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For other songs of that title, see Russian roulette (disambiguation).
"Tomica/Sandbox3"
Song

"Russian Roulette" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna from her fourth studio album Rated R (2009). The song premiered on the radio stations on October 20, 2009 and was released as the album's lead single on November 3, 2009 through Def Jam Recordings. It was both written and produced by American soul singer Ne-Yo and Chuck Harmony. "Russian Roulette" composition defines a different pace from Rihanna's previous singles. The song brings a strong chorus and a bridge, which is pulled by strong vocals. Lyrically the singles is about an abusive romantic relationship that ended abruptly.

"Russian Roulette" received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of them praising Rihanna's vocal performance and choice of lyrics. The single was a commercial success and managed to reach number one in Norway and Switzerland. It also reached the top-ten positions in sixteen other countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France Germany, Italy, New Zealand and others. The song also reached number two on UK Singles Chart and number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The accompanying music video was directed by Rihanna's long collaborator Anthony Mandler and premiered on November 13, 2009 on ABC's 20/20. The dark-themed video features Rihanna in different edgy situations, connected with her love interest. "Russian Roulette" was promoted with live performances across both sides of the Atlantic, including on the Nokia Rated R promotional concert and series six of The X Factor in the United Kingdom, and on the Late Night with David Letterman in the United States.

Background and composition

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On October 14, 2009, Rihanna has posted on her official website a background image with a black metal "R" along with a message saying "The Wait is Ova".[6] It was speculated that the message would be a name of her new single or album.[6] Two days later, a countdown timer was also added to the image and was marked to end on October 20, 2009.[7] After the timer finished counting, "Russian Roulette" was worldwide solicited and premiered on BBC Radio 1, on the official website and American radio stations.[8] The song fits the genres of R&B[1] and pop.[2][3] It was written and produced by American soul singer Ne-Yo, who had previously worked with Rihanna on "Hate That I Love You" and "Take a Bow", in a co-production with Chuck Harmony.[9] Ne-Yo called the track "my first ventures off into the fictitious," as he stated how he came up with the theme of the song:[10]


According to Jocelyn Vena from MTV, lyrically the song is about an abusive romantic relationship that ended abruptly, referring to the relationship that Rihanna had with Chris Brown.[9] The song opens with a searing guitar solo, where the transitions are constant sinister beats, wrapped in a ballad.[9] The metaphor of Russian roulette, as a game can be seen in the chorus line "And you can see my heart beating / Because you can see through my chest / I said I'm scared, but I'm not giving up / I know I need to pass this test / So just pull the trigger". Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine praised the song and said that the most prominent instrument in anyway, are Rihanna's vocals accompanied by guitar, and backed by piano.[5] According to the sheet music published in Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a slow tempo of 80 beats per minute. It is written in the key of F-sharp minor with Rihanna's vocal range spanning from the note F♯3 to the note C♯5.[11] The chords follow in this order: F♯m–D–Bm–C♯, and then for the chorus F♯m–D–E–Bm.[12]

Critical reception

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Upon release, "Russian Roulette" received generally positive reviews from music critics regarding Rihanna's vocal performance and choice of lyrics. Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times described "Rihanna's command performance" as "[a] midtempo song without overbearing production, the single belongs all to Rihanna, and she makes the best of it -- a bit icy, a tad fearless, with the vocal strength to keep the orchestral flourishes at bay."[13] MTV News stated "it retains the same sort of attitude and atmosphere that has made Rihanna such a definitive artist."[14] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly said that Rihanna took some risks with this track, and "those risks absolutely pay off. Rihanna is in fine vocal form throughout, and Ne-Yo’s songwriting is economical and evocative per usual."[15] On the single review, Nick Levine of Digital Spy awarded the song five out of five stars, commenting "'Russian Roulette' is a masterful return effort: brave, brilliantly-released and bizarre enough to distance Rihanna from the pop-R&B pack (and, of course, Lady Gaga). Factor in her most confident vocal yet and only her second songwriting credit on a single and the conclusion is inescapable."[16] Bill Lamb of About.com referred to the music as "gorgeous work of melancholy and dread", and refers to the fact that it was written with Ne-Yo: "Frequent collaborator Ne-Yo helps take Rihanna into uncompromisingly adult territory in the wake of the domestic violence in her relationship with Chris Brown."[17]

However, Andy Kellman of Allmusic stated that Rihanna with the song has a sudden desire to provoke: "Even with the realization that it is metaphorical, the song startles with its hesitant gasps, spinning cylinders, and verses that are glacially paced, where a cold piano line and the slight inflections in Rihanna's voice are front and center."[18] Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal stressed that the single is a bad Céline Dion song with barrel-turning revolver noises that actually sound like a can of spray paint being shook up.[19] Rob Harvilla of The Village Voice also stated that "Russian Roulette" is a spare, suspenseful, violent torch song, that makes for profoundly unpleasant listening.[20]

