Songfacts®:

• This is the second single by R&B singer Usher, from his EP Versus. The song was written by Ester Dean, produced by Polow Da Don and features rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Ciara.
• In Jay-Z's verse he raps:
  
  Big ballin is my hobby
  So much so they think I'm down with the Illuminati
  
  This a reference to the video for Hov's track "On to the Next One," which was alleged to feature Satanic, Masonic and Illuminati imagery. The rapper later shot down the claims on the Rick Ross track "Free Mason."
• A hot toddy is a mixed drink, usually including alcohol that is served hot. Hot toddies are traditionally drunk before going to bed, or in cold weather. Uses of the phrase in popular music as a slang term for a hot girl can be dated back to at least 1942 when Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby sung Irving Berlin's "I'll Capture Your Heart in Holiday Inn:
  
  Astaire: Here she comes, down the street
  
  Crosby: My, oh my, ain't she sweet?
  
  Astaire: Why, here comes my hot toddy
  
  Crosby: Over my dead body
• The song was originally reported to feature Ciara, but when the official mix of the song appeared online, Ester Dean, who sang vocals on the demo, can be heard singing the vocal female interludes. The songwriter told The Boombox that she was surprised when she heard the finished product. "Usher is a real good friend of mine," said Dean. "I went to Jamaica with him and the guys. We are out there hanging out and one his boys ask me, 'You heard Usher's new song 'Hot Tottie?' And I had never heard of that song before. I knew we recorded some stuff with Usher, but that was all. I didn't even know Jay-Z was on it and I didn't know my vocals were going to make the track. To tell you the truth, I didn't even remember recording the song [laughs]."