Songfacts®:

• This features the pop singer Rihanna, who contributes a verse and sings the hook. T.I. told Artist Direct how he got the Barbadian singer on board: "It was a back and forth studio thing with Rihanna. I picked her. I was just able to 'Hear' her voice on this record. I could hear her, so I reached out and she said, 'Yes,' thankfully."
• This was produced by Just Blaze whose previous credits include "Touch The Sky" by Kanye West, "Kingdom Come" by Jay-Z and "Breathe" by Fabolous.
• In this song, T.I. discusses his growth and reconciles himself to his lot in life. He also gives a dedication to the American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• This song leapt from #80 to #1 on the Hot 100, breaking the record for the largest vault to the top. T.I. already held the record as the song this replaced at the top, "Whatever You Like" jumped from #71 to #1 six weeks previously. One week later, Britney Spears took the record away from T.I., when "Womanizer" leapt from #96 to #1.
• In selling 334,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability, the song broke the record held by Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" of the most digital sales in a debut week. Four months later the song's record was broken by Enimem's comeback single "Crack a Bottle," which sold 418,000 digital copies in its opening week.
• This samples the European pop smash "Dragostea din Tei" by the Moldavian trio O-Zone. It was the source material for a well-known YouTube clip, the "Numa Numa Dance", that shows Gary Brolsma dancing to this song.
• T.I. and Rihanna originally introduced this song at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.
• Rihanna is officially credited as a featured artist on this track. When this reached #1 in the US, the Barbadian singer became the first female to achieve five chart-toppers in the 21st century.
• This had three separate runs at #1 on the Hot 100. Prior to this, the only other songs to have three separate turns at the top had been "Le Freak" by Chic in late 1978 and early 1979 plus two other 2008 chart-toppers, Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and T.I's other #1 "Whatever You Like."