"Trouble" is a song recorded by British recording artist Leona Lewis and American entertainer Childish Gambino for Lewis' third studio album, Glassheart (2012). Inspired by Lewis' break-up with childhood sweetheart Lou Al-Chamaa, "Trouble" is a mid-tempo R&B and trip hop ballad, with a piano and strings-driven melody. It was written by a British writing collective consisting of Lewis, Donald Glover, Hugo Chegwin, Harry Craze, Shahid Khan, James Murray, Mustafa Omer, Emeli Sandé and Fraser T Smith. Production came courtesy of Khan under his production name of Naughty Boy and Smith, along with co-producer Chris Loco and additional producer Jahlil Beats. Music critics noted that the urban production marked a new direction for Lewis, particularly by featuring Gambino during the song's middle eight breakdown with a poetic rap verse. A version excluding Gambino is also included on Glassheart.
"Trouble" was also influenced by British trip hop duo Massive Attack, who Lewis cited as a musical inspiration. Lewis' falsetto and soprano vocal performance on the song garnered early praise from critics who commended the raw emotions, as well as Gambino's guest rap and the song's melodic strings- and piano-heavy production. "Trouble" premiered on 21 August 2012 on BBC Radio 1's Breakfast with Scott, ahead of its release as Glasshearts lead single, superseding the 2011 single "Collide", a collaboration with Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii. "Trouble" was released on 5 October 2012, preceding the album by one week, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number seven becoming Lewis's ninth top-ten single. In Ireland "Trouble" charted at number twenty-one becoming Lewis's eighth top-thirty single.
As part of promotion of the song, fans were given chance to produce their own remix of "Trouble" which was released alongside the single on Lewis' official music store. An accompanying music video was filmed on 22 August in Los Angeles, with Teen Wolf actor Colton Haynes cast as Lewis' love interest. Haynes, a friend of Lewis, was chosen due to his physical resemblance to Lewis' ex Al-Chaama. In the video, Lewis and Haynes' relationship begins to unfold and culminates in an altercation between the duo before Haynes leaves and Lewis breaks down in tears. Lewis also recorded an acoustic performance of the song for her Vevo account. "Trouble" was promoted with performances on the ninth series of The X Factor (UK), on 7 October 2012, later on Alan Carr: Chatty Man and also during a set at London nightclub, G-A-Y.
Background and release
Lewis began to conceptualise her third album Glassheart in the second half of 2010, shortly after completing her first headline concert tour, The Labyrinth. "Trouble" was one of the earlier songs recorded by Lewis, and one of several tracks that Lewis worked on with British duo Emeli Sandé and Naughty Boy. Sandé first conceived the loose concepts for "Trouble" in 2009. It was not until British hip-hop artist Tinie Tempah began working with Sandé for his own debut album Disc-Overy (2011), that "Trouble" was pitched to Lewis; Tempah approached Lewis to record "Trouble" as a duet with himself. Upon hearing the demo, Lewis asked Tempah if she could have the song and subsequently entered the recording studios with Sandé and Fraser T Smith to record and finish the song. Sandé later wrote two more songs for Lewis, including "I to You" and "Sugar". A fourth song, "Mountains", was reclaimed by Sandé and was recorded for her debut album Our Version of Events (2012).
With a November 2011 release date set for Glassheart, Lewis proceeded with the release of the album's first single "Collide" on 15 July 2011. However, Swedish house music DJ Avicii sued Lewis and Sony Music, claiming that "Collide" was a reproduction of his own instrumental single "Penguin," for which he had sought the legal permission to sample Simon Jeffes' "Perpetuum Mobile". Following a settlement out of court, "Collide" was released crediting both Lewis and Avicii. "Collide" reached number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, number three in Ireland and number four in the United Kingdom. Despite this, Glassheart was pushed into early 2012 to accommodate new recording sessions. During this time Lewis would work with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and record a song called "We Found Love". Harris wanted Lewis to release "We Found Love" at the end of 2011, yet Lewis and her label had already decided "Trouble" would be the second single from Glassheart. During an interview with Digital Spy, Lewis said "Yes, I think 'Trouble' will be the second single. I can't wait for everyone to hear it. I'm really excited about it. It's one that I really love." Once the album was pushed back again to mid-2012, and then October 2012, Harris reclaimed "We Found Love", which was subsequently recorded by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna for her album Talk That Talk and became a number one hit worldwide.
