FourFiveSeconds
"FourFiveSeconds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West, and English musician Paul McCartney. It was written and produced by McCartney, West, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with additional writing from Kirby Lauryen, Ty Dolla Sign, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg and Rihanna. Previewed by West at the iHeartMedia Music Summit on January 21, 2015, it was digitally released on January 24. "FourFiveSeconds" is a folk-pop and soul song with an instrumentation consisting of an acoustic guitar, organ and bass guitar.
"FourFiveSeconds" received acclaim from music critics who praised Rihanna's vocals on the song. Commercially, it peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In doing so it gave Rihanna her 26th top-ten song on the chart, while McCartney set a record by ending the longest break between top-ten singles on the chart. The song also peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Internationally, "FourFiveSeconds" reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the top three in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
To promote the song, an accompanying black-and-white music video was directed by Dutch photographer duo Inez and Vinoodh in New York City. Rihanna, McCartney, and West performed "FourFiveSeconds" for the first time at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on February 8 held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles; the performance received highly positive reviews. "FourFiveSeconds" has been covered by various recording artists, including Canadian rapper Drake and British singer-songwriter James Bay.
Background and release
On January 21, 2015, Kanye West made a surprise appearance at the iHeartMedia Music Summit, where he teased a collaboration with Rihanna that "featured acoustic guitar and a big, soaring chorus and melody with a massive hook." Earlier, on January 2, recording artist and producer Ty Dolla Sign gave an interview to Billboard magazine where it revealed that he, West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney worked on a track together, which was yet to receive its final title. On January 24, Rihanna posted the song on her official website, Rihannanow.com. The song titled "FourFiveSeconds" was released as single being made available for digital download on January 24 via the iTunes Store. In the United Kingdom it was digitally released on January 26 via Amazon. A CD single featuring "FourFiveSeconds" and its music video was released on February 27 in Germany."FourFiveSeconds" was written by West, McCartney, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Sign, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, Noah Goldstein and Rihanna. It was produced by West and McCartney, co-produced by Dean, while additional production was provided by Longstreth and Goldstein. The single was recorded at the Jungle City Studios in New York City, Windmark Recording in Santa Monica, and No Name Studios in Mexico. Marcos Tovar along with Goldstein and Dean had done the recording of the vocals, while Brendan Morawski, Zeke Mishanec, Jeremy "Head" Hartney, Brandon Wood, and Jordan Heskett served as assistant recording engineers. The vocal production of the song was done by Kuk Harrell and it was mixed by Manny Marroquin at the Larabee Studios in Los Angeles. Assistant mixing was made by Chris Galland, Jeff Jackson, and Ike Schultz. McCartney played the acoustic guitar, Longstreth played the organ and Dean played the bass guitar. The three members of Wilson Phillips—Chynna Phillips, Carnie Wilson, and Wendy Wilson—provide backing vocals on the song. Carnie Wilson said the trio were invited to appear on the song by West.
