"Cockiness (Love It)" is a song by Barbadian singer

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

, from her sixth studio album '' Talk That Talk'' (2011). The song was written by Rihanna, Candice Pillay, D. Abernathy and Shondrae Crawford, with production helmed by Mr. Bangladesh. Conceptualized by Mr. Bangladesh, the producer revealed in an interview with

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that the song had undergone many different versions before the final cut was included on the album. He stated that while he was writing and developing the song, Rihanna was the principal artist whom he wanted to record it. "Cockiness (Love It)" is a

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

and

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

track.

Instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

is provided by vocal whoops, drums and horns. The lyrics of the song revolve around declaring the singer's desire for sex. "Cockiness (Love It)" received mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Whilst some praised the song's memorability and compositional structure, others criticized its overtly sexual lyrical content. Upon the release of ''Talk That Talk'', the song charted in lower regions on the singles charts in South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Background and conception

"Cockiness (Love It)" was written by Candice Pillay, D. Abernathy, Shondrae Crawford and

, with production helmed by Crawford under his stage name Mr. Bangladesh. In an interview with

, Mr. Bangladesh revealed that Rihanna was the principal artist who he wanted to record "Cockiness (Love It)". The producer continued to say that the song had undergone "many different guises" before the final version including on '' Talk That Talk'' (2011), saying Cockiness', it's layers of things I had sampled for a long time, never really messed with it too much." Mr. Bangladesh continued to describe "Cockiness (Love It)s development and song-writing process, saying: After revealing that the song was finished, Mr. Bangladesh stated that he wanted to wait until the right artist came along to record the song. He later decided that it would be Rihanna, saying, "I was like, 'That's dope. That's Rihanna all day'. They sent the song back, and I finished producing it. I put the 'I love it' on it that they had already had ... She loved it, and that's what it was."

Composition and lyrics

As a

and

song, "Cockiness (Love It)" features dancehall stylised vocals and a rap

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

by Rihanna. Claire Suddath of Time Entertainment noted that the speed in which Rihanna delivers her vocal is so fast that it blends in with the composition, which she wrote "becomes the basis for the beat." The instrumentation of "Cockiness (Love It)" consists of vocal whoops, cracking drums and bawling horns. Throughout the song, Rihanna sings in a taunting nature, taking pleasure in being able to tease the listener. T'Cha Dunlevy of ''

The Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' compared Rihanna's " aunting vocals in the lyrics "Suck my cockiness/Lick my persuasion" to the style in which

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

sings on her 2009 single " If U Seek Amy" (''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

'', 2008). Jason Lipshutz of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine noted that Rihanna's vocals in the lyrics "I love it, I love it, I love it when you eat it" offer "coos" about wanting sex, whilst sarcastically writing that "we're pretty sure she's not talking about the chicken pot pie she left for dinner." James Montgomery of

noted that the lyrics "Suck my cockiness/Lick my persuasion", are, in his opinion, the best "come-on" line of 2011 alongside

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

's "Heavy Metal Lover" ('' Born This Way'', 2011) lyrics "I want your whiskey mouth/All over my blond south". The song heavily samples the beginning of

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's performance of " Summertime" from the 2003 comedy film '' Stuck on You''.

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

praised the song and its memorability, writing Cockiness (Love It),' sone of the most hypnotic and wicked beats of the last decade". Priya Elan of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' described the lyrics "Suck my cockiness, ickmy persuasion" as "cringey", but complimented the song's compositional structure, writing that it provides a "genuine elastic thrill, twisting into all sorts of jaw-dropping musical shapes". Randell Roberts of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' described "Cockiness (Love It)" and another track from the album, "

Birthday Cake A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of birthday celebrations. While there is no standard for birthday cakes, they are typically highly decorated layer cakes covered in frosting, often featuring birthday wishes ("Happy birthday") followed b ...

