Only Girl (In the World)
"Only Girl (In the World)" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her fifth album, Loud (2010). Serving as the album's lead single, it was released on September 10, 2010. Crystal Johnson wrote the song in collaboration with producers Stargate and Sandy Vee. Rihanna contacted Stargate before Loud's production and asked them to create lively, uptempo music. "Only Girl (In the World)" was the first song composed for the album, and the singer decided to include it on the track list before she recorded her vocals. Backed by strong bass and synthesizer, it is a dance-pop and Eurodance song that has an electronic composition. Its lyrics describe Rihanna demanding physical attention from her lover.
"Only Girl (In the World)"
September 10, 2010
2010
Roc the Mic Studios (New York City); Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles); The Bunker Studios (Paris)
3:55
- Def Jam
- SRP
Critical response to "Only Girl (In the World)" was positive; a number of critics praised its composition and Rihanna's decision to move away from the dark themes of her previous album, Rated R (2009). The song reached number one on the United States' Billboard Hot 100 chart two weeks after Loud's second single, "What's My Name?", peaked at number one. It was the first time in the chart's history that an album's lead single reached number one after its second single. In the United Kingdom the song spent two weeks at number one and is the 19th-bestselling single of all time by a female artist, with over a million copies sold. The song peaked at number one in Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland, and reached the top five in France, Germany and Switzerland.
Rihanna performed "Only Girl (In the World)" on Saturday Night Live in the United States, The X Factor in the United Kingdom and a shortened version at the 31st Brit Awards. She also performed the song at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in a medley with "Where Have You Been". Anthony Mandler directed the song's music video, in which Rihanna is alone in an open natural landscape. The video suggests that she is the only female in the world, echoing the song's title and lyrics, and critics praised its bright, colorful theme. "Only Girl (In the World)" won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011.
Composition[edit]
"Only Girl (In the World)" is a Eurodance[14] and dance-pop song.[4] The sheet music for the song was in the key of F♯ minor in common time with a moderate tempo of 126 beats per minute, but the chorus is in B minor.[15] Its instrumentation includes synthesizers, a "heavy whipping bass" and a "strobing" electro beat.[16][17][18] Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly described the song as a "stronger, sexier" version of her 2007 single, "Don't Stop the Music".[16]
Rihanna's voice spans one-and-a-half octaves in "Only Girl (In the World)", from F♯3 to C♯5,[15] and her vocal has a "silky", "seductive" tone.[16][17] In the song's lyrics Rihanna yearns for her lover's attention, which makes her feel like the only girl in the world.[17][19] The singer "pours her heart out" in the chorus: "Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world/ Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love/ Like I'm the only one who knows your heart/ Only girl in the world."[17][18][20] According to Digital Spy writer Nick Levine, the chorus "thumps like a rabbit having an epileptic fit."[21] Rihanna sings suggestively, "Baby, I'll tell you all my secrets that I'm keepin'/ You can come inside/ And when you enter, you ain't leavin'/ Be my prisoner for the night."[16] Fraser McAlpine of the BBC compared the song's message to that of the German fairy tale "Rapunzel"; Rihanna is not willing to throw her hair out of the castle for just any man to come and satisfy her, "particularly not someone who isn't prepared to make the climb up to her scarily high window."[22]
Critical reception[edit]
The song received a generally positive response from music critics. Chloe Govan remarked that "Only Girl (In the World)" symbolizes Rihanna's newfound and bold personality, reflecting not only a shift in style but also in sound.[23] Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times called the track a "surefire hit" and something of a "comeback".[24] MTV News writer James Dinh praised the uptempo song, comparing it to the "stark" lead single "Russian Roulette" from Rihanna's previous Rated R.[17] Monica Herrera wrote for Billboard that "Only Girl (In the World)" "aims squarely for dance-floor domination."[20] Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song four stars out of five, calling it a "crowd-pleaser" but not overly original.[21]
