Somebody Else

Album: Restoration (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This Polow da Don produced track was released as the lead single from Mario's Restoration album. Both Frank Ocean and Chris Brown recorded demos before Mario eventually snapped the tune up. The song was dropped in the United States as a Digital download on May 21, 2013.
  • The song features rapper Nicki Minaj, whom Mario told MTV News was the perfect fit to spit the rhymes: "I feel like Nicki fit the same characteristics of the track," he said. "Being from New York, being grungy, but at the same time understanding taste and prestige and also being a great lyricist and being able to represent a brand."

    "She has her own brand and she's so versatile," Mario added. "She could take it back to her roots when she was putting out mixtapes that were just real gritty and straight to the point. We need that. So I think that she was the only one really."
  • This samples R&B group 21st Century's 1975 song "Remember the Rain."
  • The Alexandre Moors directed video also features Minaj and showcases the song's heartbreaking lyrics. Mario told MTV News that while he had a few different ideas for the shoot, he went with the one that accommodated the busy rapper's schedule "I had three or four concepts for the video because I didn't wanna do the typical 'cheat on your girl and she walks in the house and catches you' type of thing," he said. "I wanted there to be more shock value. I wanted it to feel like a movie and to feel cinematic."

    "I had another script that was more prestigious," Mario added, "I would say, in terms of how I wanted to shoot it and where, but this just made more sense because Nicki was in the New York at the time shooting a movie."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Leslie West of Mountain

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!