Rude Boy

A clubby midtempo dancehall and R&B track that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and went viral again after the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show.

"Rude Boy" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna, taken from her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). It was released as the album's fourth overall and third international single on February 5, 2010, through Def Jam. Rihanna co-wrote the song with Ester Dean, Makeba Riddick, and producers Rob Swire and Stargate. "Rude Boy" is a clubby midtempo dancehall and R&B song which incorporates elements of raggamuffin. It peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks and was Rihanna's sixth US number-one single. It was a commercial success globally, peaking at number one in Australia and attaining top five positions in Germany, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. In 2023, Rihanna performed the song at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, whereupon it resurged in popularity and went viral on social media as a dance challenge.

Quick Facts

Artist

Rihanna

Album

Rated R

Released

5 February 2010

Recorded

2009

Studio

Metropolis (London, England)

Genre

Dancehall; Electro-R&B

Label

Def Jam; SRP

Writer

Robyn Fenty
Mikkel S. Eriksen
Tor Erik Hermansen
Esther Dean
Makeba Riddick
Rob Swire

Lore & Background

During an interview on Alan Carr: Chatty Man in February 2010, Rihanna explained how the song came together: "When we wrote the song, it was kind of a freestyle ... I liked the West Indian influence that the music had, and, I just went in the booth, they were already jotting down some ideas and, that came to me." She noted that the line "Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?/Come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough?" was originally going to be the introduction, but because of the song's infectious beat, she decided to make it the hook instead. Makeba Riddick, who assisted with vocal production, told Us Weekly that Ester Dean had come up with a concept for the song and had been working with Stargate to develop it. Riddick and Rihanna expressed interest but thought some changes were needed, and sent it to Riddick for completion. Riddick said she and Rihanna were "laughing and talking about so many situations that have happened in the past and that happen to women everywhere." Ester Dean explained to The Boom Box that she wanted to channel Rihanna's alter ego as inspiration, praising Rihanna's ability to take risks: "I think Rihanna is sexy and will say things that other chicks won't say." Stargate revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Rihanna came up with the title and concept herself, and after the song was completed, it was nearly left off the album since it was not as dark as the other material. However, Rihanna loved the record and fought for it to both be included on the album and released as a single.

Reader's Guide

The song is written in the key of E minor (recorded in E♭ minor) with a time signature in common time and a tempo of 87 beats per minute. Rihanna's vocal range spans from the low note of E3 to the high note of D5, and the song follows a sequence of Em−Bm−C−Am−Bm as its chord progression. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian commented that "Rude Boy" and the album's previous single "Hard" were the highlights of Rated R, praising the singer's vocal performance as "a sulky, icy, monotone." Michael Menachem of Billboard wrote, "with 'Rude Boy', Rihanna delivers her most provocative lyrics and perhaps most authentic-sounding single to date," and noted that "steel drums are a welcome presence on the production, which gives a nod to ska and dancehall." Nick Levine of Digital Spy wrote that the song "can be construed as a winning synthesis of her Island-pop beginnings, the effortless hitmaking of the Good Girl Gone Bad era and the more menacing persona she's unveiled post-Grammygate." Stargate revealed that "Rude Boy" was one of the first mainstream songs to fuse slower hip-hop beats with EDM instrumentation, kicking off a trend seen in subsequent releases from other artists. The song was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (as of February 2026).