"Break It Off" is a song written by D. Bennett, K. Ford, Sean Paul

Sean Paul

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques , who performs under stage name Sean Paul, is a Jamaican pop rap and reggae singer.-1973–1996: Early life:...

, and Barbadian

Barbadian people

Barbadians are people originating on the Caribbean island of Barbados whether they live there or in the Barbadian diaspora.Rihanna is by far the most popular Barbadian on the planet.-Diaspora:...

 R&B

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 singer Rihanna

Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...

. The song, which featured Sean Paul, was the fourth and final single from Rihanna's second album A Girl like Me

A Girl Like Me (Rihanna album)

A Girl like Me is the second studio album by Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna. It was released through Def Jam Recordings on April 19, 2006 in Japan, on April 24 in the United Kingdom, and on April 25 in the United States. For the production of the album, Rihanna worked with Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken,...

and was released only in the United States, Canada, and select European territories. The song was performed during the Rockin' New Year's Eve '07 television special on January 1, 2007 at Times Square in New York City. Rihanna has previously stated that she is very proud of the song because it charted strongly without a music video. In the song Rihanna sings the chorus and a verse, while Sean Paul sings the rest of the song. The song uses the dancehall riddim

Riddim

Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...

 "High Altitude". Although she had written a number of songs on her first two albums, this song was the first of her singles in which she had a hand in writing. She subsequently wrote the chorus and her verse on "Run This Town

Run This Town

"Run This Town" is a 2009 song performed by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West. The song features Rihanna. The track was produced by Kanye West alongside No I.D. It is released as the second single of Jay-Z's eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3...

" with Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

 and Kanye West

Kanye West

Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

.

Promotion

"Break It Off" was performed in many different places and arenas all over the world. She performed it for New Year's Eve 2007 and in lots of concerts such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and Live Earth

Live Earth

-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...

. It is performed for only one minute and a half at concerts as a medley because Sean Paul performs more words than Rihanna.

Chart performance

It debuted at number eight on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs

Hot Digital Songs

The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...

 chart, selling 75,316 downloads. This release to the digital market prompted the song to jump from number fifty-two to number ten in one week on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 later reaching its peak of number nine. The song has sold 1,000,000 paid digital downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Music video

A video for the song was expected to premiere sometime in December 2006. However, both Def Jam Recordings

Def Jam Recordings

Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...

 and Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 said there will be no music video for the song. About that, Sean Paul stated:
The performance from New Year's Eve 2007 is sometimes used as a music video for the single.

Charts

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Chart (2007)	Peak position