| “Umbrella” | |||||
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| Single by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z from the album Good Girl Gone Bad |
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| Released | March 29, 2007 | ||||
| Format | 12" maxi single, CD single, digital download | ||||
| Recorded | 2006 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, R&B, hip hop | ||||
| Length | 4:35 (album version) 4:14 (radio edit) |
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| Label | Def Jam | ||||
| Writer(s) | Terius Nash, Christopher Stewart, Kuk Harrell, Jay-Z | ||||
| Producer | Tricky Stewart | ||||
| Certification | 2x Platinum (RIAA) | ||||
| Rihanna singles chronology | |||||
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| Jay-Z singles chronology | |||||
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"Umbrella" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna, featuring a rap verse by American hip hop artist Jay-Z. Terius Nash, Christopher Stewart, and Kuk Harrell wrote the song, and Stewart produced it for Rihanna's third album Good Girl Gone Bad. The track was released as the album's lead single during the second quarter of 2007. Since its release, "Umbrella" has been covered by many artists worldwide.
Following a successful chart performance worldwide and a positive reception from critics, the song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007 published by the music magazine Rolling Stone. In 2008, "Umbrella" earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Contents |
American songwriter-producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The Dream" Nash convened in January 2007 at the Atlanta-based Triangle Studios to create new material. In the studio, Stewart was "messing around with a walloping hi-hat sound". With his attention caught by the sound, Nash asked Stewart what he was doing: "Oh, my God, what is that beat?" When Stewart incorporated chords onto the hi-hat, "immediately the word popped into [Nash's] head"; he went to the vocal booth and started singing. They quickly wrote the lyrics, completing the first verse in 60 seconds. They continued into writing, adding the hook while "Tricky would put the next chord". In a matter of hour, they had recorded a demo of the track.[1]
The song was written with American pop singer Britney Spears, whom Stewart had previously worked with in the 2003 song "Me Against the Music", in mind. Sterwart and Nash thought that Spears, who had "her personal life ... a little out of control" at the time, needed a hit as musical comeback.[1] Spears was working on her her fifth album, Blackout, so they sent a copy of the demo to Spears' management. However, Spears did not hear of the song while her label rejected it, claiming they had enough number of songs for her to record.[2]
Following the management's rejection, Stewart and Nash shopped the song to other record labels. They first opted Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid, a friend of Stewart who established his first studio. By early February 2007, the demo was sent to Reid's right-hand woman, A&R executive Karen Kwak, who passed it along to Reid with a message confirming that they had found a song suited for Rihanna, who was working on her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, at the time. When Kwak played the song to Reid, he readily thought they had found the album's lead single. Reid immediately sent the demo to Rihanna, who was also positive of it: "When the demo first started playing, I was like, This is interesting, this is weird. ... But the song kept getting better. I listened to it over and over. I said, 'I need this record. I want to record it tomorrow.'"[1]
However, since it was the Grammy season of 2007, Stewart and Nash eyed American R&B singer Mary J. Blige for the demo.[2] Upon calling them to set the record aside for Rihanna, Stewart had played it to an associate of Blige, subsequently promising the song to her. Having heard the move of the writers, Kwak began calling Stewart and his manager, Mark Stewart, incessantly. Meanwhile, considering Blige's nominations at the Grammys, Stewart and Nash agreed to wait for her response. However, Blige failed to hear the song in full due to her obligations to the Grammys at the time and "had to sign off on the record before her reps could accept it".[3][2] Finally, Reid "stepped in, trading on his power-broker status and longstanding relationship with Stewart", and admits, "I made the producers an offer they couldn't refuse."[1] By the time Reid had successfully persuaded Stewart's camp, they "just couldn't say no".[2] On giving up the record to Reid's camp, Mark Stewart comments, "We knew Rihanna's album would be out in a few months. Mary wasn’t even in an album cycle yet. We made the sensible business decision."[1]
Rihanna recorded the song, with vocal production by Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, in a Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Initially, Stewart admitted he was still reluctant as to whether Rihanna was the right artist to record the song, but following the recording of the "ella, ella" catchphrase, he felt they were onto "something".[2] Following Rihanna's recording, Def Jam CEO-rapper Jay-Z added his rap. However, Jay-Z rewrote his verse without the awareness of Stewart and Nash. Stewart could not understand it, but later realized it made "sense" instead of the first version. Stewart noted that "from a songwriter's standpoint, he just really made it more about the song, with the metaphors about umbrellas and about the weather versus what he had before".[2]
"Umbrella" is in the genre pop, contemporary R&B and hip hop. The song's musicscape is based on the hi-hat, synthesizers, and a distorted bassline.[1] According to Entertainment Weekly magazine, the song's beat can be recreated through a slowed-down drum loop from the Apple music-software program GarageBand (Vintage Funk Kit 03).[4]
The song's lyrics are written in the traditional verse-chorus form. It opens with a rap verse, and the hook "ella, ella" follows every chorus. A bridge follows the second hook, and the song ends in a fadeout.
