S&M (song)

Concept and development

"S&M" was written by Ester Dean in collaboration with the song's producers, Stargate and Sandy Vee. Dean explained its conception and the sexually suggestive lyrics to Gail Mitchell of Billboard: "The first thing that came to me was 'Come on, come on.' I'm thinking, 'I don't know what in the hell this is about to be.' And I remembered I'd seen something that said, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones.' Then came 'But chains and whips excite me.' When people have a great track that speaks to me, it feels like it already has a story in it". Dean states that she originally wrote the song for Britney Spears. Rihanna told Rolling Stone about her interest in bondage and other sadomasochism activities, themes central to "S&M": "I like to take charge, but I love to be submissive ... being submissive in the bedroom is really fun. You get to be a little lady, to have somebody be macho and in charge."

"S&M" was recorded during Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth tour: the instrumental parts for the song were recorded by Eriksen and Miles Walker at Roc the Mic Studios in New York City and the Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, and by Vee at The Bunker Studios in Paris. Rihanna's vocals were recorded by Kuk Harrell and were produced by Harrell, Josh Gudwin and Marcos Tovar; Bobby Campbell assisted in the singer's vocal recording. Veronika Bozeman provided additional vocal production. The song was mixed by Vee at The Bunker Studios and by Phil Tan at The Ninja Beat Club in Atlanta, Georgia; additional and assistant engineering was carried out by Damien Lewis. All instrumental production was completed by Eriksen, Hermansen and Vee.

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"S&M" is an uptempo hi-NRG-Eurodance song that lasts four minutes and three seconds. The song is composed in the key of E-flat minor using common time and a moderate dance tempo of 128 beats per minute. Instrumentation is provided by synthesizers, a keyboard and a guitar. Chris Ryan of MTV described the song as a "steady-rocking dance track, with ominous, snarling keyboard sounds."

During the track, Rihanna's vocal range spans one octave, from the low note of B♭3 to the high note of D♭5. Proposing illicit acts, she uses a "sexually aggressive tone" in her vocal performance. The lyrics are about sex, sadomasochism, bondage and BDSM fetishes, including the sexual fantasies and turn-ons of its protagonist. The song opens with the hook, "Na, na, na, c'mon". During the chorus the lyrics include, "'Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it / Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it." The post-chorus features an interpolation from The Cure's 1982 song "Let's Go to Bed". In the song, Rihanna describes herself as "bad" and openly praises her own sexual prowess; lyrics include, "Sticks and stones may break my bones / But chains and whips excite me." Rihanna told Spin magazine that the lyrics are metaphoric. She said that she thought the song was mainly about having confidence in one's identity, and about being impervious to rumors and criticism. According to Jake Conway of Q Magazine at Yale, the lyrics are guilty of "divesting sex of emotion" and re-envisaging violence as fetish; he went on to say that Rihanna pays homage to the sexual acts in an empowered dance and club mood. Chris Ryan described the song as being about "dirty, naughty, illicit bedroom activities".

Release and remixes

"S&M" was the fourth single from the album Loud to be released in the US and the third in other countries. It was sent to contemporary hit and rhythmic radio stations in the US on January 23, 2011,"S&M" was released for Mainstream/Rhythmic airplay on January 23, 2011:

and to urban playlists on February 27, 2011. The single was released on iTunes Stores throughout Europe and South America on February 11, 2011."S&M" was released as a single in Europe and South America on February 11, 2011:

In Argentina, Brazil and certain territories throughout Europe, the song was released as an extended play (EP) on February 18, 2011; this consisted of the single version of "S&M" and two remixes by Audé and Samson."S&M" was released as an EP worldwide on February 18, 2011:

On February 28, 2011, a compilation was released worldwide as a digital package consisting of remixes by disc jockeys Audé, Samson and Joe Bermudez."S&M" was released as a remix package on February 28, 2011:

"S&M" was released as a CD single in Germany on March 18, 2011. On April 11, 2011, the remix single featuring Britney Spears was made available to download worldwide."S&M" was released as a remix single featuring Spears on February 28, 2011:

In the United Kingdom, "S&M" was deemed too explicit for daytime airplay; it was edited to remove references to sex, chains and whips, and was renamed "Come On" for BBC Radio 1.

A remix of "S&M" featuring rapper J. Cole was released on the internet on January 17, 2011. After the release of the song's album version, Rihanna asked her followers on Twitter about potential collaborators, of which Spears was the most popular choice. Twitter messages between the two artists caused speculation that they had recorded a remix of the song. The remix, featuring guest vocals and a verse written by Spears, was released on April 11, 2011.

