The horns, strings, guitar, were originally recorded by Pop's father Dexter with the intention of being used for samples in new recordings. Pop then chopped and sampled from those recordings. The beat was intended to be given to Kanye West but Mike Caren an A&R at Atlantic Records received it and had the idea of creating an R&B record to it. [3]
"Unusual" was sent by Atlantic Records and Songbook for urban contemporary airplay on May 17, 2011.[4] The song debuted at number eighty-five on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart dated October 16, 2010, and went on to peak at forty-eight[5] Upon release, "Unusual" re-entered the chart at ten and has since peaked at number seven on the R&B chart in its twenty-fourth charting week.[6] It also debuted at #90 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has reached a current peak of #68.[7]