D.M.B.

Album: released as a single (2022)
Charted: 102
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Songfacts®:

  • "D.M.B." doesn't refer to Dave Matthews Band in this instance. It means (in stylized form) DAT$ MAH B!*#H). Rocky calls it a "ghetto love tale" involving his romantic partner, Rihanna.
  • The first verse finds Rocky paying tribute to his "Good Girl Gone Bad" who likes to party but "still she praise to Jesus." Rihanna is a great girlfriend as she:

    Cleans Rocky's crib
    Feeds his friends
    Keeps his secret
    Keep his fridge and freezer full

    There's also a dig at Chris Brown:

    I don't beat my bitch, I need my bitch

    Chris Brown famously assaulted Rihanna while driving to the 2009 Grammy Awards. There was a backlash over the singer, but his career soon got back on track.
  • In the second verse, Rocky pays tribute to Rihanna's billionaire status, largely thanks to her cosmetics company Fenty. The fruits of her success include:

    A penthouse overlooking the Bronx Zoo
    A townhouse with the town view
    A car where they can listen to surround sound with the top down
  • The bridge finds Rocky getting really romantic as he professes his love for his baby, angel, goddess and soulmate, Rihanna.
  • Skepta gave Rocky the laid-back beat and the New Yorker recorded the track in the UK rapper's London crib. Hector Delgado, Kelvin Krash, Shlohmo, and Rocky himself also get production credits.
  • Rocky's A$AP Mob colleague, A$AP Ferg, supplied the background vocals.
  • The song starts with a sample of Hamilton Bohannon's "Singing A Song For My Mother" from the soul musician's 1973 debut album Stop & Go.
  • Rocky previewed "D.M.B." in a June 2021 advertisement by Swedish fintech company Klarna. He released it as a single on May 5, 2022.
  • Rocky wrote and directed the music video, filming it in the Bronx in July 2021. The clip, which stars Rocky and Rihanna as a ride-or-die couple, shows them remaining devoted whatever the circumstances.

    As Rocky raps the bridge, there is a wedding ceremony scene during which the camera cuts to close-up shots of the pair's marriage proposal-themed grills. Rocky's gold grills read "marry me" and Rihanna's diamanté-studded grills respond with "I do."

    Rocky previously featured on Rihanna's "Cockiness (Love It)" remix in 2013 and later in the year Rihanna appeared as Rocky's love interest in the rapper's 2013 "Fashion Killa" music video. They started dating for real seven years later.

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