"Ridin'" is a song by American singer

Mýa Mya Marie Harrison (; born October 10, 1979), (stylized as Mýa), is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Initially, Mýa began her career as a VJ ...

. It was written and composed by Mýa,

Ester Dean Esther Renay Dean (born April 15, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and actress. Dean has also written songs for many artists, with numerous Top 10 hits, including No. 1 hits for Rihanna and Katy Perry, earning the name " ...

, Jevon Simms,

Traci Hale Traci Hale is an Atlanta-based American pop and R&B songwriter and vocalist. She began her career as a backup singer for R&B superstars Keith Sweat and Aaliyah before becoming a songwriter for artists including Rihanna, Blu Cantrell, Mýa and Br ...

and

Tricky Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...

for her fourth studio album ''

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

'' (2007), with the latter serving as producer. The lyric of the R&B song is based on a personal experience Mýa endured in a relationship at one point in time when she suspected her ex-boyfriend of

cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate cr ...

, finding herself at her lowest point, while chasing him and his affair. The song was released by

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the "urban" half of UMG, although there were some ...

as a single in favor over album cuts "I Am" and "Walka Not a Talka" in a poll on Mýa's MySpace page voted by fans and after the commercial disappointment of previous single "

Lock U Down "Lock U Down" is a song by American singer Mýa on her fourth studio album '' Liberation'' (2007). It was written by Harrison along with Jason Boyd, Dwayne Carter, and Scott Storch, with production handled by the latter, and featured Young Mon ...

". Upon release, it received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics, who complimented on Mýa's toned of voice and the topic of the song. A minor success on ''

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 advertise ...

''s

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, it peaked at number fifty-eight. The song's accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was filmed by

Erik White Erik White is an American music video director. In 2010, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy film ''Lottery Ticket'', starring rappers Bow Wow and Ice Cube. He appeared on the reality show competition ''The Glee Project' ...

Background

"Ridin'" was written by Mýa along with

, Jevon Simms,

and

, while production was helmed by the latter. The autobiographical song was inspired by a toxic relationship with a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

-based record producer whom Mýa found cheating after she had moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to record her third studio album ''

Moodring ''Moodring'' is the third studio album by American singer Mýa, released on June 26, 2003, by A&M and Interscope Records. Before Mýa began to work on what would eventually be her third studio album, she participated in prior engagements which w ...

'' there. In a 2007 interview with ''

Vibe Vixen ''Vibe Vixen'' is a magazine geared towards female readers of ''Vibe Magazine'' that covered fashion, beauty, dating, entertainment, sex, and societal issues for "urban minded females". The magazine was initially released in fall of 2004 and sales ...

'' she commented: "I became my own private investigator. I found the chick's address; I went riding by. I was calling her cell phone to if he would be in the background. I had her work number, all that." Citing it her "lowest point," she felt encouraged to write a song about her "feeling of helplessness and desperation" in that situation, telling ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'': "I never, never want to be that woman again, but it happens to a lot of us. I felt like I was playing myself following this dude and hiring this private investigator, just going crazy ..I was scared to write about these kinds of things before."

Critical reception

In reviewing Ridin', Mark Edward Nero of ''

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...

'' noted that "stylistically, it's very similar to some songs on

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

's '' Confessions'' album, with the major difference being Mýa playing the cheated-on role instead of the cheater." ''

''s Julianne Shepherd called "Ridin'" a "mean jeep jiggler, in which ýadescribes scouring the city at 4 a.m. — 'past your ex-bitch's house' — to find her man. She sounds like she's clutching a dagger between her teeth on the track."

Music video

for "Ridin'" was directed by

. It premiered on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's music video show ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' on September 7, 2007.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

Christopher "Tricky" Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...

Credits and personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of ''Liberation''. *

– writer * Traci C. Hale – writer * Mýa Harrison – vocalist, writer *Jevon Sims – writer *

– producer, writer

Chart

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridin' (Mya Song) 2007 singles Mýa songs Songs written by Tricky Stewart Songs written by Traci Hale Songs written by Mýa Songs written by Ester Dean Song recordings produced by Tricky Stewart Music videos directed by Erik White 2007 songs Universal Motown Records singles