"Disturbia" is a song by the Barbadian singer Rihanna from Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2008), a re-release of her third album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). It was written by Andre Merritt, Chris Brown, Brian Kennedy and Rob. A!, with the production of the song helmed by Kennedy. The song was released as the third and final single from the re-release. "Disturbia" was sent to American contemporary hit radio on June 17, 2008, and was released as a CD single in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2008.
"Disturbia" is an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song with a "sizzling" beat. Lyrically, the song is about the experiences of depression, anxiety, anguish and confusion. The song received positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised its dark musical tone, lyrics and beat, and noted that it is reminiscent of Rihanna's previous single, "Don't Stop the Music" (2007). "Disturbia" earned Rihanna an award for Best International Song at the 2009 NRJ Music Awards and a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
"Disturbia" was a commercial success, and peaked at number one in Belgium (Flanders) and New Zealand and became a top-ten hit in more than twenty countries including Australia, on the Canadian Hot 100, and the UK Singles Chart. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks, and became Rihanna's third number-one single from Good Girl Gone Bad and fourth overall on the Hot 100. It is certified seven-times Platinum in the US and Gold or higher in eleven additional countries. The accompanying music video for "Disturbia" was directed by Anthony Mandler, which portrays Rihanna in various locations such as in a prison cell and gas chamber. "Disturbia" has regularly featured on the set lists of Rihanna's tours and live performances since its release.
Background
"Disturbia" was written by American recording artist Chris Brown and his team which included Brian Kennedy, Rob. A!, and Andre Merritt, better known as the Graffiti Artizts. The track was originally considered to be part of the re-release edition of Brown's second studio album, Exclusive (2007). However, after finishing the song, he took preference to another song, "Forever", which later became the lead single from his re-released album, titled Exclusive: The Forever Edition (2008). He felt that "Disturbia" would be better suited for a female singer and instead forwarded the song to Rihanna. When writing the song, he was inspired "to go totally left and kind of weird". Speaking to USA Today, Brown described his feelings with regard to him giving the song to Rihanna: "It's fun being creative and even if you have a concept in your head to write about, you can write it and give it to someone else because it might not personally fit you, but it might be an idea you have."
"Disturbia" was recorded in April 2008 at Rocky Mountain Recorders in Denver, Colorado. Speaking to Nick Levine of Digital Spy, Rihanna explained: "I went into the studio making music my way. I found myself all at once." In an interview on This Morning, Rihanna said that the song is not necessarily about a specific personal experience, but rather the general feelings of mental anguish, anxiety and confusion. Rihanna further explained that she wanted to record the song because she felt that listeners would be able to relate to the subject matter. When Good Girl Gone Bad was repackaged as Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, Rihanna approached L.A. Reid, boss of Def Jam, suggesting to release "Disturbia" as a single and follow-up to "Take a Bow". Speaking to MTV News, Reid said, "It was the first time Rihanna actually came to me and said, 'Here's the song I want to put out.' She played me the song. That was her taking control [...] She understands what hits are, and she knows what she wants to say. She's at that place where she can do that."
Composition
Musically, "Disturbia" is an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song with a "sizzling" beat. The song is reminiscent of Rihanna's previous single "Don't Stop the Music" (2007). The rock-tinged song opens with a horror movie-like scream, followed by the hook "Bum-bum-be-dum-bum-bum-be-dum-bum" which has been likened to the "Ella-ella-ella-ey-ey" hook from her 2007 hit single "Umbrella" (featuring Jay-Z). BBC News interpreted it as Rihanna singing about being frightened but felt that its lyrics made no sense.
Fraser McAlpine from BBC Music has claimed that the song's chorus can be likened to Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (1999). According to digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Disturbia" is composed in a key of B minor and is set in common time with a moderate techno-pop groove. Rihanna's vocal range spans from the lower note of D3 to the high note of F5 and the track follows a chord progression of Bm-D-A-G in the verses and chorus. The song features various vocal effects, namely the use of Auto-Tune and a vocoder in contrast with the detached electronic bounce of the song and its weaving, winding melody.
Reception and accolades "Disturbia" received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Josh Tyrangiel of Time complimented the song's "rubber-ball melodies that bounce around your head". Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy said that unlike the usual seventh single release by an artist, "Disturbia" is one of Rihanna's stronger releases and that it proves that she is ruling '08 much like she did '07. He went on to describe it as a "fun-packed electro treat filled with sizzling beats and crazy vocal effects." Fletcher further highlighted the song's strong intro hook and said that the chorus is her catchiest since "Umbrella". Spence D of IGN felt that the track has an infectious "Bum-bum-be-dum-bum-bum" hook that sucks you into the detached electronic bounce of the track. Jaime Gill from Yahoo! Music highlighted the song's "insistent hook, sturdy beat and weaving, winding melody." Fraser McAlpine from the BBC Music deemed the song's plus points to be Rihanna's icy whine, the frosty-rave chorus and the Eiffel 65-like refrain.
