 Genius Meanings
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JAY-Z (Ft. Kanye West & Rihanna) – Run This Town
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The three principal artists of Jay-Z’s newly-formed Roc Nation record label—Kanye West, Rihanna, and the Hov himself—announce to the world that they “run the town.” Jay explained
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Rihanna (Ft. JAY-Z) – Umbrella
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Rihanna comforts her lover by telling him she will be there for him, in good times and bad. The umbrella is a metaphor for her support.
“Umbrella” stayed on top of the UK Singles
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JAY-Z (Ft. Alicia Keys) – Empire State of Mind
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The Blueprint 3’s third single is a love song to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' home city of New York, which is also known as “the Empire State.” The title alludes to the Billy Joel ballad
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Beyoncé (Ft. JAY-Z) – Drunk in Love
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Beyoncé brings her husband Jay Z aboard for their first collaboration since 2013’s “Part II (On the Run)” continuation of their first collab “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde”.
“Drunk” seems to
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Rihanna (Ft. JAY-Z) – Talk That Talk
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Another collab from Rihanna and Jay-Z, “Talk That Talk” is the title track of Rihanna’s sixth studio album.
With Rihanna and Jay on a track you can be sure this record will get
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Beyoncé (Ft. JAY-Z) – Crazy in Love
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“Crazy In Love” is the ridiculously successful lead single from Beyoncé’s first solo album Dangerously In Love.
Penned by Beyoncé and Rich Harrison, the song revolves around
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Ember Island – Umbrella
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Covering Rihanna’s 2007 hit single “Umbrella”, Alexandra Andersson sings about comforting her lover by telling him she will be there for him, in good times and bad. The umbrella is
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Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds
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“FourFiveSeconds” features vocals by Rihanna and Kanye West, and instrumentals by Sir Paul McCartney. It has earned praise for its minimalist instrumentals, which include acoustic
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Kendrick Lamar (Ft. Rihanna) – LOYALTY.
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On “LOYALTY.,” Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna muse on the value and necessity of complete loyalty and honesty in both platonic and romantic relationships. The song marks the first
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THE CARTERS – APESHIT
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On “APESHIT,” JAY and Beyoncé flex about their luxurious lifestyles and come up, emphasizing that they are on the top of the music game. The track also bears strong thematic
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Lil Wayne – Run This Town
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Weezy’s “super”-freestyle uses the beat from Jay-Z’s Grammy-winning sensation!
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Beyoncé (Ft. JAY-Z) – Déjà Vu
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Consistency is a hallmark of the recorded work of Beyonce. It’s always good to have her back on the radio. However, an artist of her stature has the ability to carry Pop and R&B
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JAY-Z (Ft. Mr. Hudson) – Young Forever
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Over a sample of Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” Jay-Z contemplates his place in the rap game and whether or not he’ll be around forever in our memories.
It also is a play on one of
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DJ Khaled (Ft. Fridayy, JAY-Z, John Legend, Lil Wayne & Rick Ross) – GOD DID
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In what is the most vintage DJ Khaled posse cut in a fair amount of time, “GOD DID” is the album-titled track for Khaled’s thirteenth studio album.
On the track, the artists
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Beyoncé (Ft. JAY-Z) – Upgrade U
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“Upgrade U” was released a promotional single on November 27, 2006 in the United States from Beyoncé’s album B'Day. The song features JAY-Z and is mainly produced by Swizz Beatz
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Rihanna – Higher
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According to songwriter Bibi Bourelly, “Higher” was written in only 20 minutes. She spoke to Vice about the song:
Everything happens for a reason. Working with Rihanna has
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JAY-Z – Song Cry
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“Song Cry” is an emotional ballad in which Jay describes the pain of a long-term relationship ending, caused by his professional schedule and personal philandering. Since his pride
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T.I. (Ft. Rihanna) – Live Your Life
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Released in 2008 on T.I.’s best-selling Paper Trail album, “Live Your Life” is a life-affirming T.I.-Rihanna tag-team that’s guaranteed to give you a boost.
