Rihanna dances subtly in the foreground as Drake watches in the background. I have to work, work, work, work, work, work.” The repetition of the word “work” emphasizes the tediousness and inescapability of the job. The song was released as the lead single on January 27, 2016, through Westbury Road and Roc Nation.The song was written by PartyNextDoor, Rihanna, Drake, Monte Moir, Rupert 'Sevn' Thomas, Allen Ritter and Matthew Samuels, and was produced by Boi-1da, Kuk Harrell and. The audio-model graces the cover of Vogue Magazine's April 2016.
Rihanna chimes in, “Please recognize I’m trying, babe. 'Work' is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her eighth studio album, Anti (2016), featuring Canadian rapper Drake. Pose for the camera, now flick Rihanna may not wow vocally, but there's no denying her ability to deliver a-front of the camera. Drake sings, “Yeah, okay, you need to get done, done, done, done at work,” recognizing the necessity of finding employment, but he laments, “Long distance, I need you.” Still, he admits, “When I see potential I just gotta see it through,” again referring to the job opportunities that are only available far away. The candy-tinted color-scheme suggests a fantasy world, perhaps in the imagination or mind’s eye of Rihanna and Drake, who represent a couple torn by the distances involved in work abroad. Rihanna and Drake are alone in a living room with pink walls and purple lighting. The second time the song is played, it presents a message about immigrant work and the difficulty it poses to familial and romantic relationships. Rihanna’s lyrics are sung in the Bajan creole of her native Barbados-for example, “He said me haffi work” and “meh nuh care if him hurt.”
She is at a party, and the women are swaying their hips to the music, celebrating Caribbean culture and choreography. In the first loop, a homage to her home culture, Rihanna is clad in a loosely crocheted slip, paying tribute to the bright colors of Caribbean island countries’ flags. Some of them include hit songs like “What’s My Name?” and “ Take Care” in 20 respectively.Rihanna’s newly released music video for “Work,” in which her song is played twice over the course of seven and a half minutes, addresses issues of Caribbean immigrant workers in the United States. The duo had collaborated on several other tracks prior to this one. It hit #2 on the UK singles Chart and ranked within the top-15 in several other European nations. “Work” topped the charts in a host of nations, including that of the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, and Belgium. That same year, dancehall ensemble, Bad Royale also released a remake of this single. In 2016, American DJ duo, Lost Kings performed a remix version of this tune. In 2017, “Work” received awards for Best Collaboration and R&B Song of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. It failed to win both awards, losing the former to Adele’s “ Hello” and the latter to “ Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots. On their list of 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016, Billboard magazine ranked this track at #26.Īt the 59th edition of the Grammy Awards, this single was honored with nominations for Record of the Year as well as Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. “Work” was named the best song of 2016 by both The Guardian and NME magazines. Notably, are the likes of English singer, Conor Maynard (in 2016), American pop singer, Macy Kate (in 2016), and Australian singer, William Singe (in 2016). Since it came out, several musicians have released various cover versions of “Work”. Since it came out, several musicians have released various cover versions of Work. This track contains an interpolation of the 1985 classic hit “If You Were Here Tonight”, which was performed by the American R&B artist, Alexander O’Neal. Interpolates Alexander O’Neal’s “If You Were Here Tonight” Unfortunately we couldn’t include both videos here due to their explicit nature. Both videos were released on 22nd February 2016. Swedish director, Tim Erem was responsible for directing the second version of the video clip for “Work”. Experienced Canadian video director, Little X (Director X) directed the first version of this song’s visual. There are actually two official music videos for this track. Production was done by co-writers Boi-1da and 40 along with Kuk Harrell. Songwriters and ProducersĪs many as eight songwriters (including Rihanna and Drake) worked on this tune. Rihanna released “Work” on 27th January 2016. This dancehall/R&B tune was released as a lead single from her Anti album of 2016. Rihanna has said that the song truly represents her culture thanks to its dancehall vibe and broken language.