Capitol Records, and they do not expect to release the music, particularly the number one and re-entered the Hot 100 history, but a decision, "Perry, and love for music, his ear-catching hook and come to a clear track record of success, reaching the pop radio." [1] EMI Music / Capitol Records EVP / Marketing and promotion Greg Thompson told Billboard that, "if it is No. 1, that is, if you will, and we still have a song Katy fourth quarter of the radio", perhaps for the Christmas season was a teenager I and sales boosting. Label servicing, "that I have elsewhere," September 28, 2011, noon ET on the U.S. mainstream Top 40 station.
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Following the release and success of Rihanna's previous studio album, Loud (2010), the singer revealed via Twitter that the album would be re-issued with new songs and released in Fall 2011, writing that "[t]he [Loud era] continues with more new music to add to [your] collection".[1][2] In September 2011, Rihanna took to Twitter to confirm that plans for a re-issue of Loud had been scrapped, with the singer tweeting "I [thought about] a [re-release], but LOUD is its own body of work! Plus [you] guys work so [fucking] hard that [you] deserve to act brand new".[3] On September 19, 2011, Rihanna further provoked excitement amongst her followers on twitter when the singer posted that she was listening to the song, only to be re-tweeted by Harris, who replied "Sometimes it feels like we find love in the most hopeless place", suggesting that his response contained possible lyrics from the song.[4] In an interview with Capital FM radio, Harris explained that followers of Rihanna on twitter had sent messages to him regarding their expectations of the song, saying "The song better not be rubbish", which Harris interpreted as slightly threatening, but went on to say that "it's all part of the fun".[5] "We Found Love" premiered in the United Kingdom on September 22, 2011, on Capital FM radio,[6] and was sent for mainstream adds on October 11, 2011.[4][7][8] The song was released via iTunes on September 22, 2011.[9] The song was produced by Scottish singer-songwriter Calvin Harris.[10][11]
Artwork
The artwork for "We Found Love" was released by Rihanna's official Facebook page on September 22, 2011.[12] Grady Smith of Entertainment Weekly's The Music Mix criticized the song's artwork, writing "'We found love in a hopeless place,' Rihanna repeats over a David Guetta-ish synth beat. But judging by the single cover, her place doesn't look too hopeless, does it? Maybe there's a building on fire outside the frame, and that fire hydrant doesn't work. I guess that would be hopeless."[13] A reviewer for Sugar Magazine wrote that "On anyone else this would be a pretty odd look but Rihanna somehow makes a denim overload look good".[14] A reviewer for Neon Limelight commented that Rihanna appeared to be adopting a tomboy image for the new project, writing, "She really is going for that sexy tomboy look this album era it seems; remember the laid back look she rocked on the single's cover art?".[15] A remix of We Found Love has surfaced featuring U.K. rapper/grime artist Wiley, It has not been confirmed if his assistance to the remix is official or not.
"We Found Love" is an electro house and dance-pop song.[16][17] It also displays elements of europop, pop, techno[18] and trance music.[19] Glen Gamboa ofNewsday described "We Found Love" as being the mainstream version of dubstep.[20] According to the digital music sheet published at musicnotes.com, the song is written in the key of G♭ major and it is set at a groove of 120 beats per minute.[21] The instrumentation of "We Found Love" consists of alarm bells, akeyboard,[19] repetitive pumped-up synthesizers and 4/4 beats.[22][23] It also makes use of bleeps, bloops, whoosh noises,[18] electronic loops and complicated rhythms.[20]
Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans one octave, from the lower note of C♯4 to the higher note of C♯5.[21] Priya Elan of NME commented that Rihanna sounds "extremely relaxed"[19] and Bill Lamb of About.com wrote that her vocals are simple and unaffected.[17] Leah Collins of The Vancouver Sun wrote that Rihanna's vocals on "We Found Love" were similar to her own ones on "Fly".[23] According to Elan, the keyboard work in the song bears resemblance to that in from "Only Girl (In the World)" and the melody is similar to that of "Complicated", a track taken from Rihanna's own 2010 studio album Loud.[19] Similarly, Michael Cragg of The Guardian noted that "We Found Love" is in the same vein as "Only Girl (In the World)", with regard to its dance beat.[24]
The lyrical content of the song is spare and largely revolves around Rihanna chanting, "We found love in a hopeless place".[20] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone described it as "half-baked romantic".[22] Rihanna sings about finding love in a hopeless place.[25] Rihanna starts the song in a falsetto airy voice as she sings, "Yellow diamonds in the light / And we’re standing side by side / As your shadow crosses mine / What it takes to come alive."[25] The chorus of the song is essentially built on the hook line,[17] "We found love in a hopeless place".[16] Michael Cragg commented that the first chorus is almost being sidelined in favor of a large chunk of Harris's riff, before they join on the second chorus.[24] The hook repeatedly rings throughout the song.[25] In the second verse, she sings: "Shine a light through an open door / Love and life I will divide / Turn away cause I need you more / Feel the heartbeat in my mind / It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny / But I’ve gotta let it go".[26]
Critical reception
The song was met with a mixed response by music critics who were generally polarizing critics with the simplified lyrical content. A reviewer for Instinct magazine praised the song, writing that "We Found Love" does not mark a departure from the dance-floor oriented material Rihanna debuted on Loud, but it certainly boasts "a higher-energy, peak-hour vibe".[27] Similarly, Michael Cragg of The Guardian commented that the song takes the dance direction Rihanna hinted at on "Only Girl (In the World)" and continues releasing similar songs, making reference to "We Found Love".[24]
Cragg also likened the song to Leona Lewis's recent single, "Collide", but criticized the song's structure, writing "[it] is slightly odd".[24] He ended his review, writing, "Either way, she could have recited Nick Clegg's conference speech from Wednesday over the sound of Harris cracking his knuckles and it would be a hit."[24] Describing "We Found Love" as "a club anthem in the broadest sense", Glen Gamboa of Newsday also compared the song is more a more streamlined, mainstream version of dubstep than the material Harris is known for producing for Kylie Minogue.[20]
