"Cockiness (Love It)" is a song by Barbadian singer
Rihanna, from her sixth studio album ''
Talk That Talk
''Talk That Talk'' is the sixth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna, released on November 18, 2011, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded while traveling for the Loud Tour between February and November 2011, and was origin ...
'' (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
MTV 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 be ...
and
dancehall track.
Instrumentation
Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making.
Instrumentation can refer to ...
is provided by vocal whoops, drums and
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
. The lyrics of the song revolve around declaring the singer's desire for
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
. "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 w ...
. 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
Rihanna, with production helmed by Crawford under his stage name Mr. Bangladesh.
In an interview with
MTV, 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
''Talk That Talk'' is the sixth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna, released on November 18, 2011, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded while traveling for the Loud Tour between February and November 2011, and was origin ...
'' (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
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 be ...
and
dancehall song,
"Cockiness (Love It)" features dancehall stylised vocals and a
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
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 Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
.
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 ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' compared Rihanna's "
aunting vocals in the lyrics "Suck my cockiness/Lick my persuasion" to the style in which
Britney Spears sings on her 2009 single "
If U Seek Amy
"If U Seek Amy" ( radio-edited as "If U See Amy") is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, ''Circus'' (2008). It was released on March 10, 2009, by Jive Records as the third single of the album, chosen by a poll ...
" (''
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 unicyclis ...
'', 2008).
Jason Lipshutz of ''
Billboard'' 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
MTV 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. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
'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
Greg Kinnear
Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997).
Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including '' Sabrina'' (1 ...
'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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
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 and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' described the lyrics "Suck my cockiness,
ick
Ick or ICK may refer to:
* William Ick, (1800–1844), botanist
*Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, a single-celled parasite. Also known as Ich
*Inhibitor cystine knot
*Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
*Trains in the Netherlands, Intercit ...
my 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'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' described "Cockiness (Love It)" and another track from the album, "
Birthday Cake
A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of a birthday celebration. Birthday cakes are often layer cakes with frosting served with small lit candles on top representing the celebrant's age. Variations include cupcakes, cake pops, pastries, an ...
", 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 digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote that Rihanna appeared to be channelling Swedish singer-songwriter and
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
Neneh Cherry on "Cockiness (Love It)" in a "pseudo-melodic" impersonation.
Caramanica continued to praise the song and called it a "triumph", writing that the singer "
ases
The ' (plural '), occasionally ''assarius'' (plural ''assarii'', rendered into Greek as , ''assárion'') was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.
Republican era coinage
The Romans replaced the usag ...
out 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
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
'' 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 publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
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 American 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 cre ...
'' 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 publish ...
'' 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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
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)."
Upon the release of ''Talk That Talk'', "Cockiness (Love It)" debuted on multiple world charts. The song debuted on the
at number 62 on November 26, 2011, with sales of 6,918 digital downloads.
on November 27, 2011.
at number 121 in the chart issue December 3, 2011.
chart at number 17 in the chart issue December 10, 2011.
on May 24, 2012, as the fourth song on the set list.
and closed her performance with "We Found Love". The song was later included as part of the setlist on her
during the first act.
;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'',
, SRP Records.
. 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,
".
The single failed to attain chart success. It peaked at number two on the
. The remix has sold 54,000 digital copies in the US.