", as the "breast and booty" of ''Talk That Talk'' but noted that they failed to capture the raunchiness that they set out to achieve. Melissa Maerz of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' also wrote that "Cockiness (Love It)" and "Birthday Cake" were the most provocative songs on the album, describing them as "I-like-it-rough tracks", but criticized them for being album fillers designed to get the listener out of the bedroom and on to the dance floor. Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that Rihanna appeared to be channelling Swedish singer-songwriter and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

on "Cockiness (Love It)" in a "pseudo-melodic" impersonation. Caramanica continued to praise the song and called it a "triumph", writing that the singer " asesout come-ons as if she were lapping up milk". Despite raising concerns for younger audiences with regard to the song's overt sexual lyrics, a reviewer for ''Flavour'' magazine praised Mr. Bangladesh's production on "Cockiness (Love It). Pip Ellwood of Entertainment-Focus noted that "Cockiness (Love It)", along with "Birthday Cake", "leave you under no misunderstanding that Rihanna is as sexual as she's ever been throughout her career." Arwa Haider of '' Metro'' wrote that the song is "predictably filthy". Nathan S. of DJ Booth noted that "Cockiness (Love It)" is "by far the album's most explicit offering," and listed the song, along with "Watch n' Learn" as his top two songs from ''Talk That Talk''. Lindsay Zoladz of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

was critical of the song, writing "Rihanna's always been singing about sex – she's just never shown such an unfortunate proclivity for cheesy lyrics and dessert metaphors. Suck my cockiness/Lick my persuasion,' ihannacommands on the embarrassingly literal 'Cockiness (Love It)', hoping the boldness of the delivery will distract you from thinking about what a clunky line it is (it won't, though Bangladesh's beats might)." Tuyet Nguyen of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' commented that although Rihanna evokes a "raunchy" appeal during the verses, he criticized the singer for providing "stony, deadpanned ocals" Simon Price of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' shared the same opinion as Nguyen with regard to Rihanna's vocal performance, writing, "It's a shame that ockiness (Love It) like every Rihanna vocal, is delivered in a voice which sounds as bored as a sex-line worker filing her nails." Mike Diver for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

was critical of the song's inclusion on the album, writing "A forgettable vocal from Jay-Z on the title-track foreshadows an awful exercise in quasi-erotic wordplay on Cockiness (Love It)."

Chart performance

Upon the release of ''Talk That Talk'', "Cockiness (Love It)" debuted on multiple world charts. The song debuted on the South Korea Gaon International Chart at number 62 on November 26, 2011, with sales of 6,918 digital downloads. In the United Kingdom, "Cockiness (Love It)" debuted at number 33 on the

UK R&B Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

on November 27, 2011. It also debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 121 in the chart issue December 3, 2011. In the United States, the song debuted on the US ''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart at number 17 in the chart issue December 10, 2011.

Live performance

Rihanna performed "Cockiness (Love It)" for the first time at Radio 1's Hackney Weekend on May 24, 2012, as the fourth song on the set list. She also performed the song at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards which placed on September 6 when she opened the award show alongside

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...

and closed her performance with "We Found Love". The song was later included as part of the setlist on her Diamonds World Tour during the first act.

Track listing

*Album version # "Cockiness (Love It)" – 2:58 *Digital remix single # "Cockiness (Love It) emix (featuring

) – 3:39

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Recorded at Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg, Room 538. ;Personnel *Songwriting – Candice Pillay, D. Abernathy, Shondrae Crawford, Robyn Fenty *Production, instruments, programming – Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford *Vocal engineering and recording – Kuk Harrell, Marcos Tovar *Assistant vocal recording – Jennifer Rosales *Mixing – Fabian Marasciullo *Assistant mixing – Ghazi Hourani Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Talk That Talk'',

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

, SRP Records.

Charts

Certifications

Remix

"Cockiness (Love It)" was officially

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed featuring a

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

from American rapper

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

the first verse. The song was digitally released on September 7, 2012, as the sixth and final single from ''Talk That Talk''. On September 4, 2012, via her Twitter account Rihanna streamed the official remix of "Cockiness (Love It)" through her MTV page. On September 6, 2012,

and

performed the remix at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards in a medley with "

We Found Love "We Found Love" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna released as the lead single from her sixth studio album, '' Talk That Talk'' (2011). The song features Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, whose 2012 album '' 18 Months'' also includes the track. Produ ...

Chart performance

The single failed to attain chart success. It peaked at number two on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. The remix has sold 54,000 digital copies in the US.

Charts

References

{{authority control Rihanna songs Song recordings produced by Bangladesh (record producer) Songs written by Rihanna 2012 singles 2011 songs Song recordings produced by Kuk Harrell Songs written by Bangladesh (record producer) Songs about BDSM Songs written by Candice Pillay Songs written by Dem Jointz Dancehall songs Dubstep songs