Work

Work
Single artwork
General information
Main artist	Rihanna
Featured artist	Drake
Release date	March 18, 2016
Recorded	December 2015
Studio	Westlake and Sandra Gale (Los Angeles) • S.O.T.A. (Toronto)
Genre	Dancehall • reggae-pop • R&B
Length	3:39
Album	Anti
Label	Roc Nation • Westbury Road
Songwriter(s)	Jahron Brathwaite • Matthew Samuels • Allen Ritter • Rupert Thomas Jr. • Aubrey Graham • Robyn Fenty • Monte Moir
Producer(s)	boi-1da
Singles chronology
Previous	"American Oxygen"
Current	"Work"
Next	"Kiss It Better"
Anti chronology
"Kiss It Better"
"Work"
"Desperado"

"Work" - is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her eighth studio album Anti (2016), featuring Canadian rapper Drake. The song was released as the lead single on March 18, 2016, through Westbury Road and Roc Nation. The song was written by the artists, PartyNextDoor, Monte Moir, Rupert "Sevn" Thomas, Allen Ritter, and producer Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels, with additional production from Kuk Harrell and Noah "40" Shebib. The dancehall, reggae-pop, and R&B song, contains an interpolation of "If You Were Here Tonight" (1985) performed by Alexander O'Neal. Lyrically, the song incorporates themes of working for money, as well as discussing fragile relationships. The song is written in Jamaican Patois and Bajan Creole. Three of its writer-producers: Rupert "Sevn" Thomas, Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels, and Jahron "PartyNextDoor" Brathwaite, are Jamaican Canadians.

Critical response to "Work" was mixed upon release; critics praised its composition and Rihanna's decision to return to her earlier themes of dancehall music, while others were more skeptical of the song's potential as a comeback for the singer. Critical opinion improved over time; the song was included on several year-end lists and nominated for two awards at the 59th Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song reached number one on the United States' Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Rihanna's fourteenth number-one single and making her the act with the fourth-most number-one songs on the chart (after The Beatles, Mariah Carey and Elvis Presley). The song remained at the top for nine weeks. The song also peaked at number one in nine additional countries and is certified Platinum or higher in thirteen countries, including 9× Platinum in the US, 3× Platinum in the UK and Diamond in France. It has also since sold 32.5 million units worldwide, making it one of the best-selling digital singles of all-time.

The song was accompanied by two music videos, which both premiered on February 22, 2016. The first of the two versions was directed by Rihanna's previous collaborator Director X, while the second was directed by Tim Erem. The song was further promoted with live performance's at the 2016 Brit Awards which featured guest appearances from Drake and SZA, the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, as well as being performed on the Anti World Tour. "Work" became the first dancehall song to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Rihanna's own "Rude Boy" (2010) and was succeeded three weeks later by another dancehall song, Drake's "One Dance".

Background and release

Following the release of Rihanna's seventh studio album, Unapologetic, and its accompanying tour, Rihanna took a step back from music. 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. 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.

Writing and recording

"Work" was written by PartyNextDoor, Drake, Rihanna, Monte Moir, Rupert "Sevn" Thomas, Allen Ritter and Matthew Samuels, and was produced by Boi-1da, Sevn Thomas, Ritter, Kuk Harrell and Noah "40" Shebib. 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."

Thomas created a beat which was dancehall-influenced; he later played it for Boi-1da to which he positively responded, "We're both Jamaican-Canadian. It was just something in our DNA, so it woke him up, and we started remembering all these old dancehall songs from the '90s." Boi-1da came with up idea for sampling an "old school dancehall rhythm" and after that the chords were made with Ritter and past it, "everything went organically". The most recognizable sampling found in the "Work" riddim is from the 1998 riddim "Sail Away" which was produced by Richie Stephens and Mikey 2000, interpolating Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Here Tonight".

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, 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, the full version was released online in April 2016. At first the intent was to keep the song as a collaboration between the two or give to Alicia Keys. Shortly after Braithwaite stayed at Rihanna's home in Malibu, where he played her the song, afterwards "it was all that she could sing around the house" and it was her "family's favourite song".

Rihanna's vocals were recorded by Marcos Tovar and Kuk Harrell at the Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles; the latter also served as a vocal producer. Drake's vocals were recorded by Noel Cadastre and Noah "40" Shebib at the Sandra Gale Studios in California and the SOTA Studios in Toronto. The vocal recording was assisted by Thomas Warren, while additional vocals were provided by PartyNextDoor. Manny Marroquin mixed "Work" at the Larrabee Studios, while Noel "Gadget" Campbell and Shebib did the mixing at the Studio 360 and SOTA Studios in Toronto. The mastering was done by Chris Gehringer at the Sterling Sound in New York City. "Work" marked the third collaboration between Rihanna and Drake, following "What's My Name?" in 2010 and "Take Care" in 2012.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Rihanna's official website.

Locations

• Recorded at Westlake Beverly Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, Sandra Gale Studios, California and SOTA Studios, Toronto
• Mixed at Studio 306 and SOTA Studios in Toronto, Canada and Larrabee Studios in Universal City, California
• Mastering at Sterling Sound Studios in New York City, New York

Personnel

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• Rihanna – vocals, writing
• Drake – vocals, writing
• Jahron Brathwaite – writing, additional vocals
• Boi-1da – writing, production
• Allen Ritter – writing
• Sevn Thomas – writing
• Monte Moir – writing (interpolation)
• Marcos Tovar – vocal recording
• Kuk Harrell – vocal recording, vocal production
• Thomas Warren – vocal recording
• Noel Cadastre – vocal recording
• Noel "Gadget" Campbell – mixing
• Noah "40" Shebib – vocal production, vocal recording, mixing
• Manny Marroquin – mixing
• Chris Gehringer – mastering

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Music video

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" while the second was directed by Tim Erem. 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.

Rihanna later announced its premiere date to be February 22, 2016 via her Twitter account, while also releasing a videoclip via YouTube. Filming of the first accompanying music video took place at the Real Jerk restaurant in Toronto on February 5. 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. 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.

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." Christopher Hooton from The Independent also picked upon the videos sense of voyeurism and compared the second video to Drake's previous single "Hotline Bling" and Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda". Popsugar called the songs accompanying videos "relatively simple," but stated they were an "instant classics", while RollingStone noted the videos as being "steamy".

"Work" was nominated for the "Video of the Year" award as the 2016 BET Awards, as well as being nominated for the "Best Female Video" award as the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Time Magazine listed the video at number eight on their Top 10 Pop Music Videos of 2016, while Pitchfork Media placed it at number twenty-five on their list of The Best Music Videos of 2016. As of June 2018, the video has received over 1.0 billion views on YouTube.