Critical reception

"S&M" received mixed responses from music critics. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described "S&M" as an ode to sadomasochism that compares to Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope. Conner felt that "S&M", as well as other Loud tracks "What's My Name?" and "Skin", were songs which allowed Rihanna to boast about how good she is in certain situations, as she did on Rated R. He chose the lyrics "I may be bad/ but I'm perfectly good at it... Chains and whips excite me" as an example of her vaunt. USA Todays Steve Jones opined that "Louds pulsating opener, 'S&M,' makes it clear from the jump where [Rihanna is] headed as she acknowledges that 'chains and whips excite [her]'", while Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly called "S&M" an "explicitly carnal opener" with "late-night-Cinemax naughtiness".

Digital Spy's Nick Levine gave the song a rating of four stars out of five, and wrote that the song makes the listener as "up-for it" as Rihanna herself; he went on to say that "S&M" consists of "ear-frotting" hooks, synths and pounding beats. James Skinner of BBC Music wrote that Loud lacked the "chart-friendly moments" of Rated R and criticized the overtly sexual lyrics which he found "at odds with" the flirtatious appeal for which Rihanna was aiming. Skinner described the singer's vocal delivery as "forced" and criticized her for not projecting a "daring" or convincing sound on "S&M".

Chart performance

"S&M" made its first chart appearance in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2010, at number 55. It peaked at number 3 on March 5, 2011, where it remained for three consecutive weeks."S&M" spent three consecutive weeks at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart:

• It was more successful on the UK R&B Chart, where it was number 1 for five consecutive weeks."S&M" spent five consecutive weeks at number 1 on the UK R&B Singles Chart:
• The song was the second-biggest selling R&B or hip hop single of 2011 in the UK: by December that year, "S&M" had sold 643,000 copies in the UK and was certified double Platinum by the BPI in November 2020. Elsewhere in Europe, "S&M" was a massive commercial success and peaked within the top three in many countries, including number 1 in Poland, number 2 in Denmark Germany, Sweden and Switzerland; number 3 in France, becoming her tenth top ten, and Spain, number 4 in Austria, Finland, and Spain, and number 7 in the Netherlands and number 8 in Czech Republic.

"S&M" debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number 87 on November 29, 2010, upon the release of Loud. When it was released as a single, it returned to the singles chart at number 27 on January 30, 2011. The song peaked at number 1 on February 13, 2011, for five non-consecutive weeks. It has since been certified six times Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, denoting shipments of over 420,000 copies of the single. The song debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 6 on February 7, 2011. It peaked at number 2 the following week for two consecutive weeks, and returned to its peak position again in its fifth week on the chart. "S&M" was subsequently certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, denoting sales of over 15,000 copies.

In the US, the song debuted at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 4, 2010. On the week of February 23, 2011, "S&M" jumped from 31 to 8. After climbing up the chart, the song reached number 2 on March 30, 2011, and stayed for two consecutive weeks, behind Katy Perry's song "E.T.". Following the release of the official remix featuring Spears, the song reached the top of the chart, with the album version of "S&M" and the remix selling a combined total of 293,000 downloads. "S&M" became Rihanna's tenth US number 1 single on the chart, tying her with Janet Jackson in fourth place for female soloists who have topped that chart; with only four years, eleven months and two weeks between her first and tenth number 1 on the chart, Rihanna achieved the milestone faster than any other solo artist. It became Spears' fifth number 1 single on the Hot 100. "S&M" became Rihanna's eighth number 1 song on the Mainstream Top 40 chart and she became the artist with the most number 1 songs in the chart's nineteen-year history. The song was number 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart and number 33 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. It debuted at number 80 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in the February 26, 2011 issue of Billboard, and peaked at number 59. "S&M" peaked at number 24 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart, and at number 14 on the Latin Pop Songs chart. The song has been certified quintuple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 3,837,000 digital copies in the US . "S&M" ranked at number 2 on Billboards Dance Club Songs year-end chart, and number 15 on its Mainstream Top 40 year-end chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 1 for the week of April 21, 2011.

Music video

Background and synopsis

The director Melina Matsoukas filmed the music video for "S&M" in Los Angeles on January 15 and 16, 2011. Matsoukas explained Billboard that the video was inspired by Rihanna's "sadomasochist relationship with the press ... it isn't just about a bunch of whips and chains." On January 27, 2011, a behind-the-scenes clip was posted on Rihanna's YouTube channel, and the full music video premiered on Vevo on February 1, 2011.

