Nobody's Business

Album: Unapologetic (2012)
Charted: 63
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Rihanna links up with her one-time boyfriend Chris Brown on this track. It came as a surprise to most people when Rihanna and Chris Brown each jumped on remixes of their songs, "Birthday Cake" and "Turn Up The Music" three years after Brown's infamous violent attack on the Bajan songstress. However this song finds Rihanna collaborating with her former beau once again, and the title and lyrics are a reflection of the Bajan songstress' attitude when it comes to the public's opinions about her relationship with the controversial singer. "The world hasn't let go," she told the December 2012 edition of Vogue magazine. "They haven't seen any progress in our friendship ... They're not on the inside. They can't see what I see."
  • During an interview on Facebook Live, Rihanna said the song is an answer to all the relationship questions Brown and her get. She explained: "Nobody's Business is basically the way I look at everything regarding my personal life. You know, even though you have to witness it as being documented at every second, it still is mine... this is mine at this point."

    She continued: "When it gets to my music and stuff like that, I will give and I'll give and I'll give, and I feel like I just need to keep a little bit for me that I get to decide."
  • The song borrows the "Ain't nobody's business but mine and my baby" line from Michael Jackson's 1987 hit "The Way You Make Me Feel."
  • Complex magazine asked Rihanna why she recorded a song with Brown about their relationship if it truly is nobody's business? She replied: "Pardon me? It's the truth. Remember? It's a fun record that The-Dream wrote and we loved the lyrics."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.