Songfacts®:

• This is a promo song for Barbadian singer Rihanna's fourth studio album, Rated R. It was written by The-Dream and produced by Stargate with UK dance producers Chase & Status. Saul Milton, a.k.a. Chase, recalled to the BBC Newsbeat program how he found out that Rihanna was interested in working with the duo. "I actually got a call from Rihanna at 6 a.m. one day, before we even met up, saying how she loves the tracks and that she can't wait to work with us," he said, adding, "That was a big realization that it's happening!"
  
  Milton also hailed Rihanna's "real professional outlook." "When she doesn't like something she'll let you know. When she likes something she'll let you know as well," Milton said. "If she's not into the vibe she'll be like, 'Nope, I don't think it's for me.' Or if something is a bit too bolshie [esoteric], she's like, 'That's not what I'm trying to push right now.' We just spent a lot of time with the writers and with her and she's just a really cool girl, down to earth."
• The song was originally titled "The Wait is Ova."
• The video was shot by Anthony Mandler (John Mayer, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z) who has directed most of Rihanna's promos, including the "Roulette" clip. It was filmed on a cold mid-October day in New York City. The grainy hard-edged clip shows Rihanna, portrayed as a tough renegade, making her way around New York. "We used very unconventional beauty light, camera and film stock for an artist like Rihanna. We wanted the grain and texture of the film to jump off the screen," Mandler said to MTV News. "The whole visual approach was more attuned to a grimy street video than a polished beauty performance." Mandler told MTV News that Rihanna was inspired by "the energy and bravado of early hip-hop videos that were made without a lot of resources." He added: "We definitely talked about the song and the words behind it: the idea of taking her place back, in a bravado and aggressive way. That's why we went for a more classic hip-hop street feel. It's an unusual approach for someone like Rihanna, but again, I'm never surprised by her desire to push the boundaries."