As the video opens, Rihanna is arrested into a press conference, where she is covered with plastic wrap and taped to a wall. Microphones and gagged reporters surround her. In an outdoor scene, she wears a beige latex dress and leads a spoofed Perez Hilton around by a dog leash. Rihanna is then shown seated and surrounded by CCTV surveillance cameras; her chair begins to rotate, and she stands and begins to whip reporters, who are taped to the wall of the room. She then rolls on the floor, her hands and feet bound with rope. As the bridge of the song approaches, Rihanna wears a white two-piece latex and rabbit ears, while images of headlines are projected against her body where the wall behind her and eating pink popcorn. After the chorus, she appears in a newsroom. Reporters take photographs of her while she sprawls across a desk wearing a pink latex dress. Scenes of Rihanna and others in bondage gear are interspersed with images of Rihanna with frizzy curls while wearing a feather boa and a midriff-baring tube top with "censored" printed across it. The video then alternates between past scenes and images in which Rihanna eats fruits and cream, and jeweled ice cream while wearing a heart-shaped eye patch. In the last scene, she lays on a newsroom desk, with a smiley face emblem over one eye and a Rolling Stones tongue logo over her mouth, along with a woman's orgasm sound. Drag queens Willam Belli, Detox Icunt, and Morgan McMichaels appear in the video.

Reception and ban

The music video was generally well received. A journalist for The Huffington Post wrote, "Rihanna is perfectly good at being bad – and this video proves it", while a reviewer for OK! called the video "red-hot, kinky and totally tongue-in-cheek". Willa Paskin of New York similarly described it as a "goofy" take on the S&M-themed music videos typical of Madonna and Lady Gaga, while Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone described the video as a "visual onslaught of candy-colored kinkiness" that viewers would enjoy despite its bright colors and sexually suggestive activities. Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly stated that Rihanna delivered the risque video he was expecting based on the song's lyrical content, and Jason Lipshutz of Billboard praised the video's "exquisite set pieces that offer a twisted take on hardcore sexuality".

The video was immediately banned in eleven countries due to its overtly sexual content. It was flagged and age-restricted on YouTube for having mature content, although this restriction has since been lifted. On May 2, 2011, the French Superior Audiovisual Council, after having received several complaints from viewers over the broadcasting of the video during the day due to its content, banned the music video from being broadcast before 10 p.m. along with Tonight (I'm Lovin' You) by Enrique Iglesias on all music channels and then was only broadcast the night without warning or with warning Not advised to kids under 10 years old (in French: déconseillé aux moins de 10 ans) or Not advised to kids under 12 years old (déconseillé aux moins de 12 ans) (depending on the channels) because of many sexual and sadomasochistic scenes. Rihanna responded to the news via Twitter, writing, "They watched 'Umbrella' ... I was full nude". An unrestricted version of the video was later uploaded to Rihanna's official website. Melina Matsoukas responded to the news in an interview with MTV News, stating: "When I go out to make something, I kind of go out with the intention to get it banned – [well] not to get it banned ... but to make something provocative ... it's making an effect and people are having a dialogue about it, so, to me, that's successful."

Copyright infringement lawsuits

The video was involved in further controversy when photographer David LaChapelle sued Rihanna, Island Def Jam and related parties for copyright infringement. The lawsuit included claims of trade dress infringement under the Lanham Act, unfair competition under New York state law and unjust enrichment, all of which were later dismissed.Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York denied Rihanna's motion to dismiss the copyright violation allegations, noting similarities between the works that a trier of fact such as a jury should decide whether they were substantial enough to be infringing: Rihanna and LaChapelle settled the case out of court for an undisclosed sum. Afterwards, he said the lawsuit was "not personal, it's strictly business", and that "musicians commonly pay to sample music or use someone's beats and there should be no difference when sampling an artist's visuals." In June 2011, German photographer Philipp Paulus sued Rihanna and her record labels, alleging further copyright violations with regard to a scene in the music video where Rihanna wears an expansive dress and is taped to the wall with a plastic sheet in front of her. According to Paulus, Rihanna and Matsoukas appropriated the image from his photographic series Paperworld.