The intro/outro is
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Rihanna (Ft. Future) – Loveeeeeee Song
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“Loveeeeeee Song” is the first collaboration between Rihanna and trap-rapper Future. The track was released as the fourth single from her seventh studio album Unapologetic on April
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Rihanna (Ft. JAY-Z) – Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Remix)
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[Verse 1: Rihanna] / You have my heart / And we'll never be worlds apart / Maybe in magazines / But you'll still be my star / Baby, ‘cause in the dark / You can't see shiny cars
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Rihanna – Man Down
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“Man Down” is a reggae influenced song which details the murder of a man who was behaving abusively towards Rihanna, as is depicted in the song’s accompanying music video.
The
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Rihanna – Russian Roulette
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This song compares a relationship with someone to playing Russian Roulette. In the end, as can be seen in the video, she wins the battle at the expense of the other. This song may
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Kanye West (Ft. Rihanna) – Famous
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“Famous” explores what it means to be famous—Rihanna personifies fame on the hook.
Kanye premiered the music video for “Famous” on June 24th, 2016, at The Forum in Los Angeles
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Kanye West – All of the Lights
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“All of the Lights” is the 4th single from Kanye West’s 5th studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
The song is about Kanye’s qualms living as a celebrity with personal
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JAY-Z (Ft. Beyoncé) – '03 Bonnie & Clyde
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In their first musical collaboration, Jay-Z and Beyoncé put their own spin on 2Pac’s classic “Me And My Girlfriend”, only with a twist: while 2Pac was referring to his gun, Jay’s
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Beyoncé – Ring the Alarm
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“Ring the Alarm” was the second US-released single from Beyoncé’s award-winning, best-selling album B'Day. It was preceded by Grammy-nominated lead single “Déjà Vu” and suceeded by
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Coldplay & Rihanna – Princess of China
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The music video seems catchy, while Princess of China marks a milestone in Coldplay history with the first appearance of a guest on an LP (Jay-Z previously appeared on “Lost+” in
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Rihanna (Ft. Drake) – Work
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On “Work,” Rihanna seeks a deep, meaningful connection, however the male character she sings to (played by Drake) is only interested in sex. This narrative is similar to Rihanna
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Beyoncé – Countdown
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In this well-polished R&B song about her love for Jay-Z, Queen Bey talks about how they both manage to have a perfect marriage while maintaining their superstardom (Beyoncé was six
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Rihanna – Kiss It Better
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“Kiss It Better” tells the story of a broken relationship. She is aware that no one does it like him so instead of arguing all night she ‘kisses it better’.
A preview of the song
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JAY-Z (Ft. Eminem) – Renegade
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“Renegade” serves as a “fuck you” to critics who said JAY-Z had forgotten his ghetto roots with his new found riches, and moralizers who said Eminem was a bad influence on children
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Eminem (Ft. White Gold) – Zeus
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“Zeus,” featuring New York recording artist White Gold, contains some of Eminem’s most ruthless bars and name-drops from Music To Be Murdered By: Side B. This is the fourteenth
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Rihanna (Ft. Jeezy) – Hard
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“Hard” is the second single from Rated R released on November 10, 2009. The song was a success, peaking at #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna’s thirteenth top ten
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Drake (Ft. Rihanna) – Take Care
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This track uses the beat and hook from the song “I’ll Take Care of U” from the Jamie XX and Gil Scott Heron album that dropped last year
The source material for all this is the
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Rihanna (Ft. Kanye West) – Diamonds (Remix)
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[Verse 1: Kanye West] / We the cause of all the commotion / Your mouth running, but where is you going? / What is you smoking, man? That ain't potent / What is you talking, man
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Rihanna (Ft. Chris Brown & JAY-Z) – Umbrella (Cinderella)
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In 2008, Chris Brown created an answer song titled “Cinderella”, replacing some of the verses and part of the chorus of “Umbrella” with his own lyrics. The song was never
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Rihanna – Needed Me
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“Needed Me” is a mid-tempo mood piece with raw lyrics set over top of dark fluttery synth sounds produced by DJ Mustard. Rihanna provides a solid female empowerment anthem with
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