Umbrella (song)

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"Umbrella"
Song

"Umbrella" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was written by Terius "The Dream" Nash, Christopher Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z for Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). Featuring vocals by Jay-Z, it was released as the album's lead single during the second quarter of 2007. "Umbrella" is recognized as the most successful song of 2007 on the United World Chart, gaining more than 8,160,000 points.[1] It has been announced as the 7th most successful song of the last decade with 8.614.000 points.[2]

Following a highly successful chart run around the world and a positive reception from music critics, the song achieved number one on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the Ten Best Singles of 2007,[3] as well as number three on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007;[4] it was also named Song of the Year in Blender magazine's Readers' Poll 2007.[5] "Umbrella" won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Background and writing

The music was written by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell and the lyrics and melody were written by Terius "The Dream" Nash with the rap intro written and performed by Jay-Z. The song was produced by Stewart with vocal production by Harrell.[6]

"Umbrella" was not originally written for Rihanna. Christopher "Tricky" Stewart composed the song in 2007, with American pop singer Britney Spears in mind. Her label rejected the song, claiming to have a suitable amount of songs to work with for her future album Blackout, while also Spears having professional difficulties at the time.[7]

Concurrent to the event was the Grammy season of 2007. Stewart and Nash decided to pass the song onto Mary J. Blige, and also L.A. Reid, the then-CEO of Island Def Jam, Rihanna's label.[7] Blige however, was unable to hear the song in full due to her obligations to the Grammys at the time. [8][7] Def Jam representatives remained eager to secure the song for Rihanna, the writers themselves still awaiting a response from Blige.[7] Reid and his team incessantly called them in the entire Grammy weekend to the extent they finally gave them the record.[7]

When she recorded the 'ellas,' you knew it was about to be the jump-off and your life was about to change if you had anything to do with that record.

Stewart confessed he was still reluctant as to whether Rihanna was the right artist to record the song, but following the addition of the "ella, ella" refrain into the track, he felt they were onto "something".[7]

Following Rihanna's recording, Def Jam CEO-rapper Jay-Z added his rap, and then a different verse. Before Stewart and Nash settled on the original rap composed by Jay-Z, he changed it without informing the songwriters. Stewart, however, noted that "from a songwriter's standpoint, he just really made it more about the song, with the metaphors about umbrellas and about the weather versus what he had before."[7]

Single release and promotion

In many parts of the United States, the single was released on March 28, 2007,[9] although its official release date was the following day.[10] The song premiered on the New York radio station Hot 97 and on Rihanna's official website on March 29 at 5:00pm EST.

"Umbrella" premiered on UK radio station Invicta FM on Hit40uk and was released digitally in Britain on May 14, 2007, its physical release following two weeks later by which point the song was already #1. It is claimed though that the song was released first on Radio Kado FM on May 11, 2007 although this is still disputed whether it was legal to do so.

Rihanna made formal appearances all over the United Kingdom prior and following the release of the single. She also debuted three new tracks in Preston at the BBC Radio One One Big Weekend event. At another promotional concert, she performed "Umbrella", "Shut Up and Drive" and "Breakin' Dishes". Rihanna performed "Umbrella" at the MTV Movie Awards 2007. In Germany, she performed the song exclusively at Viva Live, and at the 42nd edition of the chart show The Dome. "Umbrella" was also performed on Live Earth, GMTV, Loose Women, Blue Peter, Kiss Concert 2007, Sprint Concert, Zootopia Show, Stripped Show, Canadian Idol, 106 & Park and The View.

Reception

Andy Kellman of All Music Guide commented: "'Umbrella,' is her best to date, delivering mammoth if spacious drums, a towering backdrop during the chorus, and vocals that are somehow totally convincing without sounding all that impassioned — an ideal spot between trying too hard and boredom, like she might've been on her 20th take, which only adds to the song's charm."[11]

Chart performance

The popularity and positive critical reception to "Umbrella" ensured the song was a commercial success. Coupled with relentlessly strong airplay of both the promotional video and indeed the song itself for the time surrounding its impressive chart run around the world, "Umbrella" was to become Rihanna's biggest hit.

Prior to its physical release, "Umbrella" achieved the biggest debut in the six-year history of the iTunes Music Store, breaking a previous record held by Shakira and Wyclef Jean’s "Hips Don't Lie". As a digital single, "Umbrella" topped the iTunes Store singles chart in more than 16 different countries around the world.

