Development of "Rehab" began while Rihanna was accompanyingTimbaland onJustin Timberlake'sFutureSex/LoveShow tour in 2007. Timberlake wrote the song in collaboration with his producers, Hannon Lane and Timbaland, and provided additional vocals. "Rehab" is a mid-pacedR&B song with an emotional, melancholy chorus; the lyrics are about the protagonist's painful memories of her former lover, who is portrayed metaphorically as a disease.
According to Rihanna, Timberlake wrote the song's lyrics "in his head. He didn't write anything on paper. He went into the booth and sang it."[1]
"Rehab" is one of the three songs composed and produced byTimbaland for Rihanna's third studio album,Good Girl Gone Bad.[1] Timbaland was on tour withJustin Timberlake for theFutureSex/LoveShow to promote Timberlake's 2006 albumFutureSex/LoveSounds, which Timbaland had also produced. After completing a show inChicago, they joined Rihanna in the studio, where Timberlake experimented with beats and melodies.[1] Weeks later, the three got together inNew York City, where Timberlake had already conceptualized a song for Rihanna. Timbaland, who wanted to compose a song called "Rehab" for Rihanna, was producing a beat, when Timberlake came in and improvised the song over it.[1] Hannon Lane co-wrote and co-produced the song,[2][3] and Demacio Castellon recorded and mixed it in 2007 at Roc The Mic Studios in New York City.[4] Rihanna's stint with Timbaland also resulted in "Sell Me Candy" and "Lemme Get That", produced forGood Girl Gone Bad.[4][5]
Timberlake toldEntertainment Weekly that he believed "Rehab" to be "the bridge for [Rihanna] to be accepted as an adult in the music industry".[6] Rihanna told Robert Copsey ofDigital Spy that she enjoyed working with Timberlake, and learned much from the sessions. She said, "Working with Justin in the studio is just great. He's a fun guy and likes to make all the sessions enjoyable. He's also such a genius when it comes to lyrics."[7]
"Rehab" was the eighth and final single to be released from Rihanna's third studio albumGood Girl Gone Bad (2007). According to American music magazineRap-Up, both "Breakin' Dishes" and "Rehab" were potential single releases, but "Rehab" was chosen.[8]Def Jam Recordings released the song for airplay oncontemporary hit radio in the United States on October 6, 2008.[9] On November 3, 2008, it was released torhythmic contemporary andurban contemporary radio stations.[10][11] The single was released in the UK byMercury Records on December 8, 2008, as aCD single containing both the album version and an instrumental version of "Rehab".[12] On the same date, it was released as a digital download in Ireland.[13] A live performance of the song, recorded in Manchester during Rihanna'sGood Girl Gone Bad Tour (2007–2009), was released for download on the UK and IrelandiTunes Stores.[14][15] The performance was featured on Rihanna's DVDGood Girl Gone Bad Live.[16]
On December 12, 2008, the song and its instrumental version were released on iTunes and7digital in ten countries, including Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland.[17] In January 2009, it was released as a CD single in Germany, with the same material as in the UK release.[18] In early 2009, Timbaland signed a contract withVerizon Communications, under which he would create music exclusively forBlackBerry Storm mobile phone owners.[19] He was contracted to work with various artists and remix their songs, which would be available for Verizon customers to download at no extra cost. "Rehab" was the first song remixed for the project,[19] and this version was released in Canada and the US on May 19, 2009, via iTunes.[20]
"Rehab" is a mid-tempoR&Bballad with a subtlebackbeat.[21][22] According to the digital sheet music published bySony/ATV Music Publishing, it is written in the key ofG minor and set incommon time, with a moderately slowgroove.[23] The vocal range spans nearly an octave and a half fromF3 toB♭4.[23] "Rehab" opens with a string section, played by Stevie Blacke, and aviolin,cello, andtambourine instrumental groove with Hannon Lane's keyboard melody.[4][22] Rihanna then sings the opening lines, "Baby, baby, when we first met, I never felt something so strong".[23]
