“Disturbia” by Rihanna
Rihanna’s “Disturbia” is in fact based on the vocalist being in a state of mental disturbance, as implied by the title, even though said title isn’t a canonical word.
In the first verse, it reads as if the source of the vocalist’s stress is finance related. In the second verse, she comes off as someone who is spending too much time alone for her own good.
And what Rihanna appears to be saying through the choruses is that basically anyone can fall victim to such psychological maladies as those mentioned above. In fact considering that many people are in fact heavily indebted and/or socially isolated, then there are a lot more currently in a state of “disturbia” than they even realize.
So even though it may be a bit ‘scary’, the vocalist has taken it upon herself to sort of officially notify such individuals that yes, your mind has in fact been negatively “altered” by the pressure, loneliness or what have you. And a further implication made during the chorus is that Rihanna may be trying to warn against being seduced by “the city of wonder” or, as also arguably implied by the title, those seduced by an urban lifestyle being most prone to be thrown into a state of “disturbia”.
Facts about “Disturbia”
On June 17th, 2008, Rihanna released “Disturbia”. It came out in the capacity of a single from the Barbadian singer’s “Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded”.
Interesting to note is that despite being one of her biggest hits, Rihanna played no role in the composing of “Disturbia”. The song was actually co-written by her former boyfriend, Chris Brown. The full writing credits for “Disturbia” are listed below:
- Robert Allen
- Chris Brown
- Brian Kennedy
- Andre Merritt
Disturbia‘s production was handled by co-writer Kennedy alongside Makeba Riddick.
What Genre(s) is “Disturbia”?
- Dance-pop
- Electropop
Grammy Nomination
“Disturbia” was one of the nominees for “Best Dance Recording” at the 51st edition of the Grammy Awards. It was nominated alongside the following songs:
- Hot Chip’s “Ready for the Floor”
- Lady Gaga and Colby O’Donis’ “Just Dance”
- Madonna’s “Give It 2 Me”
- Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold”
- Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” (which emerged winner)
Other Accolades grabbed by “Disturbia”
It was ranked number nine on Billboard’s “Songs of the Summer of 2008” list.
“Disturbia” was positioned at number two of Time Magazine’s “10 Best Songs of the Summer” list.
Chart Performance
Chart-wise, this song was what we would classify as an international super hit. Below was how it performed on charts across the globe:
- US – 1
- UK – 3
- Switzerland – 4
- Sweden – 4
- Spain – 10
- Portugal – 6
- Poland – 2
- Norway – 3
- New Zealand – 1
- Netherlands – 10
- Israel – 2
- Ireland – 4
- Hungary – 4
- Germany – 5
- France – 3
- Finland – 2
- Denmark – 4
- Czech Republic – 10
- Croatia – 3
- Canada – 2
- Belgium – 1
- Austria – 4
- Australia – 6
Rihanna’s “Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded” Project
As stated above, “Disturbia” was released as part of Rihanna’s re-issue album, “Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded”.
This project was released to celebrate the first anniversary of Rihanna’s third studio album entitled “Good Girl Gone Bad”. Def Jam Recordings and S.R.P. records released the entire project on June 2, 2008.
Other notable songs that appear on this album include:
- “Umbrella”
- “Take a Bow”
- “Don’t Stop the Music”
- “Hate That I Love You”
- “Rehab”
- “Take a Bow”