"Umbrella" was released worldwide on March 29, 2007, debuting on Rihanna's Def Jam website.[5][6] The song was released digitally in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2007, its physical release following two weeks later.[7] An acoustic version of the song with a new arrangement was later released a bonus track to Good Girl Gone Bad on the iTunes Music Store.
Rihanna made formal appearances all over the United Kingdom prior and following the release of the single. She also debuted three new tracks in Preston at the BBC Radio One One Big Weekend event. At another promotional concert, she performed "Umbrella", "Shut Up and Drive" and "Breakin' Dishes". Rihanna performed "Umbrella" at the MTV Movie Awards 2007. In Germany, she performed the song exclusively at Viva Live, and at the 42nd edition of the chart show The Dome.
"Umbrella" has received generally positive reviews from critics. Andy Kellman of Allmusic commented: "'Umbrella' is [Rihanna's best song] to date, delivering mammoth of spacious drums, a towering backdrop during the chorus, and vocals that are somehow totally convincing without sounding all that impassioned — an ideal spot between trying too hard and boredom, like she might've been on her 20th take, which only adds to the song's charm."[8] For Alex Macpherson of British newspaper The Guardian, "Umbrella" is an "evidence" that Rihanna's "strict work ethic is paying off", adding that she "delivers [in the song] an impassioned declaration of us-against-the-world devotion".[9] Tom Breihan of Pitchfork Media, though he complimented the production, dismissed Rihanna's voice which "takes on an unpleasant icepick edge when she tries to fill the space between the slow-tempo beats", adding that the song is "uncompelling as event-pop, particularly because of the disconnect between Rihanna's cold, clinical delivery and the comforting warmth of the lyrics".[10]
The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations. In 2007, it was nominated at the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Music: Single.[11] In 2008, "Umbrella" earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.[12][13]
"Umbrella" has also been recognized in various forms of accolades by the music press. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007, published by the music magazine Rolling Stone.[14] Time magazine also listed the song number three on their Top 10 Songs of 2007.[15] The song is listed number one on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the 10 Best Singles of 2007,[4] while topping the magazine's poll for the best single of 2007.[16] Blender magazine awarded the song Song of the Year in their Readers' Poll 2007.[1] The music press has considered "Umbrella" as 2007's Song of the Summer,[17][18] while The New York Times writer Kelefa Sanneh regarded it as "arguably 2007's signature slow jam".[19]
Prior to its physical release, "Umbrella" achieved the biggest debut in the six-year history of the iTunes Music Store, breaking a record previously held by Colombian singer Shakira and American hip hop artist Wyclef Jean’s "Hips Don't Lie".[2][1] As a digital single, "Umbrella" topped the iTunes Store singles chart in more than 16 different countries around the world.