On the issue dated June 9, 2007, "Umbrella" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart after a rising from the #41 position to the top, a jump of forty places, going on to spend a total of seven consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. The track was downloaded a total of 277,000 times in the United States alone, the highest debut-week sum since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking downloads in 2003. On the Billboard year end chart, "Umbrella" was ranked at #2, only behind Beyonce's "Irreplaceable".[12] Furthermore, total digital sales of the song stand at a reputable 2.7 million.[13] "Umbrella" was Rihanna’s second number-one single (after "SOS"), and both songs have records for two of the biggest jumps to number one on the Hot 100 chart. In correspondence with this, the song spent a total of four weeks at #1 in Canada, where it became the first song to top the recently debuted Canadian Hot 100 chart.

Perhaps the song's greatest success came in the United Kingdom. The song debuted at number one on 20 May, 2007, becoming Rihanna's first chart-topper in the country and the third song to reach the top on downloads alone, after Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and Mika's Grace Kelly. The song spent another week at number one on just downloads, before the physical release saw the song raise its sales to 60,650, the highest figure for a single in nine weeks, and easily enough for a third week at number one.[14] Ultimately, the song eventually spent ten weeks in total at number one, just the seventh song in history to reach the benchmark and making it the longest-running chart-topper of the 21st century, as well as the longest since "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet in 1994. However, it should be noted that sales near the top of the chart were very poor for a lot of the song's run; "Umbrella" sold less than 30,000 copies in four of its weeks at number one, and in its final week, it defeated Kate Nash's Foundations by just 131 sales. Its reign was finally ended on 29 July, 2007, when it was overtaken by Timbaland's The Way I Are and Nash. Additionally, it should be noted that 2007 was one of the wettest British summers on record[15], which may have contributed to the song's chart-topping run (indeed, many comedians and newspaper columns were actively blaming Rihanna for the weather, albeit lightheartedly, during June and July). By the end of 2007, "Umbrella" had sold 512,730, making it by far her biggest selling single to date and the second biggest selling song of 2007, trailing only Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love". It was certified Silver by the BPI on July 20, 2007 [16]

As well as topping the charts in the UK, "Umbrella" was a similar success throughout Europe, also reaching #1 in Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Germany and Spain.

In Australia "Umbrella" entered the Australian ARIA singles chart at #1, spent six consecutive weeks at the top, and was certified Platinum by ARIA. It re-entered the top 50 in its 26th week at the position of #46, ending the year as 2007's 3rd biggest seller. It is also one of the few tracks to stay in the top 100 for a year on the charts.[17][18] In New Zealand, "Umbrella" reached #1 on the New Zealand RIANZ singles chart and remained there for six consecutive weeks, ending 2007 as the years biggest seller.

"Umbrella" is considered Rihanna's breakthrough single in many worldwide markets due to the fact it achieved considerable success in countries where her previous singles had not even charted. It did, for example, become a #1 hit in most of the Hispanic American countries, and in some Eastern European territories.

Due to its success in worldwide markets, "Umbrella" reached #1 on the United World Chart, remaining for 10 consecutive weeks and gaining 8.3 million points thus far. It ended the year as the most successful song of 2007, beating close competition from similar success story "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado.

Music video

File:UmbrellaVideo(G3).PNG
Rihanna in the music video for "Umbrella"

While working on the album, ideas had already began to circulate concerning Rihanna's image, extending into her music videos. She asked American music video director Chris Applebaum, who had previously worked with artists such as Kid Rock and Madonna, to send her "something" to work with. Def Jam representatives were expecting Applebaum to the treatment.[19]

In response, Applebaum hurriedly conceptualized the video, one of his first ideas being the silver body paint that Rihanna is seen in. Applebaum was doubtful whether Rihanna would embrace the idea, but her positive response following a letter the director sent to the artist ensured its approval. Makeup artist Pamela Neal mixed a paint that would give Rihanna such a look. During the session, the paint was re-applied between takes to ensure she was completely covered. The set was closed to Rihanna, Applebaum and a camera assistant.[19] Rihanna also contributed her own ideas towards the video shoot, suggesting to Applebaum that she dance en pointe, an idea which he accepted.[19]

The final cut of the video premiered at on April 26, 2007 at Thisisrihanna.com. Downloads were made available for those in the U.S. only from the website for a limited time. Rihanna and her dancers were choreographed by Tina Landon and the video was officially released on the iTunes Store on May 11, 2007, peaking at #1 for a period 8 weeks. On May 14, 2007, the "Umbrella" video debuted on BET’s 106 & Park at #9 before achieving its peak of #4. It was Rihanna’s first video to chart on the countdown since her debut single "Pon de Replay" in 2005. On May 1, 2007, "Umbrella" debuted on MTV’s Total Request Live at #10, before reaching #1 on May 9 where it remained for fifteen days, making it the longest running #1 of 2007. "Umbrella" has been announced as being the most played video ever on Polish music channel MTV Poland, beating previous record holder Madonna’s "Hung Up". Such was the success of the promotional video that it was also nominated for five awards at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, including "Female Artist of the Year", "Video of the Year" and "Monster Single of the Year", going on to win the latter two.[20] As of April 22, 2008, the music video for "Umbrella" has been viewed over 53,700,000 times on popular video-sharing website YouTube, including video duplicates.