Nearly a year later as work for the album neared completion, Lewis was able to confirm that "Trouble" would still be the album's second single and was due for release in October 2012 alongside the album. Between the announcement in 2011 and the song's release in 2012, Sony Music Entertainment re-organised operations, which resulted in the closure of J Records and all previously signed artists being absorbed into RCA Records. "Trouble" is thus Lewis' first release in partnership with RCA Records. Sony Music made "Trouble" a global priority, making it supersede "Collide" as the album's lead single and focussing on promoting the song in the UK first before a worldwide release. A new version of "Trouble" was recorded to feature American rapper Childish Gambino and premiered on radio on 21 August 2012. "Trouble" was played at a press premiere for Tracey Hart from Music Week magazine, along with new songs "Come Alive" and "Un Love Me". The song was also played for Popjustice twice, first in an early form last year in 2011 and secondly in a finished form on 16 August 2012. The website noted that the new version of "Trouble" sounded more finished and complete with the addition of Gambino's verse. "Trouble" premiered on BBC Radio 1's Breakfast with Scott on 21 August 2012, ahead of its Irish release on 5 October and UK release on 7 October 2012. It was released 14 December 2012 in Germany.
Composition and lyrics "Trouble" is a mid-tempo R&B and trip hop song written by Lewis and collective of British songwriters, including Hugo Chegwin, Harry Craze, Shahid Khan, James Murray, Mustafa Omer, Emeli Sandé and Fraser T Smith. It is primarily an R&B and trip hop song, built around a strings- and piano-driven melody. Production was done by Khan under his production name of Naughty Boy and Smith, while secondary production was provided by Chris Loco. Orlando "Jahlil Beats" Tucker provided some additional production. A reviewer from the Metro noted that the song had a hip hop vibe and feel to its production. "Trouble" was recorded in the key of A-minor and written in time signature of common time, set at a tempo of 104 beats per minute. Sony Music executive Sonny Thakrar described Lewis and Sandé's work together on "Trouble" as "killer chemistry," praising Sandé's "storytelling" abilities and Lewis' "vocal prowess". Thakrar, who is also involved with A&R, said that "Trouble" was a showcase of an "emotional and raw" vocal from Lewis. Vocals throughout the song are sung in Lewis' falsetto and soprano registers, spanning a range of E4–5. The tone and mood of the song is ethereal, with Lewis' vocals taking on a "haunting" tone that is only broken during middle eight section when Childish Gambino delivers his "poetic" rap verse. "Trouble" featuring Gambino appears on Glassheart as track number thirteen, whilst a solo no-rap version appears on the album as track number one.
In a press release, Lewis explained the meaning behind "Trouble": "it tells the story of love going bad and becoming destructive, aspects of which we can all relate to. It’s a deeply emotional and poignant song that I have a real connection to." According to the Sunday Mirror, "Trouble" was inspired by Lewis' break-up with her childhood sweetheart Lou Al-Chamaa. Lyrics which reference her relationship with Chamaa include the lines: "I told you never to get used to me, I stay awake while you fall asleep. I'm a whole lot of trouble, we're in a whole lot of trouble. You shout louder than you used to, and you hold on tighter in the bedroom." During an interview with Digital Spy, Lewis further explained that she was inspired and influenced by British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack. "Trouble" drew comparisons to Sandé's own singles; according to Michael Cragg from The Guardian, "Trouble" was much like "Heaven" (2011) while MSN's Danielle Cheeseman compared it to Sandé collaboration with Naughty Boy, "Daddy" (2011).
Response
Critical reception "Trouble" received mainly positive reviews from critics, who praised Childish Gambino's featured rap, the musical production and Lewis's emotive vocals. A reviewer from Pop Justice said that the site had twice heard "Trouble"; the first time was just before "Collide" was released in September 2011, while a second finished version was played for them on 16 August 2012. The final track featured the same "beguiling feel" as the earlier version but was more "finished." The reviewer commented, "['Trouble' has] a convincing, compelling and dramatic vocal performance which works brilliantly against the song's opulent but bleak mid-tempo production", adding that although Childish Gambino's "rap in the middle eight sounds great", it almost "slightly dilutes Leona's big comeback".
During early previews of the song, Corner spoke most on Gambino's guest appearance, describing the collaboration as "unlikely on paper" but then in reality "it results in one of Leona's most natural collaborations to date". Commenting on the song as a whole, Corner said "Trouble" was a powerful comeback, "It's big, it's emotional and it's what we've come to expect from the Hackney belle – but we wouldn't want it any other way." Lewis Corner from Digital Spy also picked up on the change of direction and commented that people would be "shocked," but then added that "when "it results in an emotive anthem like this, we hope she unleashes it more often." The Guardians Michael Cragg called "Trouble" a return to the "safer" templates of her first two albums, but praised the song's production calling it "a vaguely trip-hop beat buffeted by soaring strings and a troubled lyric in the chorus." Like previous reviews, Cragg also praised Gambino stating that he "manages to stamp his own personality on the song" despite appearing near the end of the song and that perhaps it was Lewis' best chance at "regaining her footing in America".