Raining Men (song)
Encyclopedia
"Raining Men" is a song performed by Barbadian
recording artist Rihanna
, taken from her fifth studio album Loud
(2010). The song was solicited to urban
radio on December 7, 2010, as the third single from Loud in the United States
. The up-tempo record features rap vocals from Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj
. "Raining Men" received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry between Rihanna and Minaj but criticised the song for failing to create anything new or original. Even though the song received no promotion apart from urban radio adds, it managed to peaked at number forty-eight on the US Billboard
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. The song is also included on the set list of the Loud Tour
(2011).
, who also worked with Rihanna on Minaj's song "Fly
", from her album Pink Friday
(2010). In an interview with MTV News
, Rihanna spoke about the collaboration with Minaj, saying "[It's] a really fun song. No, nothing like the original. It's quite uptempo but kind of quirky and funny." In an interview with BBC Radio
, Minaj spoke of how the concept of her lyrics came about, saying "I just wanted to be crazy, I wrote that track in bed actually. I had an off day, they sent me a record and said they needed it back in 24 hours and I wrote ... saying craziness", she said. "I wanted to make it more melodic and crazy. On the last line of 'Raining Men' I say 'It's raining men, fat bitches' ... I just said it and I couldn't take it back ... Then when I was at Yankee Stadium, I ran into [Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman] L.A. Reid and he repeated that line back to me. And I was like 'Did L.A. Reid just say 'fat bitches?' I wanted to pass out." In an interview with Capital FM Radio
, Rihanna further explained the collaboration, saying "You know I worked with her before on Rated R and she was just writing me some really good ballads and I couldn't wait to work with her again and finally have her on my record ... I'm really amazed that she can write like that. [Nicki] not only raps but she can write songs too. It was really easy actually. We were going back on forth with the texts on how we were going to get to do it because we were in two different places and had two opposite schedules." "Raining Men" was sent for urban
radio adds as the third single from Loud on December 7, 2010.
. According to the digital music sheet published at musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of B♭major and is set in simple time with a moderated hip-hop groove
, with a metronome of 80 beats per minute. Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of G
3 to the high note of B♭4.
The song met with mixed reviews from music critics. Jon Pareles and Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
commented that "Rihanna shares the mechanized, chattering beat of “Raining Men” with Nicki Minaj, singing and rapping about an endless supply of available men". Stacey Anderson of Spin
commented that the song is the highlight of the album, calling it "a gloriously eccentric collaboration with Nicki Minaj that entwines their minor-key hyperventilating, air sirens dissolving into mind-melting bass, and the scene-stealing Minaj's breathless contortion of the simple word 'really' into its own fully demented sideshow". BBC Music
also commended Minaj's presence on the song, saying that "Nicki Minaj makes for a superb partner in crime on Raining Men, her wild, kinetic flow complementing Rihanna’s steely delivery to wicked effect". Jim Farber of the New York Daily News said that "Rihanna pairs just as well with Nicki Minaj, on a complete tear-down on the old Weather Girls disco standard 'It's Raining Men.' Here it's not a gay song of lust but a statement of assurance that no man should incite too much worry, considering their sheer numbers". Chris Richards of The Washington Post
said that "Nicki Minaj, a quick-witted rapper able to assume the voices of a dozen characters in a single song, fails to impart any wisdom on her colleague with "Raining Men". Emily Mackay of NME
said that "Raining Men" is a bold collaboration between Rihanna and Minaj, which plays to both of their strengths in the "hip-pop" collaboration.
August Brown of the Los Angeles Times
said that "'Cheers (Drink to That)' and 'Raining Men,' as foamy and spunky as they may be, are such a dogleg turn from Rated R that they come off as little more than image recalibration. That's her prerogative as an artist, and it's certainly earned. But it underscores the one thing we've always wondered about Rihanna — what is she really feeling?". Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media
was more critical of the song, commenting that "Raining Men is a shameless Beyoncé rip-off that would be quickly dismissed if not for the fact that it's a pretty-damn-good Beyoncé rip off with a characteristically scene-stealing guest verse from Nicki Minaj". James Reed of The Boston Globe
also noticed the similarity between the song's composition and the work of American R&B
recording artist Beyoncé Knowles
, saying "'Raining Men', borrowing a digitized riff from Beyoncé's 'Diva', features rising rapper Nicki Minaj on a typically manic guest rhyme. The song’s message doubles as the album’s mantra: Some cats really do have nine lives".
Source:
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:...
recording artist 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...
, taken from her fifth studio album Loud
Loud (Rihanna album)
Loud is the fifth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, first released on November 12, 2010 by Def Jam Recordings. The album was recorded between February and August 2010, predominantly during Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour and filming for her first feature film Battleship...
(2010). The song was solicited to urban
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
radio on December 7, 2010, as the third single from Loud in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The up-tempo record features rap vocals from Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj , better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj; ), is a Trinidadian-born American recording artist...
. "Raining Men" received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry between Rihanna and Minaj but criticised the song for failing to create anything new or original. Even though the song received no promotion apart from urban radio adds, it managed to peaked at number forty-eight on the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. The song is also included on the set list of the Loud Tour
Loud Tour
The Loud Tour is the fourth concert tour by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. Performing in over twenty countries in the Americas and Europe, the tour supports Rihanna’s fifth studio album, Loud...
(2011).