Other versions

Acoustic version

Rihanna recorded an acoustic version of the song with a new arrangement and later released the song as a bonus track to Good Girl Gone Bad on the iTunes Music Store.

Official remix

Cover versions

Marié Digby version

"Umbrella"
Song

Marié Digby released her cover of "Umbrella" as her debut single, released from the Start Here EP.

Then-upcoming singer Digby released an acoustic version of "Umbrella" through iTunes under Hollywood Records on August 3, 2007. The single was previously released on the Los Angeles based radio station STAR 98.7 as a "You Oughta Hear" feature. Canadian ska punk band illScarlett and Terra Naomi (a singer who was discovered on YouTube), have also recorded acoustic versions.

Track listing

  1. "Umbrella" – 3:46
  2. "Umbrella" (Acoustic) – 3:48

Manic Street Preachers EP

Untitled

The Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers released their cover version of "Umbrella" to radio stations on 17th February 2008. A video for the cover is available on the band's official website [2]. The song was included on a CD album titled NME Awards 2008 given away free with a special souvenir box set of the magazine NME on 27th February, produced in celebration of the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 and Big Gig. The Manics were the recipients of the 2008 God Like Geniuses Award. The 14-track album also features covers performed by The Kooks, Wombats, Kate Nash, Lightspeed Champion, Kaiser Chiefs, Cribs, Bloc Party, CSS and others.[21]

Other covers of Umbrella have been performed by indie band Tegan and Sara and even a live version of the song at the NME Awards featuring another indie band Klaxons, also performing a reworked version of their hit Golden Skans to Rihanna's song.

When made available for purchase on iTunes, the song reached #47 in the UK Singles Chart [3]. Despite being chart eligible, the release was not intended as an official single. As bassist Nicky Wire commented, "The Umbrella thing is an odd situation, especially for me with my insane marketing head on. Part of me thinks we should have given it a massive push as it’s selling loads on download, maybe we should have had a physical format and made it an official Manics single. I’m really perturbed that if it’s perceived that way, we’ll have had 33 consecutive Top 40 singles since Stay Beautiful, back when we signed to Sony. I don’t want our record ruined. I can take it as a happy accident as long as the sales don’t push it to Number 42 or something but it is definitely not an official Manics single" [4].

Nicky Wire said of the song, "This was my favourite track of 2007. It's just so razor-sharp. And who'd have thought a song called 'Umbrella' would be Number One all over the world? It's such an un-pop word. I love it when a record seems to come from another universe. I just wanted us to have a stab at it!"[22]

Two further versions were later made available on iTunes and now comprise a three-track Umbrella EP.

Track listing

  1. "Umbrella" – 3:38
  2. "Umbrella" (Acoustic) – 3:27
  3. "Umbrella" (Grand Slam Mix) – 5:10

All Time Low Cover

Pop-punk outfit, All Time Low has recently covered the song for the Fearless Records' compilation album Punk Goes Crunk.

Mak In Da Hood Cover

The mexican youtube celebrity Mak made a video for Umbrella's original version, but it was removed. We can still see the intro for the song at his youtube channel "makindahood".

Reported coincidence with weather

The song's reign at number-one in the United Kingdom and Ireland occurred as the region was hit by extreme rainfall and flooding, which led some people to jokingly suggest the two events were related, the media referring to it as the "Rihanna Curse". Interestingly, the precise day the song was knocked from the #1 position by Timbaland, the weather seemed to improve. A similar situation occurred in New Zealand, where the song hit #1 in the early winter of 2007 as the country was experiencing some of the worst storms in its history.[23] In Greece, "Umbrella" was released at a time when people were suffering through a summer of several major heatwaves topping 47C/117F, and the worst forest fires of modern history, killing 60 people. When the song peaked at #4 in the Greek singles chart in October 2007, the country experienced significant rainfall. Spain also experienced one of its wettest summers in decades, and the coldest August since the beginning of the 20th century during "Umbrella"'s chart run. The "Rihanna Curse" has appeared to have returned in UK in 2008 since 'Take A Bow' reached number 1 the rain came back.

