From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Break It Off"
Single by Rihanna featuring Sean Paul
from the album A Girl like Me and The Trinity (Limited Edition)
Released	December 2006 (U.S. and Canada) February 19, 2007 (Digital)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2006 (2 Hard Studios, Kingston, Jamaica)
Genre	Pop, dancehall, reggae fusion
Length	3:33
Label	Def Jam, Atlantic
Writer(s)	Sean Paul, Robyn Fenty, D. Bennett, K. Ford
Producer	Don Corleon
Rihanna chronology "We Ride" (2006) "Break It Off" (2006) "Roll It" (2007) Sean Paul singles chronology "(When You Gonna) Give It up to Me" (2006) "Break It Off" (2006) "Give It to You" (2007)

"Break It Off" is a song written by D. Bennett, K. Ford, Sean Paul, and Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna. The song, which featured Sean Paul, was the fourth and final single from Rihanna's second album A Girl like Me and was released only in the United States, Canada, and select European territories. The song was performed during the Rockin' New Year's Eve '07 television special on January 1, 2007 at Times Square in New York City. Rihanna has previously stated that she is very proud of the song because it charted strongly without a music video. In the song Rihanna sings the chorus and a verse, while Sean Paul sings the rest of the song. The song uses the dancehall riddim "High Altitude". Although she had written a number of songs on her first two albums, this song was the first of her singles in which she had a hand in writing. She subsequently wrote the chorus and her verse on T.I's Live Your Life , co-wrote Run This Town with Jay-Z and Kanye West and wrote Russian Roulette alongside Ne-Yo.

Promotion

"Break It Off" was performed in many different places and arenas all over the world. She performed it for New Year's Eve 2007 and in lots of concerts such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and Live Earth. It is performed for only one minute and a half at concerts as a medley because Sean Paul performs more words than Rihanna.

Chart performance

"Break It Off" was released as a digital download on online stores including the U.S. iTunes Store on February 19, 2007 and reached a peak of number two. It debuted at number eight on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 75,316 downloads. This release to the digital market prompted the song to jump from number fifty-two to number ten in one week on the Billboard Hot 100 later reaching the peak of number 9.^[1]

Music video

"Break It Off" is one of the few songs in many years to reach the Billboard Top 10 without a music video.

A video for the song was expected to premiere sometime in December 2006. However, both Def Jam Recordings and Atlantic Records said there will be no music video for the song. About that, Sean Paul stated:

Charts

References