Critics noted similarities among the structures of "Rehab" and some of Timberlake's songs, such as "What Goes Around... Comes Around" and "Cry Me a River".[24][25] Spence D. ofIGN wrote that the song has an "R&B swoon", similar to Rihanna's previous singles.[22] In an interview with Margeaux Watson forEntertainment Weekly, Rihanna explained the meaning of the song's lyrics: "'Rehab' is a metaphorical song. Rehab really just means we have to get over the guy. So we talk about checking ourselves into rehab, meaning we have to get over him. And we compare the guy to a disease or an addiction."[1] Watson further called the song a "lovesick ballad".[26]
Rodney Dugue ofThe Village Voice called it one of the standout songs onGood Girl Gone Bad,[27] and Sarah Rodman ofThe Boston Globe said it was essential to the album.[28] Quentin B. Huff ofPopMatters called it a "little gem"[24] and compared it toBabyface's collaboration withMadonna on her 1994 single "Take a Bow".[24]Billboard magazine called the song a highlight of the album, with "slinky-assisted Timberlake background vocals, tension-filled production, and contrasting strings and guitars."[29]Vibe's Shanel Odum, while reviewingGood Girl Gone Bad, noted that the album predominantly consists of up-tempo songs, while the ballads are its weak part, eventually being "saved" by "Rehab".[30] Spence D. ofIGN stated that Timberlake and Rihanna work well together, thanks to their similar vocal ranges. He wrote that the song "reverts to Rihanna's old styled R&B swoon, the groove being built around tambourine shakes, acoustic guitar swirls, and a subtle backbeat."[22] Doug Rule ofMetro Weekly wrote that "Rehab" "is its own distinctive song—and a fetching one at that—but the resemblance to one of Timberlake's best is unmistakable."[25]Sylvia Patterson fromThe Guardian described the song as a "mournful tale of lost love feeling like a catastrophic rehab meltdown".[31]
Tom Breinan ofPitchfork Media wrote that Rihanna "comes closer than usual to depicting something resembling human emotion, but she still comes off sounding like a robot programmed to impersonateAlanis Morissette."[32]Neil Drumming ofEntertainment Weekly wrote, "Rehab is a joyless overdose of mid-tempo melodrama".[21] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine said that "Rehab" proves that Timberlake "is better off penning lyrics about sexy backs or dicks in boxes"—a reference to Timberlake's 2006 singles "SexyBack" and "Dick in a Box" (withThe Lonely Island).[33]
"Rehab" entered the USBillboard Hot 100 chart at number 91 on November 22, 2008,[34] and peaked at number 18, making it Rihanna's twelfth US top-twenty single.[35] It also peaked at number 17 onBillboard'sPop Songs chart[36] and at number 52 on theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[37] The song rose to number 19 on theCanadian Hot 100 chart, having started at number 56 on December 6, 2008.[38] It entered theAustralian ARIA Singles Chart at number 37 on November 17, 2008 and eventually reached number 26, thus becoming Rihanna's twelfth consecutive top-thirty single in Australia.[39] In New Zealand, it first entered the singles chart at number 24 on October 27, 2008, and rose to number 12.[40] On January 11, 2009, it was certified gold by theRecording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), 12 weeks after it first charted.[41]
"Rehab" first appeared in theUK Singles Chart at number 51 on November 22, 2008.[42] After two weeks, it became the greatest gainer on the chart, climbing twenty-seven places to number 24,[43] and in the week after that, it reached its peak of 16.[44] More than 160,000 copies of the song have been sold in the UK.[45] The single debuted at number 33 on theÖ3 Austria Top 40 and peaked at number nine.[46] In Germany it reached number 4 and became Rihanna's sixth top-five single.[47] "Rehab" started at number 18 in theDutch Top 40 on January 17, 2009,[48] and peaked at number 3 in its fourth week on the chart.[49]In France, the song didn't entered in theFrench Singles Chart, the main French music chart, but entered inFrench Download Top 50, and peaked at number 30.[50]In Norway, it entered the singles chart at number 19 and climbed to number 4, becoming Rihanna's seventh top-five single in that country.[51] It peaked at number 8 on the Slovakian singles chart, becoming Rihanna's fifth international top-ten single, and her sixth top-ten single in Slovakia.[52]It has also peaked at #1 in Israel, the only country in which it did.
The video for "Rehab" was shot atVasquez Rocks Park (pictured), near Los Angeles.
