and Drake's fourteenth.[50] As of January 2021, "Work" has accumulated over 1.4 billion streams and 1,906,000 downloads in the United States.[55]

In France, "Work" peaked at number one on the chart for two weeks, becoming Rihanna's sixth number-one in the country, the second-highest amount of all time. The single also broke the record for the most streams in a single week, with 2.056 million streams.[56] By January 2021, the single had sold an estimated 32.5 million units worldwide.[57]

Music video

Director X (left) directed the first of the song's two accompanying videos which was filmed in The Real Jerk restaurant (right)

Two music videos were released for the single; the first was directed by Director X who had previously worked with Rihanna on her debut video "Pon de Replay"[58] while the second was directed by Tim Erem.[59] Harv Glazer and Melissa Larsen served as a producer of the visual, while Daniel Bouquet and Alexi Zabes were the director of photography. Laura McMillan and Nick Rondeau were the editors of the video, while Nick Cortes served as the production coordinator. Missy Galanida, Isaac Rice and Taj Critchlow, served as the videos executive producers while Dave Hussey of Company 3 was the colorist.[60]

Rihanna later announced its premiere date to be February 22, 2016 via her Twitter account, while also releasing a videoclip via YouTube.[61] Filming of the first accompanying music video took place at the Real Jerk restaurant in Toronto on February 5.[62] Director X stated that when filming the video they wanted to make it look like they were in a West Indian neighborhood, in a West Indian restaurant.[63] The second video for the single directed by Tim Erem was discussed between the director, Rihanna and Drake in the studio at 4 a.m., where they were attempting to come up with ideas to add a tropical vibe to their already existing footage. After thirty minutes they came up with the idea of shooting a video in a whole pink room.[64]

The first video opens with a shot of "The Real Jerk" carpark, in which Rihanna and Drake enter separately. The shot switches to Rihanna dancing in the nightclub, in front of a mirror. Drake enters the scene in which he raps. The video ends with credits written in a red, green and yellow typeface. The second video is shot in one piece, as it shows Rihanna and Drake in a room full of neon pink lights and styled with sofas and house plants aesthetics. Hazel Cills of MTV noted Rihanna's and Drake's chemistry as "playful and confrontational", which was "ultimately made for the viewer's pleasure". Cills continued to state that the second video "luxuriates in our voyeurism."

Anaconda".[66]
Popsugar called the songs accompanying videos "relatively simple," but stated they were an "instant classics", while RollingStone noted the videos as being "steamy".[67][68]

"Work" was nominated for the "Video of the Year" award as the 2016

Pitchfork Media placed it at number twenty-five on their list of The Best Music Videos of 2016.[72] As of June 2018, the video has received over 1.0 billion views on YouTube.[73]

Performances and remixes

Rihanna performed "Consideration" with

OVO Fest with Drake in Toronto on July 31, 2016. Rihanna also performed the song at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in a medley with Rude Boy and What's My Name?.[76] She performed the song as part of her set during the halftime show of Super Bowl LVII
.

On February 9, 2016, rapper ASAP Ferg released his remix of "Work" via SoundCloud.[77] On February 17, 2016, Nigerian artist Burna Boy released his remix of "Work" along with a lyric video.[78] On March 6, 2016, American rapper Lil Mama, released a remix of the song. Lil Mama's version featured the same production and chorus but was accompanied by new rap verses. Lil Mama's version was also released with a video, in which she recreated the original video along with choreographed dance moves.[79]

On March 8, 2016, DJDS released an '80s-inspired remix via SoundCloud.[80] On March 19, 2016, Work (Remixes) EP was officially released via Tidal

trap-inspired beat. The remix was released via SoundCloud on Yultron's page.[82]

Track listing

Digital download[19][20]
No.TitleLength
1."Work" (featuring Drake)3:39
Remixes[83]
No.TitleLength
1."Work" (R3hab Remix) (featuring Drake)3:39
2."Work" (R3hab Extended Remix) (featuring Drake)3:59
3."Work" (R3hab Extended Instrumental)3:59
4."Work" (BURNS' Late Night Rollin Remix) (featuring Drake)3:43
5."Work" (Bad Royale Remix) (featuring Drake) (Explicit)3:42
6."Work" (Bad Royale Remix) (featuring Drake) (Clean)3:43
7."Work" (Lost Kings Remix) (featuring Drake)4:19
8."Work" (Lost Kings Extended Remix) (featuring Drake)4:50

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Rihanna's official website.[14]

Locations
Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[160] 2× Platinum 140,000
Belgium (BEA)[161] Platinum 20,000
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[162] 3× Diamond 750,000
Canada (Music Canada)[163] 9× Platinum 720,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[164] 2× Platinum 180,000
France (
SNEP)[165]
Diamond 233,333
Germany (BVMI)[166] Platinum 400,000
Italy (FIMI)[167] 3× Platinum 150,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[168] 2× Platinum 30,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[169] 3× Platinum 150,000
Portugal (AFP)[170] Platinum 10,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[171] 2× Platinum 80,000
Sweden (GLF)[172] 4× Platinum 160,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[173] 3× Platinum 1,800,000
United States (RIAA)[174] 9× Platinum 9,000,000

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Date Format Label Ref.
Various January 27, 2016
[175][19]
United States [176][177]
Italy January 29, 2016
Radio airplay
Universal [178]
Various March 18, 2016 Streaming (Remixes)
  • Roc Nation
  • Westbury Road
[179]

See also

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