Chart performance

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The song debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number hundred on November 7, 2009, and gained its peak of nine just two weeks later, becoming Rihanna's twelfth top-ten hit in the country. However, "Russian Roulette" serves as Rihanna's lowest charting lead single.[21] It also debuted on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and peaked at forty-nine. The song made it's debut at number thirty-six on the US Billboard Pop Songs, and climbed to twenty-three the next week. However, the song managed to peak at the top of Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. As of September 26, 2010, the song has sold more than 830,000 copies in the United States alone.[22] The song also managed to peak at number nine on the Canadian Hot 100.[21] In Australia the song debuted at number eleven on the ARIA Singles Charts on the week of November 16, 2009, and later peaked at number seven.[23] In New Zealand, the song peaked at number nine.[24]

"Russian Roulette" entered the UK Singles Chart at number six on November 29, 2009.[25] The following week, it rose to its peak at number two, giving Rihanna her eleventh top-five hit in the country.[26] Simultaneously, it peaked at number one on the UK R&B Chart and stayed there for three consecutive weeks.[27] It was certified silver in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2010, after shipping 200,000 copies. Elsewhere in Europe, the song managed to reach the top-ten in eleven other countries. It reached number one in Norway[28] and Switzerland[29], number two in Austria[30] and Germany[31], number three in Belgium (Wallonia)[32] and Finland[33], number four in France[34] and Sweden[35], number five in Belgium (Flanders)[36] and the Republic of Ireland[37] and number six in Denmark,[38] Italy[39] and Spain.[40]

Music video

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Background

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The music video for "Russian Roulette" was directed by Rihanna's frequent collaborator Anthony Mandler, who has directed many of her music videos, including: "Take a Bow", "Disturbia", "Rehab" and "Wait Your Turn".[41] In November, 2009 Rihanna stopped by "TV Total" in Germany to chat about her new album and there she previewed 30 seconds of the video for the song. The fan site RihannaDaily.com also has had three stills from the video showing three additional scenes.[42] The director of the video spoke to MTV News stating "I think that with this song and the meaning of this song and how loaded it all is, no pun intended, how much imagery and perhaps symbolism that is loaded in this song, the only way to do it was to do something that was visually challenging".[43] The music video for the song premiered on ABC's 20/20 on November 13, 2009.[43]

Synopsis

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thumb|right|210px|A scene from the music video, where Rihanna is being shot underwater. The music video opens with shots of Rihanna hooded, lying on the floor of a gas chamber, where is blood from a losing hand. Three strange men, dressed in black uniforms and wearing dark round glasses are moving around her. One of the men, who watches her from a glass, plays creepy sounds as the song starts, trying to extort information from her.[42] The scene then moves to another room of the prison, a room lit by a dim lamp and cooled by a small fan, in which Rihanna, dressed in black, is about to face an interview with her ​​love interest which is played by American actor Jesse Williams.[42][44] On the table between them there is a silver revolver. Other scene includes Rihanna in the woods where a car runs over her and while her heart bleeds.[42] Elements of blood and tears and vehicular assault dominate through the whole video.[41] In the end, Rihanna is underwater where she is being shot with several bullets. The video ends with the death of her lover who commits suicide with a revolver which is placed between them.

Live performances

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Rihanna performing "Russian Roulette" on her Last Girl on Earth Tour in Antwerp, Belgium.

After the release of Rated R in the United Kingdom, Rihanna went to London where she kicked off the promotion of it with a concert sponsored by Nokia.[45] There, for first time she performed "Russian Roulette", together with material from the new album, but also mashed up with her older hits from her previous efforts.[45] She performed the song while sitting on a throne chair. A reviewer from MTV.co.uk stated that "The Barbadian beauty then sat seductively on stage in a throne that even the Beckhams would be proud of to belt out the ballad".[45] After the release of the album in the United States, she embarked some promotional performances. Rihanna performed "Russian Roulette", together with "Wait Your Turn" and "Umbrella" on Good Morning America as part of the fall concert series, in New York City, while revealing white sequined blazer with a little black shirt underneath and stilettos.[46][47] Just a day later, she performed the single again, this time on Late Night with David Letterman.[48] On November 29, 2009, Rihanna headed again in the United Kingdom to perform "Russian Roulette" on the series six of The X Factor. The performance was similar as the one from the Nokia promotional concert and featured Rihanna siting on a throne chair. She performed the song while revealing a brown-cream outfit and white heels.[49] In 2010, Rihanna recorded an AOL Sessions, where she performed the song, together with "Hard", "Rude Boy", "Disturbia" and "Take a Bow".[50]

"Russian Roulette" was the opening song on Rihanna's setlist for her Last Girl on Earth Tour, after the presentation "Mad House".[51] She performed the song on a moveable platform, while wearing a floor-length gown covered with red LED lights.[51] Neil McCormick of The Telegraph, in a review of one of the tour's concerts, said that: "She kicked off with the homicidal pop-rock ballad Russian Roulette to screen imagery of burning naked mannequins and had shed most of her clothes by her second song...".[51] Later the track was excluded from the set list for the Australian leg of the tour, together with "Rehab" and was replaced with "Only Girl (In the World)", as the tour starter.[52]

Track listing and formats

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Digital download
  1. "Russian Roulette" - 3:48[53]
Promo CD single / German CD Single[54] / UK CD Single
  1. "Russian Roulette" (Main) — 3:48
  2. "Russian Roulette" (Instrumental) — 3:48
  3. "Russian Roulette" (Remix) (Feat. Kardinal Offishall) - 4:18

Charts and certifications

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Radio and release history

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