On February 8, during his Grammy Awards red carpet interview, West explained how the collaboration came to fruition: "I'm executive producer of Rihanna's album, and I said I'd done a few songs with Paul McCartney and she couldn't get past this record. She had to have it on her album.... So now we at the Grammys doing it". West further compared Rihanna's vocals on the song to that of Scottish singer Annie Lennox: "I feel like she has this type of energy in her vocals. And she even brought it to another level of like soul and heart and artistry". In an interview with V magazine, Rihanna revealed, "The thing that made me fall in love with is the juxtaposition of the music and the lyrics. When you read the lyrics it's a completely different song than what you are hearing. The music is easygoing, but the lyrical content is very loud and in your face." Although it is a first collaboration by the trio, they have collaborated separately. West and McCartney collaborated on the 2014 single "Only One", a track dedicated to West's daughter North. Rihanna and West previously collaborated on Jay-Z's 2009 single "Run This Town"—which became a commercial success and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart—and West's 2011 single "All of the Lights", a track featuring backup vocals by John Legend, Fergie, and Elton John among others.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"FourFiveSeconds" is an acoustic folk-pop, pop, pop rock and soul pop song, with a length of three minutes and eight seconds. Critics noted how the song has a stripped back feel to it, and that it incorporates elements of country and folk. "FourFiveSeconds" makes use of a simple instrumentation, primarily consisting of an acoustic guitar and organ, as well as a bass guitar in the background. It has been noted that West sings his lines in the song instead of rapping them, which prompted Jim Farber of the Daily News to write that he could have done with auto-tune to smooth out his "unsteady vocals." "FourFiveSeconds" is written in the key of D major, in common time, with a tempo of 103 beats per minute. Rihanna and West's vocals span two octaves from the low note of D3 to the high note of D5.Billboards Jocelyn Vena stated that the musical direction of the song represents a departure from the material present on Rihanna's most recent studio album, Unapologetic, which incorporated EDM and dubstep. Hugh Mclntyre of Forbes also wrote that the song represents a change in musical direction for Rihanna and West, while noting that it is consistent with McCartney's style of music. Lanre Bakare of The Guardian described "FourFiveSeconds" as an "acoustic ballad" and the antithesis of what Rihanna and West's previous collaborations have sounded like. Writing for Vogue magazine, Alex Frank described the song as an "unplugged version" of Rihanna's 2011 single "We Found Love", and without the dance beats present on her previous singles.
The New York Post wrote that the lyrics "express emotions ranging from the flip to the resigned". Sharan Shetty of Slate stated that the song is about "heartbreak and redemption", while a Yahoo! News reviewer noted that it is about "personal travails and confusion". Nora Crotty of Elle magazine described the single as an "ode to repenting in the morning for the foolish mistakes you made the night before". Billboards Vena stated that a "plucky acoustic guitar" accompanies Rihanna's vocals while she sings the lines, "I think I've had enough/ Might get a little drunk/ I say what's on my mind/ I might do a little time. Cause all of my kindness/ Is taken for weakness." After the first chorus West sings, "Woke up an optimist/ Sun was shining, I'm positive/ Then I heard you was talking trash/ Hold me back/ I'm about to spazz." On the second chorus, he and Rihanna harmonize as they sing, "Now I'm four, five seconds from wylin'/ And we got three more days 'till Friday/ I'm just trying to make it back home by Monday morning." McCartney's voice can be heard sped up underneath West's opening vocals. McCartney originally played his guitar part slower and in a lower key, which West later sped up for the finished release, thus causing McCartney's voice to sound much higher than its normal tone. McCartney's lyrics were improvised mid-performance and are for the most part drowned out by West's vocals except for the lines "We can run around" and "How 'bout a mystery."
Critical reception
Peter Kandunias of Gigwise praised Rihanna's and West's vocals as well as McCartney's instrumentation. Mclntyre of Forbes noted: "The song puts the spotlight on Rihanna's vocals, highlighting them in a way that her club-ready, bombastic tunes don't usually." Jim Farber of New York Daily News stated that this collaboration is better than the previous West–McCartney collaboration. Additionally, he praised Rihanna's vocals and stated that they are a lot better than West's, "who could have used more auto-tune to firm his unsteady vocals". Farber further noted: "It's refreshing to hear Rihanna sing with so little affect, in a setting that's much less processed than most of her recordings". Voxs Kelsey McKinney noted that "Rihanna's voice shows significant growth in range and tone since her last album". She adds that Rihanna's performance in the opening of the song is "more vulnerable than we've heard Rihanna since 2012's 'Stay', and hints that her new album may contain more confessional slow jams like this one".Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote of Rihanna's vocals: "Listen to the ragged squeak in her voice in the first verse, and how she maintains control as she alternates between contemplative trills and gospel shouts during the bridge". According to Kornhaber, the song showcases "how distinctive her timbre and phrasing is", something that was not heard on her previous songs like the 2010 single "Only Girl ". Travis Grier of Def Pen Radio thought that the song is a good choice for Rihanna to achieve legendary status, as, "she's tackled pretty much every genre under the sun and 'FourFiveSeconds' just expands her versatility even more". Crotty of Elle wrote that the song is "awesome" and "sweet". Billboard named "FourFiveSeconds" the 21st best song of 2015.