Charts

Year End Charts

References

  1. ^ United World Chart Countdown 2007
  2. ^ United World Chart tracks - Top achievements
  3. ^ The 10 best songs of 2007 (December 23, 2007). "The 10 best songs of 2007" Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-12-28
  4. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
  5. ^ Jody Rosen (December 25, 2007). "Readers' Poll 2007" Blender. Retrieved 2007-12-28
  6. ^ "Good Girl Gone Bad" album sleeve notes.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodriguez, Jayson ((February 06, 2007)). "Rihanna's 'Umbrella' Was 'The Perfect Storm' That Almost Didn't Happen: Behind The Grammys". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2008-02-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Rodriguez, Jayson ((October 23, 2007)). "Mary J. Blige Says She's 'Just Fine' With Her New Album, Losing 'Umbrella' To Rihanna". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2008-02-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Let'sSingIt.com - March 21, 2007, "Rihanna’s New Single Hits Radio March 28th"
  10. ^ Official Website - March 29, 2007, Rihanna Launches New Single "Umbrella" Worldwide
  11. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Review: Good Girl Gone Bad". All Music Guide. Macrovision Company. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  12. ^ Billboard 2007 Year In Music
  13. ^ Jonathan Cohen. ""Rihanna, Shop Boyz Rocket To The Top Of Hot 100"". Billboard.com. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Music Week Sales
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ http://bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=32977
  17. ^ ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2006
  18. ^ australian-charts.com - Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - Umbrella
  19. ^ a b c Rodriguez, Jayson ((September 05, 2007)). "Rihanna's 'Painful' 'Umbrella' Shoot Kept Her On Her Toes: VMA Lens Recap". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2008-02-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ 2007 VMA | Nominees | View Nominees, Music Videos and Photos Including Video Of The Year, Best New Artist and Best Group
  21. ^ http://www.manicstreetpreachers.com/godlikegenius/fans/
  22. ^ NME Big Gig Special Issue, 27/02/2007, p.5
  23. ^ Nzherald.co.nz
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Rihanna and Jay-Z - Umbrella global chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved April 09, 2008.
  25. ^ Danish Singles Chart
  26. ^ Euro 200
  27. ^ Finnish Singles Chart
  28. ^ French Singles Chart
  29. ^ Italian Singles Chart
  30. ^ Italian Singles Chart
  31. ^ Polish National Top 50
  32. ^ Swedish Singles Chart
  33. ^ Swiss Singles Chart
  34. ^ Turkish Top 20 Chart
  35. ^ U.S. Billboard Pop 100
  36. ^ U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
  37. ^ U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
  38. ^ ARIA
  39. ^ oe3.ORF.at / SingleCharts 2007
  40. ^ ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS
  41. ^ Radio 538 = 102 FM - Jaar overzicht
  42. ^ U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100
  43. ^ U.S. ''Billboard'' Pop 100
  44. ^ Global Track Chart

External links

Template:Succession box two to oneTemplate:Succession box two to one
Preceded by United World Chart Single of the Year
2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK Singles Chart number-one single
May 20 2007 - July 28 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK Download Chart number-one download
May 23 2007 - July 18 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GIB Singles Chart number one single (first run)
May 27 2007 - June 10 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GIB Singles Chart number one single (second run)
June 24 2007 - August 5 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Poland Singles Chart number-one single
July 8 2007 - August 5, 2007
August 12, 2007
August 26, 2007 - September 16, 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single
June 4 2007 - July 9 2007 		Succeeded by
"Bartender" by T-Pain featuring Akon
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 9 2007 - July 21 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Pop 100 number one single
June 9 2007 - July 21 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Eurochart Hot 100
number-one single
June 15 2007 - August 23 2007 		Succeeded by
"The Way I Are" by Timbaland feauturing Keri Hilson and D.O.E.
Preceded by Canadian Hot 100 number-one single
(chart’s first number-one single)
June 16 2007 - July 7 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United World Chart number-one single
June 16 2007 - August 11 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
July 7 2007 - July 14 2007 		Succeeded by
"My Destiny" by Kim English
Preceded by
"The World is Mine" by David Guetta featuring J.D. Davis
 Billboard Hot Dance Airplay number-one single
June 23, 2007-August 4, 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Spain Los 40 number-one song (first run)
September 22 2007 - October 13 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bulgarian National Top 40 number-one single
June 10 2007 - August 11 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Hot100Brasil number-one single
July 11 2007 - July 18 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Norwegian VG-lista number-one single
June 6 2007 - July 4 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Norwegian VG-lista number-one single (second run)
July 11 2007 - August 8 2007 		Succeeded by
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