"Nobody's Business" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna featuring American singer Chris Brown from the former's seventh studio album, Unapologetic (2012). It is their third collaboration following the domestic violence case that happened between them in 2009. Rihanna wrote the song with its producers, The-Dream and Carlos McKinney. It became available as the album's tenth track on November 19, 2012, when the album was released by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. A house, disco-pop, and R&B-funk song, "Nobody's Business" mixes Chicago stepping and features strings, piano, a four-on-the-floor kick drum, and an interpolation of Michael Jackson's 1987 single "The Way You Make Me Feel".

"Nobody's Business" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many of them labeling the song as a standout on the album. Despite that, some journalists criticized Rihanna's decision to collaborate with Brown again because of their former relationship and domestic violence case. Following the release of Unapologetic, as a result of strong digital downloads, the song charted on multiple charts worldwide; it peaked at numbers 19 and 14 on the bubbling under charts in the Flanders and Wallonia regions of Belgium, number 36 in France, number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, number 7 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart, and number 39 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand, gold in Denmark, and silver in the United Kingdom.

Background and production On February 8, 2009, Rihanna's scheduled performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards was canceled. Reports later surfaced regarding an altercation with then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, who was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats. On June 22, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault and accepted a plea deal of community labor, five years of probation, and domestic violence counseling. On August 25, Brown received five years of probation. He was ordered to attend one year of domestic violence counseling and undergo six months of community service; the judge retained a five-year restraining order on Brown, which required him to remain 50 yards (45.72 meters) away from Rihanna, reduced to 10 yards at public events. Over three years after the incident, in January 2012, Rihanna was intending to remix the interlude "Birthday Cake" from her 2011 studio album Talk That Talk. On February 15, 2012, Kosine of Da Internz, who produced the interlude, revealed that the featured collaborator would "shock the world", and that the full length version would premiere between February 16, and February 20, 2012. The full-length version of "Birthday Cake" was revealed to feature Brown and was released on Rihanna's birthday, February 20, 2012. Subsequently, Rihanna lent her vocals to the remix of Brown's 2012 single "Turn Up the Music". Following the leak of the remixes, Rihanna's decision to collaborate with Brown after the 2009 altercation was largely criticized by media.

In March 2012, Rihanna began "working on the new sound" for her seventh studio album, even though she had not yet begun recording. On September 12, 2012, Def Jam France announced via Twitter that Rihanna would release a new single the upcoming week while her seventh studio album was scheduled to be released in November 2012. On October 11, 2012, in one of her tweets, she revealed the title of her new album, Unapologetic, along with its cover. On November 6, the singer posted the official track listing of the album, on which there was a song titled "Nobody's Business" that featured Brown. Rihanna co-wrote the song with its producers, The-Dream and Carlos McKinney. Bart Schoudel recorded the track at Sarm Studios in London and at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The vocal recording of "Nobody's Business" was done by Kuk Harrell and Marcos Tovar, while Harrell also did the vocal production of the song. Blake Mares and Robert Cohen served as assistant vocal engineers on the track. It was mixed at the Larabee Studios in Los Angeles by Manny Marroquin.

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Nobody's Business" is a house, disco-pop, pop and R&B-funk song with a length of three minutes thirty-six seconds. Smokey D. Fontaine of The Urban Daily described it as "a perfect blend of R&B soul and pop feel-good with an irresistible sing-in-the-shower falsetto hook". The track contains an interpolation of Michael Jackson's 1987 single "The Way You Make Me Feel". Additionally, it has disco-driven influences and a "funkified" upbeat tempo. Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune wrote that "Nobody's Business" mixes Chicago stepping and house styles and features strings, piano, and a four-on-the-floor kick drum. Billboard staff described it as a "wonderfully catchy throwback to early-90s club music", while according to Dan Martin of NME is a swinging summer jam. Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica stated that "Nobody's Business" is gelatinous, smooth, and carefree.

Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club labeled the duet as an "eminently danceable paean to forbidden love". Lyrically, the couple proclaims their eternal fealty, make out in a Lexus and acknowledge the world that the romantic relationship between them is only their business. According to a Billboard reviewer, in lines like "you'll always be the one I want to come home to" and "you'll always be my baby", "it makes the beyond-complicated circumstances of their history impossible to ignore". Stacy-Ann Ellis of Vibe wrote that the song, like the couple's first post-makeup collaboration, "Birthday Cake (Remix)", is about the history they share and "refuse to let go of—it'll irk some people". Digital Spy's Robert Copsey noted that vocally, Brown does his best to achieve a Jackson impression. Robert Leedham of Drowned in Sound stated that "Nobody's Business" "makes you want to write a long, worthy think piece so you can come to terms with your own moral standing on it".

Response Commercial performance In North America, "Nobody's Business" peaked at number 39 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In Europe, it peaked at numbers 19 and 14 on the bubbling under charts in the Flanders and Wallonia regions of Belgium, number 36 in France, number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 7 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart. It was certified gold by IFPI Danmark and silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In Oceania, it was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ).

Critical reception

"Nobody's Business" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Brad Stern of MTV Buzzworthy wrote that although the collaboration itself was controversial, the song is one of the standouts on the album. Copsey of Digital Spy, Ellis of Vibe, and Leedham of Drowned in Sound agreed with Stern, with the latter stating, "On an album that's mildly abrasive and not a lot of fun, its piano-led stomp and teasing vocal interplay are actually enjoyable". Similarly, Pitchfork Jessica Hooper recognized it as one of the high points on Unapologetic. Caramanica of The New York Times wrote that it is the most tender, affectionate, spirited song on the record, "On an album full of dyspeptic relationships, it is the breath of cool, nourishing air". Jon Reyes of HipHopDX wrote that the song is "a very well thought out move, probably in hopes that it would help soften the impending criticism that Rihanna would receive from singing the pop version of makeup sex with her abusive ex-boyfriend".

Reviewers also noted and praised the interpolation of Jackson's song on the track. Fontaine of The Urban Daily agreed and named it the album's best track, further stating that Jackson's 1989 single "Leave Me Alone" "ain't got nothing on this ['Nobody's Business']". A reviewer of Billboard praised Jackson's influence in the song and stated that it is hard to resist its charm. Koski of The A.V. Club deemed "Nobody's Business" as one of the strongest tracks on the album and compared it to the works from the singer's seventh studio album, Bad (1987). The Huffington Post Mesfin Fekadu praised Jackson's song sample on the track; however, he dismissed its lyrical content.

Some of the critics were divided on Rihanna's decision to collaborate with Brown again. Toronto Star Lucas Oleniuk stated that "Nobody's Business" was not a bad track, writing that "it's one of the catchiest and freshest-sounding here — but the troubling subtext is as irksome as the irony of titling a song that proudly makes the pair's business everybody's". Bernard Perusse of Montreal Gazette noted that although it was a pretty fair R&B smoker, there was something nauseating and sinister about the song: its message. Being more critical towards the collaboration, Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times wrote that the track represented a sad inversion of the 1965 single "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher, further noting "Instead of singing about connection, true love and wanting to shout it to the world, the song features a convicted abuser and the woman he assaulted asking everyone to shut up and leave them alone".

Credits and personnel Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Unapologetic.

Recording Music recording – Sarm Studios, London; Westlake Recording Studios Los Angeles, CA Mixing – Larabee Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Sample Contains interpolation from the composition "The Way You Make Me Feel" as written and performed by Michael Jackson courtesy of Mijac Music/Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)

Personnel

Songwriting – Terius Nash, Robyn Fenty, Carlos McKinney Production – The-Dream, Carlos McKinney Featured artist – Chris Brown Recording engineers – Bart Schoudel Vocal recording – Kuk Harrell, Marcos Tovar Vocal production – Kuk Harrell Assistant vocal engineering – Blake Mares, Robert Cohen Mixing – Manny Marroquin

Charts + Chart performance for "Nobody's Business" Chart (2012) Peakposition

Certifications

References