Billboard ranked the song at number nine on its list of "Songs of the Summer of 2008". Time magazine has named the song on number two on its list of '10 Best Songs of the Summer', only behind Kid Rock's "All Summer Long". According to Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone, "Disturbia" was the second best song of 2008, only behind MGMT's "Kids". The song won the award for Best International Song at the 2009 NRJ Music Awards, however, after a miscommunication, Katy Perry accepted the award for her single "I Kissed a Girl". Later, it was revealed that originally Rihanna won the award. The song also earned Rihanna a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".
Chart performance
"Disturbia" debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number eighteen on June 26, 2008, becoming Rihanna's sixth top 20 from Good Girl Gone Bad. In the issue dated August 14, 2008 the song topped the chart, selling 148,000 downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan and replaced Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" after seven weeks at the top. "Disturbia" became Rihanna's fourth number-one song on the chart only after "SOS", "Umbrella" and "Take a Bow", and tied her with Beyoncé and Mariah Carey for most number-one singles of the decade. The single topped the chart for two consecutive weeks. For the Billboard issue dated September 13, 2008, "Disturbia" also topped both the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts. The song also peaked at number one on the US Billboard Pop Songs, becoming her third number one on the chart, after "Unfaithful" and "Take a Bow". "Disturbia" has been certified six-times platinum by the RIAA, having sold 4.8 million digital copies as of June 2015, marking Rihanna's third best-selling single in the country. The song was also successful in Canada, where it peaked at number two on the Canadian Hot 100, remaining at the position for five weeks.
In the United Kingdom, following the release of Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, "Disturbia" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number forty-seven due to strong digital sales. After the release of the music video, the song re-entered the chart at number forty-seven, ultimately peaking at number three from digital sales. The song remained within the top ten for eleven weeks, marking Rihanna's eighth top ten single in the country. "Disturbia" also became Rihanna's third longest charting single in the UK, having spent 36 weeks in the top 100, being passed only by "Don't Stop the Music" and the worldwide hit single "Umbrella". "Disturbia" has sold over 430,000 copies in the country as of 2010.
Elsewhere in Europe, "Disturbia" managed a huge commercial success and reached the top ten in fifteen other countries. The song debuted on number three in France and stayed there for one week, becoming Rihanna's eighth entry and fourth top ten-hit after "Unfaithful" (2006), "Umbrella" (2007) and "Don't Stop the Music" (2007). "Disturbia" stayed on the French Singles Chart for 39 weeks, becoming Rihanna's longest charting single on it at the time, until "Only Girl (In the World)" (2010). The single was as well successful in Belgium (Flanders) where it peaked at number one and managed to peak at number four in Belgium (Wallonia). It was later certified Gold by the Belgian Entertainment Association for selling over 10,000 copies. In Spain, "Disturbia" reached a peak of ten and was also certified Gold by the Productores de Música de España. The song managed to reach number two in Finland, number three in Norway, number four in Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Switzerland and on the Irish Singles Chart, number five in Germany, number seven in Slovakia, and number ten in Czech Republic and Netherlands. It also reached number one in New Zealand, becoming Rihanna's third number one single, and her first since "Umbrella". On August 23, 2009 "Disturbia" was certified Platinum, for selling over 15,000 copies. In Australia, it managed to reach number six. It was certified Gold on the downloads alone, before the physical release several weeks later, when it was subsequently certified Platinum.
Music video
Background The music video for "Disturbia" was filmed in Los Angeles, California. Originally, it was reported that the video was directed by American photographer and director, David LaChapelle, who previously directed Christina Aguilera and Redman's "Dirrty" (2002) and Gwen Stefani and Eve's "Rich Girl" (2004). However, later sources surfaced stating that the video was directed by Rihanna's long collaborator Anthony Mandler, who previously directed her music videos for "Shut Up and Drive" (2007), "Hate That I Love You" (2007) and "Take a Bow" (2008). Rihanna also co-directed the video, becoming her second work after the co-direction for the 2007 single "Don't Stop the Music". The "Disturbia" music video, was released exclusively on iTunes on July 22, 2008.
Synopsis and reception