Disturbia

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Lore & Background

The song 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."

In Their Own Story

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. The 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 F♯5 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.

Reader's Guide

"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. "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".

Did You Know?

• "Disturbia" was originally considered for Chris Brown's re-release album Exclusive: The Forever Edition, but he felt it would be better suited for a female singer and forwarded it to Rihanna.
• The song was recorded in April 2008 at Rocky Mountain Recorders in Denver, Colorado.
• Rihanna approached L.A. Reid, boss of Def Jam, suggesting to release "Disturbia" as a single — the first time she came to him with a song choice.
• The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks, replacing Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" after seven weeks at number one.
• "Disturbia" earned Rihanna a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 2009 Grammy Awards, but lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".