Priya Elan of NME started by a negative comment, "By now it's pretty customary to have a jaw-on-the-floor reaction to the first single from a Rihanna album. 'Pon De Replay', 'SOS', 'Umbrella','Russian Roulette','Only Girl In The World'."[19] Despite complimenting Rihanna for sounding extremely relaxed and calling her vocal as "luxurious calling to mind the atmosphere", Elan concluded that the over-all effect is underwhelming.[19] She continued by writing that instead of re-inventing the pop wheel, "We Found Love" has "a whiff of treading-water about it" and that "if there is a 'goosebump' moment to be had it comes after many multiple plays and, dare we say it, a glass of something strong."[19] Awarding "We Found Love" two stars out of five, Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone was critical, writing that it "is much ado about very little indeed" and that is "an insipid tune". She concluded: "[Rihanna] repeats ['We found love in a hopeless place'] approximately 350 times, hoping it will start to mean something. It's the worst single of Rihanna’s career. It will probably top the Hot 100 anyway.[22]
Amanda Dobbins of New York magazine praised the composition of the song, writing "Harris's electro fingerprints are all over this one — it plays like a straight house track, with some dreamy Rihanna vocals added in over the beat."[28] Robbie Daw of Idolator commented on the song's lyrics, with particular emphasis on the line "We found love in a hopeless place", writing that it is possibly the best lyric in pop music so far in 2011.[29] Scott Shelter of PopCrush wrote that "We Found Love" is danceable but feels much brighter than a typical club banger.[26] Leah Collins of The Vancouver Sun initially praised Rihanna's vocal performance in the song, writing that she "smoothes out her vocals", before adding, "Angelic as she sounds, though, [her] performance -- which is mostly just her repeating the line 'We found love in a hopeless place' -- seems to take second place to Harris' repetitive synth-based blare."[23] Similarly, Amos Barshad of Grantland criticized the singer's vocal performance, calling it "a complete afterthought" before concluding, "People who regularly attend the Electric Zoo festival: Rihanna wants your money
Australasia
"We Found Love" made its chart debut on the New Zealand Singles Charts on September 26, 2011, at number 14,[31] and song rose to number two in its second week on the chart.[31] The song fell by one position to number three in its third week, however, in its fifth week it rose to number one.[31] The song has since been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, denoting shipments of 7,500 copies.[32] In Australia, "We Found Love" debuted on the Australian Singles Chart on October 9, 2011, at number three.[33] In its second week on the chart, "We Found Love" fell to number four, but peaked at number two in its third week.[33] By December 2011, the song had been certified triple-platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, denoting shipments of 210,000 copies.[34]
North America
With "We Found Love" becoming Rihanna's eleventh number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the singer is tied with Whitney Houston in third place amongst females with the most number one singles on the chart, behind Madonna (12) and Mariah Carey (18).
In the United States, the song debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on September 28, 2011, at number 16.[35] "We Found Love" became the singer's second highest debut on the chart out of her thirty-one Hot 100 chart entries,[35] with the highest being Rihanna's collaboration with Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie", which debuted at number two on July 10, 2010.[35] The following week, "We Found Love" rose to number nine, giving Rihanna the record for a solo artist to have amassed twenty top-ten singles in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the shortest amount of time, in a time span of six years and four months, surpassing the record previously held by Madonna, who managed to attain twenty top-ten singles in a time span of six years and nine months.[36] In its third week on the chart, "We Found Love" rose from number nine to number seven on the Hot 100[37] and rose again to number six in its fourth week.[38] In its fifth week on the chart, the song rose to number two, being barred by Adele's "Someone Like You".[39] In its sixth week, "We Found Love" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, giving Rihanna her eleventh number-one single on the chart.[40] With "We Found Love" becoming the singer's eleventh chart topper on the Hot 100, Rihanna has become only the seventh artist in the 53-year history of the chart to amass at least eleven number-one singles,[40] behind The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (18), Michael Jackson (13), Madonna (12), The Supremes (12) and tying withWhitney Houston, who has also achieved eleven number-one singles.[40] Additionally, Rihanna moves into third place, tied with Houston, for the female artist with the most number-one singles, behind Carey and Madonna.[40] "We Found Love" has spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the BillboardHot 100, tying with "Umbrella" as Rihanna's longest number one single.[41] As of December 2011, the song has sold 2,251,000 copies in the United States.[42]
"We Found Love" debuted at number seven on the US Hot Digital Songs chart, with digital download sales of 117,000 after only four days according to Nielsen SoundScan.[35] In its fifth week, the song rose to number one, with sales of 231,000 copies, giving Rihanna her eleventh number-one song on the chart, further extending her record.[43] The song spent a second week at number one on the chart, with sales of 243,000 copies, bringing total sales to 1,057,000 copies sold, marking Rihanna's twentieth download to reach the million-selling milestone, extending her record for the most such downloads among women.[40] On October 12, 2011, the song debuted at number 39 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart and also debuted at number 21 on the Pop Songs chart.[44] It has reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Songschart and as high as number seven on Pop Songs.[45] On November 16, 2011, "We Found Love" debuted at number 41 on the US Latin Pop Songs chart.[46] The song debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 chart at number ten and rose to four the next week