According to Levine and Jim Farber of the New York Daily News, "Only Girl (In the World)" was Rihanna's most pop-sounding song since "Don't Stop the Music".[21][25] Analyzing the song, the BBC's Fraser McAlpine questioned why "Only Girl (In the World)" leaves a "positive impression" on the listener despite its arrogant, domineering tone. Critical at first ("Listen to the pneumatic hiss at the heart of this song. Try and endure the pumping thrust without getting winded. There is simply too much pressure being stuffed into our ears, with too much brutal force"), he concluded that Rihanna sings the song with great passion and gave it four stars out of five.[22] James Dolan gave the song two-and-a-half stars out of five in Rolling Stone, writing that "the trance beat won't keep you in the club unless someone else is paying for the drinks."[26]
Chart performance[edit]
North America[edit]
In the United States, "Only Girl (In the World)" debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 25, 2010,[27] jumping to number three the following week, before peaking at number one (Rihanna's ninth) on November 25.[28] Loud's second single, "What's My Name?" (featuring Drake), topped the Hot 100 two weeks before; it was the first time in chart history that an album's first single reached number one after its second.[28] "Only Girl (In the World)" was Rihanna's fourth number-one song of 2010, and she was the first female and the first artist since Usher (in 2004) with four number-one singles in a calendar year.[28] The singer also had the most number-one singles (nine) since 2000.[28] "Only Girl (In the World)" appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart in 2010 and 2011 at numbers 47 and 40, respectively.[29][30]
The song debuted on the Digital Songs chart at number one with sales of 249,000, Rihanna's eighth number-one single and her sixth to debut atop the chart (the most in both categories by any artist since the chart's 2005 introduction).[31] The singer set a Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) radio-airplay chart record when "Only Girl (In the World)" rose from number two to number one on November 25, 2010, her seventh number-one.[32] The song was number 46 and number 33, respectively, on the 2011 Billboard Digital Songs and Pop Songs year-end charts.[33][34] "Only Girl (In the World)" was Rihanna's twelfth number-one on the Dance Club Songs songs chart and number 46 on the 2010 Billboard year-end chart.[35][36] The song has been certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 3.6 million copies in the US as of June 2015.[37][38] In Canada, "Only Girl (In the World)" debuted at number 65 on September 25, 2010, and rose to number one for a week the following week.[39] On November 6 the song returned to number one for three consecutive weeks,[40][41][42] remaining on the chart for a total of 35 weeks.[43]
United Kingdom[edit]
In the United Kingdom "Only Girl (In the World)" debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart on October 31, 2010, with 126,000 copies sold.[44][45][46] Cheryl Cole debuted at number one with "Promise This", selling 157,000 copies, and Cole and Rihanna had the highest and second-highest debut sales figures of the year.[45][46] The song rose to number one the next week for two consecutive weeks.[47][48] It was Rihanna's fourth UK number-one single, following "Umbrella" (2007), "Take a Bow" (2008) and "Run This Town" (2009).[49] By December 2011 "Only Girl (In the World)" was the 108th song to sell more than a million copies in the United Kingdom, the fifteenth by a female artist, Rihanna's first as primary artist and second overall; the 107th million-seller was Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" six weeks before, on which Rihanna was featured.[50]
Rihanna was the second non-United Kingdom, non-North American million-selling artist; the first was Danish singer Whigfield with her 1994 song, "Saturday Night".[50] Although at the time the only other female two-song million-seller was Canadian singer Celine Dion, two of Rihanna's subsequent singles—"We Found Love" (2011) and "Diamonds" (2012)—have also sold more than a million copies each.[51] "Only Girl (In the World)" is the nineteenth-bestselling single by a female artist and the 99th overall of all time in the United Kingdom.[52][53] The song was the fourth- and 68th-bestselling single, respectively, of 2010 and 2011.[54][55] Certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments exceeding 600,000 copies, it has sold 1,080,000 copies.[53][56] "Only Girl (In the World)" peaked at number one on the UK Single Downloads Chart and the Scottish Singles Chart.[57][58]
Usage in media[edit]
The song has appeared on the videogames Just Dance 3[a] and Grand Theft Auto V.[66] The song was also featured in the 2015 DreamWorks Animation movie Home.[67]