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, Kanye 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"
January 24, 2015
- 2013-2014
- Jungle City Studios, New York City
- Windmark Recording, Santa Monica
- No Name Studios, Mexico
3:08
- Roc Nation
- Westbury Road
- West
- McCartney
"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.
Composition and lyrical interpretation[edit]
"FourFiveSeconds" is an acoustic folk-pop, pop, pop rock and soul pop song,[13] with a length of three minutes and eight seconds.[14] Critics noted how the song has a stripped back feel to it,[15] and that it incorporates elements of country and folk.[16][17] "FourFiveSeconds" makes use of a simple instrumentation, primarily consisting of an acoustic guitar and organ, as well as a bass guitar in the background.[12][18] 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."[15] "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.[19]
Billboard's 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 (2012), which incorporated EDM and dubstep.[20][21] 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.[12] 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.[22] 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.[23]
The New York Post wrote that the lyrics "express emotions ranging from the flip to the resigned".[15] Sharan Shetty of Slate stated that the song is about "heartbreak and redemption",[24] while a Yahoo! News reviewer noted that it is about "personal travails and confusion".[25] 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".[26] Billboard's 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."[20] 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."[27]
Music video[edit]
Development[edit]
The accompanying music video for "FourFiveSeconds" was directed by Dutch photographer duo, Inez and Vinoodh and shot in late December 2014 in New York City.[79] Stephanie Bargas, Jeff Lepine, and Jon Barlow served as the visual's producers, while theCollectiveShift executively produced it. Jodokus Driessen was the director of photography, with Otto Arsenault serving both as editor and cinematographer.[80] On January 30, 2015, via her official YouTube channel, Rihanna posted a behind the scenes video from the making of the clip. The video features Rihanna, West, and McCartney performing against a white background. She explained the fashion that they used for the video, "Kanye came up with the idea of doing just some real street, denim, all-American-type look. Denim never goes out of style; it's classic, it's iconic, just like the Beatles."[81] On February 2, Rihanna posted a snippet of the clip on her official Instagram account. It shows the singer in silhouette as she sings the lyrics; she is wearing a Sean John throwback denim jacket.[82] The video premiered on February 3 on Rihanna's official Vevo channel on YouTube.[83] The same day, it was digitally released on the iTunes Store.[84]
Live performances and covers[edit]
Rihanna, McCartney, and West performed "FourFiveSeconds" at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.[96] Chris Payne of Billboard named the performance as one of the best moments of the ceremony and praised Rihanna's vocals, "Let's face it – seeing this improbable collaboration in person is the main reason many tuned in. There are so many ways three huge personas can get in the way, but Rihanna, 'Ye, and Sir Paul knew how to bring this one to life".[97] Joe Lynch of the same publication listed the performance at fourth out of the total of 23 performances that night, writing, "'FourFiveSeconds' ironically takes time to grow on you, but the presence of three disparate pop stars on stage with each other was one of the most deliriously awesome Grammy highlights".[98] Isabella Biedenharn of Entertainment Weekly graded the performance an "A" and praised Rihanna and West's vocals and the trio's wardrobe.[99] According to TiVo, the performance was the fifth most-viewed segment of the night.[100] On April 4, Rihanna performed at the Final Four of the March Madness 2015 which was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the performance, she sang a solo version of "FourFiveSeconds", as well as, her new songs "Bitch Better Have My Money" and "American Oxygen" among others.[101] McCartney added the song to his setlists, and was joined by Rihanna for a performance at the Desert Trip festival in October 2016.[102]
Canadian rapper Drake covered the song during his performance at the Sprite NBA All-Star Weekend concert held at the Irving Plaza in New York City on February 14.[103] Welsh band Punk Rock Factory recorded a cover of the song, transforming it into "a punk rock anthem".[104] English singer-songwriter James Bay covered "FourFiveSeconds" during the BBC Radio 1 Lounge on March 3.[105] Australian pop singer Cody Simpson performed an acoustic version of the single during his visit on SiriusXM radio. Christina Garibaldi of MTV News, regarding the performance, wrote, "The 'New Problems' singer effortlessly covers Rihanna and Kanye's verses while giving off some serious John Mayer vibes."[106] Rihanna also performed the song on the South American dates in late September 2015. One of the shows was one of the nights of the Rock in Rio festival, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[106] One Direction covered the song during the BBC Radio One Live Lounge on 13 November.[107]
Rihanna performed the song on the Anti World Tour. Paul McCartney regularly performed "FourFiveSeconds" on his 2016/17 One on One Tour.
Ariana Grande, with her team members Holly Forbes and Jim and Sasha Allen, performed this song on episode twenty of the 21st season of The Voice.