In 2007, the song won two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards, when it was nominated for four. The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations. Entertainment Weekly ranked the song number one on the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while Rolling Stone and Time listed the song at number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007. "Umbrella" was well received by music critics, many of whom appreciated the "ella, ella" hook as well as the covincing vocals with which she deilvered the chorus. It is generally considered Rihanna's signature song. "Umbrella" is a pop and R&B song and lyrically it refers to a romantic and platonic relationship and the strength of that relationship. The song was originally written for recording artist Britney Spears, whose label rejected it. The song was written by The-Dream, Christopher Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z, and was produced by Stewart for Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). M" Umbrella" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, featuring a rap verse by Jay-Z. When future clip shows remember 2007, the music playing over shots of sodden Wimbledon spectators and filth-caked Glastonbury-goers will have to be Umbrella, the greatest unsummery summer anthem there ever was.Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, The-Dream, Kuk Harrell Singles chronology Current This is one of those rare and wonderful occasions when external events fill a song with unintended significance. Unless Jay-Z (who is the CEO of Rihanna's label) is more powerful than I imagined, he couldn't have predicted the great British non-summer of 2007. When you've heard it 100 times, this stuff matters.ĩ. The little details, like the splashy hi-hat sound on the first beat of each bar, or the subtle double-tracked vocals on certain words of the chorus. And the bit where it goes all sturm-und-drang before returning to the chorus gives me goosebumps.ħ.
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Also, when she riffs on "ella" she sounds half like a playful kid and half like a malfunctioning robot.Ħ. One of pop's gifts is the ability to make humdrum words sound deliciously strange. The way she pronounces Umbrella with four syllables, which makes it seem implausibly exotic. Instead, it's tough, clean and unshowy - just as it should be.ĥ. Subjected to the hyperactive larynx of a technically stronger singer like Christina Aguilera or Beyonce (it was first offered to Akon and Mary J Blige), Umbrella would have suffered death by melisma. Like fellow modern divas Ciara and Cassie, Rihanna's all about dispassionate poise and restraint. I admit I caught the video on VH1 while in a hotel eight time zones away, jetlagged and homesick, and almost burst into tears.Ĥ. From Lean On Me to You Got a Friend to, er, the theme from Friends, I'll-be-there-for-you-when-times-get-tough has been done to death, but the umbrella is such a simple, brilliant metaphor, and the delivery so proudly unsentimental, that it sounds brand new. It reworks one of the oldest, sappiest sentiments in pop. Is he trying to tell us something? Ten minutes to Wapner!ģ. Amusingly, Jay refers to himself as Rain Man. It overcomes the worst introduction imaginable in the shape of Jay-Z's inept, stumblebum rap, a blatant branding exercise to attract urban radio.
Rihanna umbrella release date plus#
Plus - and more on this later - it's about rain, for crying out loud. Neither laidback and fuzzy nor upbeat and exuberant, it's more like a rock power ballad stripped down to drums, voice, and thundercloud synths. It's such an improbable R&B summer smash. I wouldn't object too strongly if something (specifically Amerie's Gotta Work, though I'm open to suggestions) dislodged it in the near future, but until then, here are nine reasons to celebrate the song of the summer.ġ. They are both bona fide, the-nation-has-spoken hits which still sound fresh and unpredictable. I've never met anyone who owns a copy of Bryan Adams' Everything I Do (I Do It For You) (16 weeks, 1991), Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You (10 weeks, 1992) or Wet Wet Wet's version of Love Is All Around (15 weeks, 1994), but someone must have been buying the buggers.īut last year, Gnarls Barkley's curiously addictive Crazy deserved every one of its nine weeks at the top and I reckon the same is true of Umbrella.
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Traditionally, the long-running number one is a blight on the airwaves. Photograph: David LeveneĪnd so we enter the ninth week of the long and glorious reign of Rihanna's Umbrella, the undisputed song of the summer - indeed, the year.