Rihanna filmed the music video for "Rehab" with Justin Timberlake atVasquez Rocks Park, near Los Angeles, on October 22, 2008.[53] It was directed byAnthony Mandler, who directed the videos for Rihanna's 2008 singles "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia".[54] Simon Reynolds of Digital Spy said that Timberlake's partnerJessica Biel was "said to be 'sick to her stomach' after seeing Rihanna wearing a revealing outfit while filming with Timberlake."[55] Timberlake toldAccess Hollywood, "I'm the guy in the video, so I had to give them all insecurities about that. But yeah we had a great time, we goofed around at the shoot most of the time."[56] The video premiered November 17, 2008, onMTV and Rihanna'sYouTube channel.[57]
The video begins as Rihanna, scantily dressed and wearing fishnet stockings, stands against a convertible car in a desert. Timberlake, wearing a leather jacket and black jeans, arrives on a motorcycle. He unbuttons his jacket to cool down and bathes in pink-colored water before greeting Rihanna at herAirstream trailer.[58] The pair then climb onto the hood of the vintage car. In the next scene, Timberlake plays a guitar while lying on a large rocket.
David Balls of Digital Spy wrote, "Thepop pair put in such a highly-charged, effortlessly sexual display that it's no surprise Justin's lady was far from happy."[58] In his bookPost Cinematic Affect (2010),Steven Shaviro wrote that, in the videos of "Rehab", "Love Sex Magic" and "4 Minutes", Timberlake "radiates a smothering sexual heat", and that these videos "can be contrasted with the videos from Timberlake's ownFuture Sex/Love Sounds album whichJoshua Clover convincingly describes as a 'homosocial' exchange between Timberlake and his producer Timbaland".[59] The "Rehab" video won the Best Music Video award at the2009 Urban Music Awards.[60]
"Rehab" was the fourth song on the set list for Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad Tour(2007–2009).[64] Her performance in Manchester was released in the UK through iTunes[65] and is featured on theGood Girl Gone Bad Live DVD.[16] Rihanna performed "Rehab" on February 7, 2009, at a pre-Grammy party.[66] She was scheduled to perform at the51st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, but canceled her performance after an altercation with her then boyfriend, singerChris Brown.[67]
"Rehab" was the twelfth song on Rihanna's set list for her 2010Last Girl on Earth Tour,[68] throughout which she performed it on a therapist's couch adorned with metal casts of human heads and limbs.[69] David Sprague ofVariety called her performance of "Rehab" atMadison Square Garden dishearteningly leaden.[68]Ben Ratliff fromThe New York Times wrote that "Rihanna's lip curl during 'Rehab' and her low hip-grind during 'Rude Boy' were the smash hits of her body language."[69] Deborah Linton ofCity Life wrote that Rihanna "even manages to make a psychiatric couch look sexy".[70] Linton called the show's stage sets impressive and imaginative.[70] Rick Massimo ofThe Providence Journal wrote that Rihanna "looked like a neon-sign rendition of herself during 'Rehab', rarely addressed the audience, and didn't rise above flat cliché in that until the very end of the show".[71] "Rehab" and Rihanna's 2009 single "Russian Roulette" were excluded from the set list during the tour's Australian leg.[72]
^Watson, Margeaux (November 12, 2008)."Rihanna goes to 'Rehab'".Entertainment Weekly. Archived fromthe original on January 19, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 8, 2009.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 04. týden 2009 in the date selector. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
^"Dutch Top 40 Year End" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Archived fromthe original on September 28, 2011. RetrievedOctober 2, 2011.
^"Rehab – Single" (in Italian). iTunes Store (IT). Apple. December 12, 2008.Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rehab – Single" (in Dutch). iTunes Store (NL). Apple. December 12, 2008.Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rehab – Single". iTunes Store (NZ). Apple. December 12, 2008.Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rehab – Single". iTunes Store (NO). Apple. December 12, 2008.Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rehab – Single" (in Spanish). iTunes Store (ES). Apple. December 12, 2008.Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rehab – Single". iTunes Store (SE). Apple. December 12, 2008. Archived fromthe original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rehab – Single" (in German). iTunes Store (CH). Apple. December 12, 2008.Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rihanna – Rehab" (in Dutch). 7digital Netherlands/Belgium. December 12, 2008. Archived fromthe original on July 7, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2010.
^"Rihanna – Rehab" (in Portuguese). 7digital Portugal. December 12, 2008. Archived fromthe original on July 22, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
^"Rihanna – Rehab" (in German). 7digital Austria. December 19, 2008. Archived fromthe original on July 22, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2010.
