abstract
| - %22FourFiveSeconds%22 is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West and English musician Paul McCartney for Rihanna's upcoming eighth studio album. It was written and produced by West, McCartney, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with an additional writing from Kirby Lauryen, Ty Dolla Sign, Dallas Austin and Elon Rutberg. Previewed by West at the iHeartMedia Music Summit on January 21, 2015, it was posted on Rihanna's official website on January 24. The same day the song was released as the first single from her upcoming album being made available for digital download. %22FourFiveSeconds%22 is a pop and soul pop song with an instrumentation consisting of an acoustic guitar, organ and bass guitar.%22FourFiveSeconds%22 received critical acclaim, with praise reserved for Rihanna's and West's new direction, their vocals, and the song's minimalistic production. Upon its release, it peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In doing so it gave Rihanna her twenty sixth top-ten song on the chart, while McCartney made a record by ending the longest break between top-ten singles on the chart. The song also peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Internationally, %22FourFiveSeconds%22 reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Sweden, as well as the top-three in Canada, France and the United Kingdom. To promote the song, an accompanying music video was directed by Dutch photographer duo Inez and Vinoodh in New York City. Shot in black-and-white, it was met with positive reviews from critics who commended the video's simplicity and compared it to the works of American photographer Herb Ritts and Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan. Rihanna, McCartney and West performed %22FourFiveSeconds%22 for the first time at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on February 8 held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles; the performance received highly positive reviews. The single has been covered by various recording artists, including Canadian rapper Drake and British singer-songwriter James Bay.
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