No 2016 summer jam list is complete without the chart-topping song, “Work.” No matter the hip-hop or pop station, it’s very rare that the hit track by Rihanna featuring Drake, won’t find itself in rotation. The song has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna’s fourteenth No. 1 single and Drake’s second, and remained at the top for nine weeks. With much praise to go around for the song’s success, the Caribbean-tinged track wasn’t always in the hands of the Barbados queen.
“Work” was written by Canadian producer, artist, and songwriter, PartyNextDoor. The artist wasn’t always sure of who could help make the song a hit. In fact, Alicia Keys, was in mind for the island melody. That’s right, in an interview with the New York Times, it was revealed that it wasn’t always Rihanna’s song.
“Her label didn’t care for Caribbean music at the time,” adding that he almost kept the song and considered giving it to Alicia Keys. In the end, however, Rihanna fought for it. The OVO member also went on to share his thoughts on first meeting the island-pop queen. “The first feeling I got was, ‘Why am I here?’ All these guys have made hits already.”
Since seeing the song’s success, PartyNextDoor was still one to boast about his masterminding behind the track, or even his contributions to Drake’s latest album, Views, which spent 12 weeks atop the Billboard chart. The multi-talented artist seems to take the behind the scenes role as a place where music magic can happen. PartyNextDoor stated, “You don’t really know anything about me, and that’s how I like it.”