American Oxygen
"American Oxygen" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was written by Alex da Kid, Candice Pillay, Sam Harris and Rihanna; Alex da Kid and Kanye West produced it. Written over the course of a year, "American Oxygen" was inspired by the 1984 single "Born in the U.S.A." performed by Bruce Springsteen. It was made available for streaming on Tidal on April 5, 2015, and released for digital download on April 14 via the iTunes Store as a standalone single. The song has patriotic lyrical content about a new America and the chasing of the American dream.
"American Oxygen"
The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised the intricacy of the production, the quality of the lyrical content and the dubstep-inspired aesthetic of the song. Darren Craig, Jonathan Craven and Jeff Nicholas of the Uprising Creative directed the music video for "American Oxygen", which premiered exclusively on Tidal on April 6. It depicts numerous moments from American history while Rihanna sings in front of a large American flag. Rihanna performed "American Oxygen" for the first time at the Final Four of the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis.
Release[edit]
"American Oxygen" was first featured on commercials which promoted the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.[3] Later, the song was made available for streaming on April 5, 2015, via Tidal, a service co-owned by Rihanna together with other music artists including, Jay Z, Beyoncé and Madonna.[4] On April 14, "American Oxygen" was made available for digital download worldwide via the iTunes Store.[5] In Canada and the United States it was released two days later, on April 16.[6] It was sent to Hot/Modern/AC radio in the United States on April 20,[7] and impacted the contemporary hit radio stations in the country a day after, on April 21.[8]
Critical reception[edit]
"American Oxygen" attracted widespread praise by music critics. Vulture's Lockett wrote "But just in case the song doesn't wind up replacing our national anthem, it'd also make for the perfect Empire theme song."[12] Tietjen of VH1 described "American Oxygen" as different for 180 degrees from her previous single, "Bitch Better Have My Money", and not as raw as "FourFiveSeconds".[14] Ailbhe Mahone of the Irish Times declared the single as 'Track of the Week' and called it "epic". She also wrote, "When she sings the line ‘we are the new America’, we defy you not to feel a shiver down your spine."[17]
Rob Le Donne of The Guardian wrote that the single features more "serious" Rihanna than the persona on her previous singles, "it's hard to tell exactly what Rihanna is trying to say – but maybe that’s the point." Further more, he praised the producers Alex da Kid and West and the "layered" production that they have done on the song. However, he thought that "American Oxygen" is not "radio-friendly" unlike Eminem and Rihanna's 2010 single "Love the Way You Lie", which was also produced by Alex da Kid, or Rihanna's songs from her previous album, Unapologetic, including "Diamonds" and "Pour It Up". Le Donne wrote "So why is Rihanna, arguable queen of the club jam, putting out such a heavy single when she could have released another party banger?" To answer his question he put out two theories, on the first one, he thought that putting out the song is a "calculated move driven to get people talking about her again" because she has been musically inactive for three years, or the second theory that "Rihanna wants to move past her commercial dance tracks and actually comment on today's society".[18]
Commercial performance[edit]
"American Oxygen" debuted at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the issue dated May 2, 2015. For the week, it sold over 20,000 digital copies and was streamed 2.1 million times.[19] It peaked at number 78 on its second week on the chart and charted for four weeks total.
Live performances[edit]
On April 4, 2015, Rihanna performed at the Final Four of the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the performance, she sang "American Oxygen" for the first time, as well as "Bitch Better Have My Money" and "FourFiveSeconds". The concert also featured Rihanna's older hits, such as "Stay", "We Found Love" and "Diamonds".[3] Rihanna also performed the song on the 40th-season finale of Saturday Night Live, alongside "Bitch Better Have My Money".[34]