Live performances and covers

Rihanna first performed "S&M" at the Brit Awards on February 15, 2011, as part of a medley which incorporated two of her previous singles from Loud, "Only Girl (In the World)" and "What's My Name?". Rihanna had planned to perform "S&M" only, to coincide with its release as a single in the United Kingdom, but she was instructed by the Brit Awards corporation to "tone down the sexual references in the song's lyrics". The singer was reported to be angered at being requested to change her act and that she was asked to consider performing a different song instead.

Rihanna opened the 2011 Billboard Music Awards with a performance of the "S&M" remix with Spears on May 22, 2011, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Billboard magazine declared the performance as one of the 15 Awesome Performances at the Billboard Music Awards. Rihanna performed "S&M" on May 27, 2011, on NBC's Today show's "Summer Concert Series", along with "Only Girl (in the World)", "What's My Name?" and "California King Bed". She gave an interview about the album and about her controversial performance at the Billboard Music Awards with Spears. When Rihanna was asked if she was surprised at the controversial reaction the performance prompted, she responded:

The song was included on the set list of the Loud Tour, which began with the stage decorated as a stylized S&M set. The singer performed Prince's "Darling Nikki" with three semi-nude female dancers whom she spanked, groped and pretended to smack with a cane. "Darling Nikki" then transitioned into "S&M" and she took off her white tuxedo, revealing a white bondage corset and handcuffs. "S&M" was featured on the set list of Spears' Femme Fatale Tour (2011), as part of a medley with "...Baby One More Time". Rihanna performed "S&M" at Radio 1's Hackney Weekend on May 24, 2012, as the third song on the set list. The song was included on most of Rihanna's 777 Tour in November 2012; a seven-date and seven-day-long promotional tour in support of the release of her seventh studio album, Unapologetic.

In 2011, "S&M" was featured at the beginning of the seventeenth episode of the American police procedural drama TV series, Hawaii Five-0. Lee Latchford-Evans of the British group Steps covered the song as part of a medley with Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera's song "Moves like Jagger" in his solo section of The Ultimate Tour (2012). In the 2012 musical comedy film Pitch Perfect, "S&M" was sung a cappella by the song's co-writer Ester Dean, accompanied by Alexis Knapp, Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp and Brittany Snow. The ensemble's performance of the song appears on the film's soundtrack as part of a medley, "Riff Off". "Riff Off" was released as a single in 2012 and reached number 86 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The soundtrack also became the number 1 album on the US Top Soundtracks.

Formats and track listings

• ;Digital download

1. "S&M" – 4:04

• ;Digital download (EP)

1. "S&M" – 4:03
2. "S&M" (Dave Audé club) – 7:27
3. "S&M" (Sidney Samson club) – 6:49

• ;Digital download (remixes)

1. "S&M" (Dave Audé radio) – 3:50
2. "S&M" (Joe Bermudez chico radio) – 3:49
3. "S&M" (Sidney Samson radio) – 3:19
4. "S&M" (Dave Audé club) – 7:27
5. "S&M" (Joe Bermudez chico club) – 5:17
6. "S&M" (Sidney Samson club) – 6:49
7. "S&M" (Dave Audé dub) – 6:29
8. "S&M" (Joe Bermudez chico dub) – 5:17
9. "S&M" (Sidney Samson dub) – 6:50

• ;CD

1. "S&M" – 4:04
2. "S&M" (Sidney Samson radio remix) – 3:18

• ;Digital download (remix)

1. "S&M" (remix; featuring Britney Spears) – 4:17

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Loud, Def Jam Recordings, SRP Records.

Management

• ASCAP/BMI
• Stargate and Miles Walker both appear on behalf of 45th & 3rd Music LLC
• Stargate's management: Tim Blacksmith and Danny D.
• Sandy Vee appears on behalf of Empire Artist Management
• Kuk Harrell appears on behalf of Suga Wuga Music, Inc.

Recording locations

• Music recording – Roc the Mic Studios (New York); Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles); The Bunker Studios (Paris)
• Mixing – The Bunker Studios (Paris); The Ninja Beat Club (Atlanta)

Personnel

• Songwriting – Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean, Britney Spears (remix only)
• Production – Stargate, Sandy Vee
• Vocal production and recording – Kuk Harrell, Josh Gudwin, Marcos Tovar
• Assistant recording – Bobby Campbell
• Additional vocal production – Veronika Bozeman
• Instruments – Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Vee
• Music recording – Mikkel S. Eriksen, Miles Walker, Sandy Vee
• Mixing – Sandy Vee, Phil Tan
• Additional engineering – Damien Lewis

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

2011:

2012:

Release history

References

Notes

Citations

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