Background and release
The track features rap vocals from Trinidadian rapper Nicki MinajNicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj , better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj; ), is a Trinidadian-born American recording artist...
, who also worked with Rihanna on Minaj's song "Fly
Fly (Nicki Minaj song)
"Fly" is a song by Trinidadian recording artist Nicki Minaj featuring Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna. The track was produced by J.R. Rotem and co-produced by Kevin Hissink. The song is inspired by the emotion of soaring above and overcoming all stereotypes and negativity, only to have come out...
", from her album Pink Friday
Pink Friday
Pink Friday is the debut studio album by hip hop recording artist Nicki Minaj. It was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe editions through Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Motown. The intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack", flopped...
(2010). In an interview with MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
, Rihanna spoke about the collaboration with Minaj, saying "[It's] a really fun song. No, nothing like the original. It's quite uptempo but kind of quirky and funny." In an interview with BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, Minaj spoke of how the concept of her lyrics came about, saying "I just wanted to be crazy, I wrote that track in bed actually. I had an off day, they sent me a record and said they needed it back in 24 hours and I wrote ... saying craziness", she said. "I wanted to make it more melodic and crazy. On the last line of 'Raining Men' I say 'It's raining men, fat bitches' ... I just said it and I couldn't take it back ... Then when I was at Yankee Stadium, I ran into [Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman] L.A. Reid and he repeated that line back to me. And I was like 'Did L.A. Reid just say 'fat bitches?' I wanted to pass out." In an interview with Capital FM Radio
The Capital FM Network
Capital is a radio network of nine Independent Local Radio stations in the United Kingdom which are owned and operated by Global Radio, launching on 3 January 2011. Capital was previously known as Mix, One, Galaxy and Hit Music at various times...
, Rihanna further explained the collaboration, saying "You know I worked with her before on Rated R and she was just writing me some really good ballads and I couldn't wait to work with her again and finally have her on my record ... I'm really amazed that she can write like that. [Nicki] not only raps but she can write songs too. It was really easy actually. We were going back on forth with the texts on how we were going to get to do it because we were in two different places and had two opposite schedules." "Raining Men" was sent for urban
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
radio adds as the third single from Loud on December 7, 2010.
Composition and critical reception
"Raining Men" draws influence from the musical genre of Hip hopHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. According to the digital music sheet published at musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of B♭major and is set in simple time with a moderated hip-hop groove
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, with a metronome of 80 beats per minute. Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of G
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
3 to the high note of B♭4.
The song met with mixed reviews from music critics. Jon Pareles and Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
commented that "Rihanna shares the mechanized, chattering beat of “Raining Men” with Nicki Minaj, singing and rapping about an endless supply of available men". Stacey Anderson of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
commented that the song is the highlight of the album, calling it "a gloriously eccentric collaboration with Nicki Minaj that entwines their minor-key hyperventilating, air sirens dissolving into mind-melting bass, and the scene-stealing Minaj's breathless contortion of the simple word 'really' into its own fully demented sideshow". BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
also commended Minaj's presence on the song, saying that "Nicki Minaj makes for a superb partner in crime on Raining Men, her wild, kinetic flow complementing Rihanna’s steely delivery to wicked effect". Jim Farber of the New York Daily News said that "Rihanna pairs just as well with Nicki Minaj, on a complete tear-down on the old Weather Girls disco standard 'It's Raining Men.' Here it's not a gay song of lust but a statement of assurance that no man should incite too much worry, considering their sheer numbers". Chris Richards of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
said that "Nicki Minaj, a quick-witted rapper able to assume the voices of a dozen characters in a single song, fails to impart any wisdom on her colleague with "Raining Men". Emily Mackay of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
said that "Raining Men" is a bold collaboration between Rihanna and Minaj, which plays to both of their strengths in the "hip-pop" collaboration.
August Brown of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said that "'Cheers (Drink to That)' and 'Raining Men,' as foamy and spunky as they may be, are such a dogleg turn from Rated R that they come off as little more than image recalibration. That's her prerogative as an artist, and it's certainly earned. But it underscores the one thing we've always wondered about Rihanna — what is she really feeling?". Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
was more critical of the song, commenting that "Raining Men is a shameless Beyoncé rip-off that would be quickly dismissed if not for the fact that it's a pretty-damn-good Beyoncé rip off with a characteristically scene-stealing guest verse from Nicki Minaj". James Reed of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
also noticed the similarity between the song's composition and the work of American 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...
recording artist Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, saying "'Raining Men', borrowing a digitized riff from Beyoncé's 'Diva', features rising rapper Nicki Minaj on a typically manic guest rhyme. The song’s message doubles as the album’s mantra: Some cats really do have nine lives".
Credits and personnel
- SongwritingSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
– Melvin Hough II, Rivelino Wouter, Timothy Thomas, Theron Thomas, Onika MarajNicki MinajOnika Tanya Maraj , better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj; ), is a Trinidadian-born American recording artist... - ProductionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
– Mel & Mus
Source:
Charts
| Chart (2010–11) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Deutsche Black Charts Deutsche Black Charts Deutsche Black Charts DBC, also known by various names including Deutsche Urban Charts and Deutsche Hip Hop/R&B/Dancehall Singles is a chart released weekly by Deutsche Trend Charts in Germany.... |
13 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) | 142 |
Release history
| Country | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United States | December 7, 2010 | Urban radio |
| January 25, 2011 | Urban radio (Re-release) |