Where Have You Been
"Where Have You Been" | |
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Song |
"Where Have You Been" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, from her sixth studio album Talk That Talk (2011). It was written by Ester Dean, Henry Walter, Geoff Mack, Lukasz Gottwald and Calvin Harris. The production of the song was helmed by Gottwald under his stage name Dr. Luke together with Harris and Cirkut. It will be released as the fifth US single and the third international single of the album on May 8, 2012.
"Where Have You Been" received positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its up-tempo dance beat and likened it to the lead single of the album, "We Found Love". Upon the release of the album, the song debuted on the Irish and UK singles charts at numbers 47 and 61 respectively, and at number 8 on the UK Dance Chart on the strength of digital downloads alone. It also debuted at number 65 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with sales of 39,000 copies.
Composition
"Where Have You Been" was written by Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald, Calvin Harris, Henry Walter and Geoff Mack, whilst production of the song was completed by Harris, Cirkut and Dr. Luke,[3] and contains compositional elements of Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" (1959).[3][2] The song was recorded at Grand Hotel, Room 654 in Oslo, Norway [4]. "Where Have You Been" is one of two songs to be co-written and co-produced by Harris to be included on Talk That Talk, the other being "We Found Love", on which Harris appears as a featured artist.[3] "Where Have You Been" is a house[5] and dance-pop number[6] that draws influence from R&B and hip hop,[7], with a time signature of 4/4.[8] "Where Have You Been" features "hard, chilly synths"[5] and a punk inspired breakdown sequence.[8] As noted by Jon Caramanica, "Where Have You Been" is a house song which is draws upon pop more so than the other Harris produced song, "We Found Love".[5] Caramanica also compared the stylization of Rihanna's tonality in the lyrics "I been everywhere, man/looking for someone/someone who can please me/Are you hiding from me yeah/somewhere in the crowd?" to English singer-songwriter Siouxsie Sioux.[5] As noted by Lindsay Zoladz of Pitchfork Media, the song follows the same club-beat formula as "We Found Love", and contains a "simple lyric[s] of romantic longing".[9]
Critical reception
The song has garnered generally positive reviews from music critics. As part of their album reviews for Talk That Talk, numerous music critics noted the similarities between "Where Have You Been" and the lead single "We Found Love". Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote that "Where Have You Been", along with "We Found Love", feature as Talk That Talk's most prominent dance songs,[2] and aside from noting the inclusion of Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" in the composition, Kellman compared the chorus of "Where Have You Been" to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep".[2] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called the song "rave-tastic", and commented that "Where Have You Been" and "We Found Love" both feature "a lot of buzzy, burping electronics".[10] Apart from noting the similarities between "Where Have You Been" and "We Found Love", Randell Roberts of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the song "wouldn't be out of place at Electric Daisy Carnival."[8] Jon Caramanica of the The New York Times wrote out of "Where Have You Been" and "We Found Love", the former was the "better" Harris production.[5]
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Spin noted that "Where Have You Been" is "tailor-made for a Coachella pool rave".[11] Mark Graham of VH1 compared the song to one of Rihanna's previous singles "Don't Stop the Music" (Good Girl Gone Bad, 2007), writing "[Where Have You Been] will almost certainly be Rihanna’s biggest club smash since 'Don’t Stop The Music.'"[12] Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine was critical of the song, as well as the opening track "You Da One" and "We Found Love", writing "At the very least, you expect an album like this to come front-loaded with potential singles, but the opening trio consists of two Dr. Luke productions, 'You Da One,' this album's obligatory reminder of Rihanna's Caribbean heritage, and 'Where Have You Been,' a boring, dubstep-normalizing dance number reminiscent of LMFAO, plus 'We Found Love.' And that's about as exciting as the album gets."[13]
Chart performance
Upon the release of Talk That Talk, "Where Have You Been" charted at number 47 on the Irish Singles Chart on November 27, 2011.[14] The following day, the song debuted at numbers 8 and 61 on the UK Dance Chart and UK Singles Chart, respectively.[15][16]
Music video
Background
The music video for "Where Have You Been" was filmed March 7 and March 8, 2012 in Los Angeles, California[17] and was directed by Dave Meyers.[18] On the second day of filming, March 8, 2012, Rihanna tweeted: "Video shoot goin MAJAH!!! Longest day everrrrr tho!!! #WHEREhaveUbeen #stillgoin [sic]" with a picture of herself topless with natural hair on the set of the music video.[17] The video features choreography by Nadine "Hi-Hat" Ruffin, who has worked with Rihanna previously on her Grammy and BRIT Awards performances.[17] She posted photos of her as a teaser for the video in her Facebook account, with one saying: "How much do you guys want to see the video?". A day after she posted the photo, she released a behind-the-scenes footage of the video with the dance rehearsals for the video and afterwards the wardrobe fitting for the video shoot. The video premiered on April 30, 2012 on Rihanna's official Vevo channel.[19]
Synopsis
The clip features Rihanna emerging from a marsh and dancing in a rock-filled desert landscape with male tribal dancers in front of a fire. Later in the video, Rihanna is seen dancing inside an orange lit hut with female dancers.
Reception
“Where Have You Been” broke the VEVO record for having the most views in a 24-hour period with 4.93 million views. The previous record was held by Nicki Minaj with 4.8 million views. VEVO tweeted Rihanna to confirm saying "NUMBERS ARE IN! After filtering out the BS & triple-checking, @Rihanna #WHYBvideo24hrRECORD stands @ 4,937,281! Congrats!", "@Rihanna: That Rihanna reign just won’t let up! #WHYBvideo holds the new 24hr record for VEVO! My #NaviTrillAsPhuck thank you n congrats!".[20][21]
Live performances
Rihanna performed "Where Have You Been" for the first time live at the 2012 Post-Grammy Charity Fundraiser, along with "We Found Love", on February 13, 2012.[22] On April 15, 2012, Rihanna performed the Song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, along with "We Found Love". She wasn't an official performer at the festival but she joined Calvin Harris on his set.[23]
Credits and personnel
- Recording and sample
- Recorded at Eightysevenfourteen Studios, Los Angeles, California, and at Eyeknowasecret Studio, Brentwood, California.