"Umbrella" was a commercial and chart success in the United States. On Billboard magazine's issue dated June 9, 2007, "Umbrella" rocketed from number 42 to number one on the topped the Billboard Hot 100. This was based on the single's first-week digital sales of over 277,000 units, the highest digital debut in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking downloads in 2003;[20] the single retained the feat until 2007. "Umbrella" is Rihanna's second number-one single after "SOS",[20] which was also noted for its huge leap on the Hot 100 to the top spot in 2006 based on digital sales alone.[21] Significantly sustained by the strong airplay of the single[22][23] and having blocked American rap group Shop Boyz' "Party Like a Rockstar", "Umbrella" spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the Hot 100,[24] until it was replaced by American pop rock band Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah".[25] On the 2007 Billboard year end chart, "Umbrella" was ranked at number two.[26] The song debuted at number 1 in Canada, becoming the first song to top the recently launched Canadian Hot 100, a singles chart in Canada issued by Billboard magazine, similar to that of the Billboard Hot 100.[27]
The single performed, most notably, in the United Kingdom, breaking a record on the UK Singles Chart. The song debuted at number one on the chart based on digital sales alone,[28] becoming Rihanna's first chart-topper in the country.[29] During the single's fourth week on the chart, it earned Rihanna the accolade in the United Kingdom when both the single and album topped the UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart.[30] Nearing a record-breaking feat in the United Kingdom, it equaled American group Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" as the longest of the decade when it reaches nine straight week.[31] "Umbrella" eventually reached a total of 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the country's longest-running number-one single of the 21st century since Scottish pop outfit Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" spent 15 weeks at the top in 1994.[32] Rihanna has become the seventh artist in the history of the UK Singles Chart to top the chart for straight ten weeks.[33] By the end of 2007, "Umbrella" had sold 512,730, making it by far her biggest-selling single to date and the second biggest-selling single of 2007 in the United Kingdom.[34] It has since been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry on July 20, 2007.[35]
As well as topping the charts in the United Kingdom, "Umbrella" had a similar success throughout Europe, reaching number one in Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Germany and Spain. In Australia "Umbrella" entered the Australian Singles Chart at number-one, and spent six consecutive weeks at the top. "Umbrella" has been certified platinum in 2007 by the Australian Recording Industry Association for over 70,000 units shipment of the single, and ended as Autralia's third best-performing single in 2007.[36][37] It has also reached number one in the New Zealand, and the country's best-performing single in 2007.[38]
While working on the album, ideas had already began to circulate concerning Rihanna's image, extending into her music videos. She asked American music video director Chris Applebaum to send her "something" to work on. Def Jam representatives were expecting Applebaum of the treatment.[39]
In response, Applebaum hurriedly made a treatment for the video, one of his first ideas being the silver body paint that Rihanna is seen in. Applebaum was doubtful whether Rihanna would embrace the idea, but her "positive response" following a letter the director sent to the artist ensured its approval. Makeup artist Pamela Neal mixed a paint that would give Rihanna such a look. During the session, the paint was re-applied between takes to ensure she was completely covered. The set was closed to Rihanna, Applebaum and a camera assistant.[39] Rihanna also contributed her own ideas towards the video shoot, suggesting to Applebaum that she dance en pointe, an idea which he accepted.[39]
The music video premiered on April 26, 2007 at Thisisrihanna.com. Downloads were made available for those in the U.S. only from the website for a limited time. The video was officially released on the iTunes Store on May 11, 2007, peaking at number for a period 8 weeks. On May 1, 2007, "Umbrella" debuted on MTV’s Total Request Live at number 10, before reaching number one on May 9 where it remained for fifteen days, making it the longest running number one of 2007. The video was well-played in MTV during the second half of 2007; it has reached over 8,000 plays, receiving a platinum recognition at the MTV Platinum and Gold Video Awards.[40] Such was the success of the promotional video that it was also nominated for five awards at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, including "Female Artist of the Year", "Video of the Year" and "Monster Single of the Year", going on to win the latter two.[41]
"Umbrella" has been covered by many YouTube amateurs, as well as by a number notable singers as Terra Naomi, Amy Winehouse,[1] Linkin Park, Manic Street Preachers, Lillasyster, Biffy Clyro, Plain White T's,[1] Carrie Underwood, OneRepublic, Cláudia Leitte, Mandy Moore,[1] My Chemical Romance,[1] Tegan and Sara,[1] Amanda Palmer, Children Of Bodom, Syesha Mercado, Natalie Gauci, and Taylor Swift.
