Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you ah guh
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn?
Me nuh cyar if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
[Verse 1: Rihanna]
Dry, me ah desert him
Nuh time to have you lurking
Him ah go act like he nuh like it
You know I dealt with you the nicest
Nuh body touch me, you nuh righteous
Nuh badda, text me in a crisis
I believed all of your dreams, adoration
You took my heart and my keys and my patience
You took my heart on my sleeve for decoration
You mistaken my love I brought for you for foundation
All that I wanted from you was to give me
Something that I never had
Something that you've never seen
Something that you've never been
Mmmmm
But I wake up and act like nothing's wrong
Just get ready fi
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner
When yuh ago learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn?
Before the tables turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn
[Verse 2: Rihanna]
Beg you something, please
Baby, don't you leave
Don't leave me stuck here in the streets, uh-huh
If I get another chance to
I will never, no, never neglect you
I mean, who am I to hold your past against you?
I just hope that it gets to you
I hope that you see this through
I hope that you see this true
What can I say?
Please recognize I'm tryin', babe
I have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you ah guh
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn?
Me nuh cyar if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
[Verse 3: Drake, Drake & Rihanna]
Yeah, okay
You need to get done, done, done, done at work, come over
We just need to slow the motion
Don't give that away to no one
Long distance, I need you
When I see potential, I just gotta see it through
If you had a twin, I would still choose you
I don't wanna rush into it if it's too soon
But I know you need to get done, done, done, done
If you come over
Sorry if I'm way less friendly
I got niggas tryna end me, oh (Yeah)
I spilled all my emotions tonight, I'm sorry
Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'
How many more shots until you're rollin'?
We just need a face-to-face
You could pick the time and the place
You spent some time away
Now you need to forward and give me all the
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you ah guh
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn?
Me nuh cyar if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
[Outro: Rihanna, Rihanna & Drake]
Mm
Mm
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Mm
[Click here to learn more about the making of "Work"]
[Produced by Boi-1da]
About
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 and Drake’s previous collaborations, 2010’s “What’s My Name?” and 2011’s “Take Care.”
Rihanna sings in Jamaican Patois throughout, which she spoke about in Vogue’s April 2016 cover story:
You get what I’m saying, but it’s not all the way perfect. Because that’s how we speak in the Caribbean.
On “Work” co-star Drake, Rihanna added: “Everything he does is so amazing. We would go to in the Caribbean and just dance and drink and smoke and flirt.”
Snippets of “Work” began to circulate in January 2016 after the pair were spotted shooting a music video in an L.A. mall. On January 26th, Power 106 DJ Justin Credible tweeted that the collaboration between Drake and Rihanna would be coming sooner than anticipated.
One of the song’s producers, Allen Ritter, told Genius that the song originally came together at a pool party at Drake’s house.
Both official “Work” videos were released on February 22, 2016.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In an interview with Vogue, Rihanna addressed her elided pronunciation on the chorus.
….I felt like if I enunciated the words too perfectly, it would just not be the same attitude or the same sass. Because that’s how we speak in the Caribbean. It’s very broken and it’s, like, you can understand everything someone means without even finishing the words. This song is definitely a song that represents my culture, and so I had to put a little twist on my delivery.
She also spoke about what it was like to work with Drake.
….I mean, Drake has a lot to offer. He’s very intelligent, and so I trust him a lot with his direction. Doing a collaboration with him, you know it’s going to be great. Everything he does is so amazing. He’s so talented that you kind of just trust that it’ll be right. And plus, we know each other, so I know that whatever he writes is going to be honest, and it’s going to make sense to where I’m at in my life. That’s the difference. We know each other.
No. Drake and Rihanna collaborated on her track “What’s My Name?” in 2010, Drake’s track “Take Care” in 2011, and both “Work” and “Too Good” from Drake’s Views album in 2016.
That one came about by just having a conversation with a few producers that I work with, Allen Ritter and Sevn Thomas. We were talking about the vibe from back in the day, how dancehall music used to make people feel and make the girls dance. Everybody wanted to dance when dancehall music came on. Being in this era of trap-dominated music, I was like, ‘Let’s make something that’s a little outside the box and makes you want to dance and be happy, and makes the women want to turn up.’
That was really the idea when we were creating the track. That was the vibe. We were just having fun in the studio. We didn’t even care if it had anything to do with what’s going on right now; we were just doing something that we thought was cool for ourselves.
I wasn’t in the studio with PARTY[NEXTDOOR]. He was actually working with Rihanna. I was just at home, I wasn’t able to make it through so I sent them a bunch of tracks and she ended up picking two. They wrote two together—there was ‘Work’ and ‘Sex With Me,’ which was on the album [Anti]. I wasn’t there for the whole process of them putting the song together, but PARTY kept me updated.
[‘Sail Away’] was one of my favorite riddims coming up. I was born in Jamaica and I grew up on dancehall music. My dad would play only dancehall in the house. I really wanted to bring back the feel of how I felt when I heard that riddim, you know? I took a little sample from that and replayed the melody and worked it amazing.
[The proliferation of dancehall in pop music] doesn’t bother me. I mean, it did before, but when you make music and you make the style, you do something innovative, people are just going to do it. You could get angry about it but I prefer to just move on and do something else.
[‘Work’’s success] was a great feeling. It’s always a great feeling because you just never know. Music changes so quick. It could be one day where the music you’re making isn’t connecting anymore. So to know that my music and my production is still appreciated, it’s always a great feeling. It’s really what I do it for: respect. I just love when people love my music. A lot of people do it for other reasons, and obviously, music can change your life and feed your family. But for me, it all started with making good music.
- 2.James Joint
- 4.Work
- 5.Desperado
- 6.Woo
- 7.Needed Me
- 10.Never Ending
- 12.Higher
- 13.Close to You
- 14.Goodnight Gotham
- 15.Pose
- 16.Sex With Me