“Umbrella” modified all the things for Rihanna. The Barbados-born pop sensation had burst onto the scene in 2005 with “Pon De Replay,” reaching No. 2 within the US and hitting High 10s worldwide. “SOS” went one higher the next yr, securing the highest spot within the US and establishing Rihanna as a worldwide power. However “Umbrella” marked the purpose the place Rihanna not solely loved one of many greatest worldwide hits of the last decade, but in addition discovered an id of her personal. Her profession up to now had seen her flirting with genres and picture as she discovered her ft – from the second she coolly intoned the “ella ella eh” hook she turned the edgier, extra subtle Rihanna who’d go on to overcome the pop world.
It may all have been very totally different. The track – written by Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and Terius “The Dream” Nash – was initially provided to Britney Spears after which to Mary J. Blige, each of whom turned it down. As soon as Rihanna heard the demo, she was decided to make it her personal, as she instructed The Ellen Present in 2007, “The first time I heard ‘Umbrella’ I just knew how much I loved the song. I thought it had one of the most original sounds of any song that I’ve ever heard…. Eventually, I just went up to one of the managers and was like, ‘This song is mine…. I’m gonna fight you if I don’t have this song.’”
Take heed to Rihann’s “Umbrella” on Apple Music or Spotify.
The track itself – an providing of shelter from an emotional storm – got here straightforward. Nash broke down the writing of “Umbrella” in a 2007 interview with Blender, starting along with his response when he heard a hi-hat loop that Stewart was engaged on: “I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, what is that beat?’ Then Tricky starts putting some chords over it, and immediately the word popped into my head: umbrella. I ran over to the vocal booth and started singing… The first verse was written in 60 seconds. Then we had to grow it to the hook. Tricky would put the next chord on there, and I was singing it out: ‘When the sun shines, we’ll shine together.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy.’ I was getting goosebumps.”
In Rihanna, Nash and Stewart discovered the right voice for his or her stormy R&B energy ballad. Nash’s lyrics would possibly’ve felt overly sentimental had they not been sung together with her angle; the cruel, minimal beats and cinematic strings of Stewart’s music could not have labored with out Rihanna’s sass and grit. Stewart later instructed MTV that any doubt over the singer was solid apart within the studio, “When she recorded the ‘ellas,’ you knew your life was about to change if you had anything to do with that record.” As soon as Rihanna’s vocals have been laid down, she referred to as upon her mentor and Def Jam label boss, rapper Jay-Z, so as to add a verse – a ringing endorsement and signal that “Umbrella” had huge hit potential.
“Umbrella” acquired its official launch on March 29, simply over two months after Nash and Stewart wrote it. The track topped the Billboard Scorching 100 for seven consecutive weeks and paved the best way for the multi-platinum success of Rihanna’s coming-of-age album, Good Lady Gone Dangerous. Worldwide success shortly adopted: “Umbrella” reigned supreme on the high of the UK charts for 10 weeks and has bought greater than six million copies worldwide. Its success additionally gave Rihanna the boldness and clout to take cost of her personal future. “Umbrella” had definitely proved a track price preventing for.
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