You want to make something very authentic, and really fell like the culture someone sees when they're watching West Indians. Well, you know it is really born out of the song, right? It's a very West Indian style record and we wanted to give them a very West Indian style video.
Where did the idea for a double video come from?
Of course, X is no stranger to the scene and culture, as he's directed multiple Sean Paul videos throughout his career, and knew that everyone involved with "Work" could bring an authentic feel to what they were trying to do. In an exclusive interview with Director X, we talked to him about the creative process behind the video, how Sean Paul's "Get Busy" visual came into play, and everything else that happened in between the steamy Drake and RiRi scenes. For X's part-the first video shown above-of the formula, he knew that he had to do things right for the infectious track. 1 on the Hot 100 chart-that they actually decided to make a double video for it. Please let me know your thoughts in the Comments section below:Īnd please share on facebook etc.The famed Director X, who has crafted some of the most memorable music videos in hip-hop history, did it again with the visual for Rihanna and Drake's most recent mega-hit "Work." The song is currently so big-it just hit No. Though the sparse arrangement doesn’t make a big deal out of the pretty harmonies that are created here, the emotion is felt… as it always is in melodies. Melody note D# over an E chord (a major 7th) Melody note C# over a D#minor chord (a b7)
Melody note D# over a C#minor chord (a 9th) I’ve italicized the Chorus words that come on a chord change (every two beats). The main lyrics to the first two bars of the Chorus are: The way the melody goes with the chords in the Chorus is cool. The song just kind of flows along, gaining its own kind of momentum. The Verses have sections, but there’s no real Pre-Chorus. And the sound of the words and the rhymes fit with them hand in glove.Īlso it’s interesting that although there’s a great vocal riff that leads into the Choruses, there’s no attempt to really ‘build’ into the Chorus. However, the ‘Work’ melodies seem intricately worked out. The melody notes in the song are all in the same scale but contain melodic and rhythmic variations that feel to me almost like an instrumentalist playing variations on five different themes.
And Drake’s Verse is even more free form, in his patented rapping/singing style. That’s very unusual in a pop song – to put it mildly. Yes, the Verses really are five sections that don’t repeat. ( ‘Work’ was written by Jahron Brathwaite, Matthew Samuels, Aaron Ritter, Rupert Thomas, Aubrey Graham, Robyn Fenty, Monte Moir.)Įxamining how the song is put together structurally might look like this:
(And the Chorus actually isn’t as simple as it sounds at first, if you pay attention to all the variations.) The directness of the Chorus, plus basing the song on the Dancehall style, which is different from American pop and r&b, combined with the well-established vocal identities of Rihanna and Drake, allow them to get away with Verses that have way more freedom than most pop songs. It’s a song built around a simple and memorable Title/hook that’s strong enough to allow the Verses to consistently go in different directions, not repeating much.
The lyrics are sung by Rihanna in Jamaican patois – fluid and musical. The chords are a 2 bar repeated pattern (||:C#minor D#minor | E F#:||). It’s a vibey understated groove in Jamaican Dancehall style that’s moody and simple, but with subtle variations. The more I listen to “Work’ by Rihanna (featuring Drake) – the video’s below – the more I like it and the more interesting I find it.