Then-upcoming singer Marié Digby recorded an acoustic version[42] of "Umbrella" as her debut single from the Start Here EP. Digby released it on August 3, 2007 under Hollywood Records. The track later appeared on Digby's debut album, Unfold, as a closing track.[42] Italian band Vanilla Sky released a drum cover the song.[43] Scottish rock group Biffy Clyro also released an acoustic version.[44] Filipino singer and actress KC Concepcion also revived the song, featured in her debut album, a.K.a. Cassandra. A Filipino version of "Umbrella" called "Payong" was recorded by Filipina singer Miss Ganda.[45]
The Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers released their cover version of "Umbrella", originally recorded for the album NME Awards 2008.[46] The album was given away free with a special souvenir box set of the magazine NME on February 27, produced in celebration of the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 and Big Gig. Two further versions were later made available on iTunes and now comprise a three-track Umbrella EP. A video for the cover is available on the band's official website.[47] Pop-punk outfit All Time Low covered the song for the Fearless Records compilation album Punk Goes Crunk.[48] "Umbrella" was also covered on British pop rock band McFly's Greatest Hits So Far Tour in 2007.[49]
There has also been notable mixed version of the song. American rapper Lil Mama recorded a mixed version of "Umbrella", replacing Jay-Z's rap verse. An article by Blender magazine, who dismissed Jay-Z's version, states that "Lil Mama actually seems to understand the song's metaphorical themes of protection and loyalty".[50] Former American punk band Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker remixed the song, and add into the track a "quicksilver snare flourishes and adding real-life guitars".[51] A Zax extended mix also exists; although the original rap verse was completely removed, the song spans to nearly six minutes.[51]
Singer Chris Brown created an answer song titled "Cinderella" with his lyrics replacing some of the verses and part of the chorus of "Umbrella". This answer song has been performed by both Rihanna and Chris Brown together when the latter joined Rihanna on a late-2008 tour in the Asia-Pacific region.[52]
The song's reign at number one in the United Kingdom and Ireland occurred as the regions were hit by extreme rainfall and flooding, which led The Sun to suggest the two events were related, with the media referring to it as the "Rihanna Curse". The UK-based publication adjudged the single brought bad luck to their country, and mentioned the date of the single's video shot which was Friday 13th, adding further coincidence of the curse.[53] Before the single's release in May 14, weather temperature in the United Kingdom, London, Athens was relatively high, of which the latter's have reportedly reached to 20 °C. However, just a day after the release, "severe weather warnings hit the headlines".[53] In an article run by The Sun, it urged readers to join the campaign in knocking the songs off the chart's top spot, suggesting the readers with several songs to download instead.[53] Interestingly, the precise day the song was dethroned in the chart, the weather seemed to improve.
A similar situation occurred in New Zealand, where the song hit number one in the early winter of 2007 as the country was experiencing some of the worst storms in its history.[54] During the awful weather condition, Taranaki, Tauranga, and Auckland had experienced tornadoes and flooding in the Far North of the country. Once the single was replaced on the top spot, weather condition almost in the entire New Zealand pacified, although Hawkes Bay was still stormed.[54]
With the record-breaking success of the single and the reported coincidence with the weather, Def Jam's marketing team collaborated with British umbrella manufacturer Totes. The company produced five types of Rihanna umbrellas, of which was a double-colored satin umbrella that Rihanna debuted in public during her performance of the song at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.[55] Although manufactured by a UK-based company, the collection was made available only to US residents by online through the company's website.[56]
Umbrella
Sides A & B
Side A
Side B
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Umbrella: Remixes
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| Preceded by "Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania" by McFly |
UK Singles Chart number-one single May 20, 2007 - July 28, 2007 |
Succeeded by "The Way I Are" by Timbaland feauturing Keri Hilson and D.O.E. |
| Preceded by "Don't Matter" by Akon |
Irish Singles Chart number-one single May 24, 2007 - July 12, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie |
| Preceded by "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single June 4, 2007 - July 9, 2007 |
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| Preceded by "Because of You" by Ne-Yo |
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single June 4, 2007 - July 9, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Bartender" by T-Pain featuring Akon |
| Preceded by "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" by T-Pain featuring Yung Joc |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single June 9, 2007 - July 21, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's |
| Preceded by "Survivalism" by Nine Inch Nails (on the Canadian Singles Chart) |
Canadian Hot 100 number-one single (chart’s first number-one single) June 16, 2007 - July 7, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie |
| Preceded by "Grace Kelly" by Mika |
Norwegian VG-lista number-one single June 6, 2007 - July 4, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Push Push" by Kurt Nilsen |
| Preceded by "Push Push" by Kurt Nilsen |
Norwegian VG-lista number-one single (second run) July 11, 2007 - August 8, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Fuck Deg" by Sichelle (Skip) |
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