- Contains elements from the composition "I've Been Everywhere", written by Geoff Mack under Unichappel Music Inc (BMI).
- Personnel
- Songwriting – Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald, Calvin Harris, Henry Walter, Geoff Mack
- Production, instruments, programming – Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Calvin Harris
- Vocal engineering and recording – Kuk Harrell, Marcos Tovar
- Assistant vocal recording – Jennifer Rosales
- Engineering – Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine, Clint Gibbs
- Mixing – Serban Ghenea
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Talk That Talk, Def Jam Recordings, SRP Records.[3]
Charts
Chart (2011–12) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[24] | 12 |
Australia Urban (ARIA)[25] | 4 |
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[26] | 14 |
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[27] | 7 |
Brazil (Billboard Hot 100 Airplay)[28] | 63 |
Brazil (Billboard Hot Pop)[29] | 8 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[30] | 41 |
Denmark (Tracklisten)[31] | 22 |
France (SNEP)[32] | 8 |
Ireland (IRMA)[14] | 47 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[33] | 10 |
Norway (VG-lista)[34] | 8 |
South Korea (Gaon International Chart)[35] | 24 |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[36] | 31 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[37] | 27 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] | 38 |
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] | 61 |
UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[15] | 8 |
US Billboard Hot 100[39] | 65 |
US Pop Songs (Billboard)[40] | 26 |
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[41] | 26 |
Release history
Country | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
United States[1] | May 8, 2012 | Mainstream radio | Def Jam Recordings |
Germany[42] | May 25, 2012 | CD single | Universal Records |
United Kingdom[43] | May 28, 2012 | Mercury Records |
References
- ^ a b http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/future-releases
- ^ a b c d Kellman, Andy. "Talk That Talk – Rihanna". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
- ^ a b c d (Media notes).
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- ^ a b c d e Caramanica, Jon (2011-11-21). "Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk' Synth-Perfect for an Earlier Time". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ Elan, Priya (2011-11-18). "Album Review: Rihanna – 'Talk That Talk'". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ^ Maerz, Melissa (2011-11-17). "Talk That Talk review – Rihanna Review". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
- ^ a b c Roberts, Randall (2011-11-20). "Album review: Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ Zoladz, Lindsay (2011-11-23). "Rihanna – Talk That Talk – Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
- ^ Kot, Greg (2011-11-21). "Album review: Rihanna, 'Talk That Talk'". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- ^ Escobedo Shepherd, Julianne. "Rihanna – 'Talk That Talk'". Spin. Spin Media LLC. Retrieved 2011-11-26.
- ^ Graham, Mark (2011-11-09). "Album Preview: Rihanna's Talk That Talk Is The Dirtiest Pop Record Since Madonna's Erotica". VH1. Viacom. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
- ^ Cole, Matthew (2011-11-18). "Rihanna: Talk That Talk | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ^ a b "TOP 50 SINGLES, WEEK ENDING 24 November 2011". Hung Median. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ a b "2011 Top 40 Dance Singles Archive 3rd December 2011". The Official Charts Company. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
- ^ a b "2011 Top 40 UK Singles Archive 3rd December 2011". The Official Charts Company. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
- ^ a b c "Rihanna Goes Topless in Where Have You Been Video". Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
- ^ "BTS Where Have You Been Part 3: On the Set". Rihanna. YouTube. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
- ^ "Rihanna - Where Have You Been". Vevo. YouTube. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- ^ http://www.theroundtableonline.com/2012/05/rihanna-breaks-vevo-views-record-with-where-have-you-been-music-video/
- ^ http://perezhilton.com/2012-05-03-rihanna%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cwhere-have-you-been%E2%80%9D-breaks-youtube-record#.T6MEpet8CSo
- ^ Wood, Micheal (2012-02-13). "Deadmau5 and Rihanna Perform at Post-Grammy Charity Fundraiser". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
- ^ "Coachella 2012 Daily Recap: Weekend 1, Day 3". Idolater.com. BUZZMEDIA Music. April 16, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
- ^ "Top 50 Songs". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ^ "Top 50 Urban Songs". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been" (in French). Ultratip.
- ^ "Brasil Hot 100 Airplay". Billboard Brasil (Brasil: bpp) (2): 96. 23 April 2012.
- ^ "Brasil Hot Pop & Popular Songs". Billboard Brasil (Brasil: bpp) (99): 189 May 2012
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/song/rihanna/where-have-you-been/26696915#/song/rihanna/where-have-you-been/26696915
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been". Tracklisten.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been" (in French). Les classement single.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been". Top 40 Singles.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been". VG-lista.
- ^ "South Korea Gaon International Chart (Week: November 27, 2011 to December 3, 2011)". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been" Canciones Top 50.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been". Singles Top 100.
- ^ "Rihanna – Where Have You Been". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ "Rihanna Remains Atop Hot 100, American Music Awards Spur Gains". 2012-03-06.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/news#/column/chartbeat/chart-highlights-radio-dials-in-to-maroon-1006852152.story
- ^ "Rihanna Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs Chart History". 2012-03-06.
- ^ http://www.beatblogger.de/vo-vorschau/
- ^ "Radio1 Rodos Greece ::: UK Forthcoming Singles ::: Charts, DJ Promos, Dance, Lyrics, Free Mp3 Samples". Radio1 Greece. Retrieved March 27, 2012.