"Sledgehammer" is a song recorded by
Barbadian singer
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
. It was released on June 27, 2016, through
Westbury Road Entertainment and
Roc Nation as a single to promote ''
Star Trek Beyond'' (2016). It plays during the film's
closing credits but is not included on the film's soundtrack. Rihanna wrote the song with
Sia Furler and
Jesse Shatkin
Jesse Samuel Shatkin (born 1979) is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums and One Direction, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for Grammy Awards a ...
, who produced it with
Kuk Harrell
Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In ...
. A music video for the song was released on June 30, 2016, and shows Rihanna performing magical acts on a foreign planet. The video was shot entirely on
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
cameras. Musically, "Sledgehammer" is a mid-tempo
electropop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
, featuring an
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
ic chorus, heavy
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s and electronic rhythms.
Background and release
On June 26, 2016, Rihanna hinted that she would release a new song, stating on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
, "Got something for y'all tomorrow". Over two years prior, Rihanna tweeted, "You're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer", hinting that she had been working on the song since 2014. The song was written collaboratively by Rihanna,
Sia
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...
and
Jesse Shatkin
Jesse Samuel Shatkin (born 1979) is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums and One Direction, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for Grammy Awards a ...
.
Rihanna and Sia had previously worked together on the former's 2012 song, "
Diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
".
A new trailer for ''Star Trek Beyond'' featuring "Sledgehammer", was released on June 27, 2016, the same day that the song was released. Rihanna subsequently said that she had been a fan of the ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' franchise since she was a child, after being introduced to it by her father. She explained that "This is something that's been a part of me since my childhood, it's never left me, I love ''Star Trek''. It was automatic. I would do anything in terms of music. It's such a big deal not only as a fan, as a musician... because ''Star Trek'' is such a big deal across the globe."
Composition
The song is a
piano ballad[ written in the key of D major with a slow ]tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 65.5 beats per minute in common time. It follows a chord progression of DB (B/C in the coda)Gm, and Rihanna's vocals span from G3 to F5.
Critical reception
Camila Cassidy of '' The Edge'' gave the song a generally positive review stating, "She pretty much nailed it – it feels tone perfect. It's a little orchestral, swooping, but with a strong enough chorus and verse pattern to be commercially successful." However she also stated, "As a dramatic theatrical piece? It's a little weak, too much fuss with the lyrics while instrumentation takes a back seat. As a radio hit? The vocals aren't prominent enough...Both are excellent, but both just need to be more." Daniel Kreps from ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' wrote, "Rihanna sings on the aching chorus, which sports a monster hook typical of Sia's work." Rachel Sonis from Idolator gave the song a 7/10, stating, "The Aussie singer-songwriter knows exactly how vast Rih nnas vocal abilities are and isn't afraid to push them. No doubt, this probably came in handy, since “Sledgehammer” — from Rihanna's haunting drones to the song's thunderous melody — is a monster of a track." A Bit of Pop Music wrote, "‘Sledgehammer’ is a powerful pop ballad with a huge chorus, that should do well in combination with the probable success of its movie...but it might be time for Sia to shake up her formula a bit, as ‘Sledgehammer’ is in no way a surprising composition."
Music video
A music video for the song premiered June 30, 2016 in IMAX theaters at 9:00am EST. The video was then released onto Vevo
Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
and Tidal
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* ...
an hour later. The music video was the first to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. The music video features Rihanna dressed in a sci-fi costume performing magical acts, with Swarm Ships from Star Trek Beyond flying around her. At the video's ending, Rihanna turns into a celestial god, face to "face" with the USS ''Enterprise''.
The video was shot at the Trona Pinnacles
The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual geological feature in the California Desert National Conservation Area. The landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires (porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water), som ...
by director Floria Sigismondi
Floria Sigismondi (, born 1965) is an Italian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, music video director, artist, and photographer.
She is best known for writing and directing '' The Runaways'', for directing music videos for performers includi ...
.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
Notes
References
{{Authority control
2010s ballads
2016 singles
Rihanna songs
Songs written by Sia (musician)
Music based on Star Trek
Songs written by Jesse Shatkin
Songs written by Rihanna
2016 songs
Roc Nation singles
Music videos directed by Floria Sigismondi
Pop ballads
Songs written for films