Pon de Replay

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"Pon De Replay"

Single by Rihanna
from the album Music of the Sun
Released	August 22, 2005
Format	Digital Download, 12" maxi single
Recorded	2005
Genre	R&B/Reggae
Length	4:10
Label	Def Jam/SRP
Writer(s)	Vada Nobles, Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers, Alisha Brooks
Producer(s)	Vada Nobles, Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers
Chart positions
#1 (New Zealand, Portugal) #2 (U.S, UK, China, Belgium, Poland, Ireland) #3 (Switzerland) #5 (Austria, Sweden) #6 (Germany, Italy, Australia)
Rihanna singles chronology
	"Pon De Replay" (2005)	"If It's Lovin' That You Want" (2005)

"Pon de Replay" is an R&B–reggae song written by Vada Nobles, Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers, Alisha Brooks for Rihanna's debut album Music of the Sun (2005). Produced by Nobles, Struken, and Rogers, it was released as the album's first single in summer 2005. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first Top 5 single; it also peaked at number 2 in the UK and at number 6 and number 7 in Australia and Canada, respectively.

1 Song information
2 Music video
3 Chart performance
4 Track listing
5 Charts

[edit] Song information

"Pon De Replay" which features a Caribbean-infused beat is partially responsible for Rihanna's current recording contract. Although she was later asked to perform another song a cappella in front of Jay-Z for her audition, "Pon de Replay" was part of her original demo tape that she had created with Struken and Rogers. The song's title roughly translated from Bajan means "play it again." In essence, Rihanna is asking the DJ of a club to turn up the music and keep replaying her song. She sums up her feelings as she states, "Come Mr. DJ, song pon de replay, come Mr. DJ won't you turn the music up." Rihanna also makes a reference to labelmate Christina Milian's Top 5 hit "Dip It Low" when she sings "Let's go, dip it low, then you bring it up slow."

[edit] Music video

Rihanna, dancing in the music video.

In the music video, Rihanna and her friends arrive at the club where everybody is bored and not dancing because of the low music. Rihanna steps up and sings the song, causing the DJ to turn the music up and everybody to start dancing. The music video also features Rihanna belly dancing. The music video was also popular receiving much play from MTV and BET. It peaked at #2 on MTV's Total Request Live spending 37 days on the countdown; it was not able to retire due to the early introduction of the music video for her second single, "If It's Lovin' That You Want". The video reached #4 on BET's 106 & Park and remained on the countdown for over 20 days.

[edit] Chart performance

The song proved to be a big success, peaking at #2 on the USA Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and reaching #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart. The song almost topped the Billboard Hot 100 but wasn't able to overcome Mariah Carey's hugely popular single "We Belong Together." Even when "We Belong Together"'s digital sales began to drop, "Pon de Replay" was still not able to overcome it due to "We Belong Together"'s airplay lead.

"Pon de Replay" was also a major dance hit topping both the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and the Dance Radio Airplay chart for 2 weeks. Although Rihanna has been labeled as an R&B artist, the song underperformed on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts peaking at #24; most of its chart points had been received from airplay from pop stations and from its digital downloads. In an unusual situation, the track reached #7 on the Hot Rap Tracks, an unlikely supporter of the song. (Rihanna is not a rapper.) On the non-Billboard chart, ARC Top 40, the track also hit #1.

[edit] Track listing

CD single (European version)

"Pon de Replay" (Radio Edit) (Brooks, Alisha/Rogers, Evan/Sturken, Carl/Nobles, Vada) — 3:34
"Pon de Replay" (Remix featuring Elephant Man) (Brooks, Alisha/Rogers, Evan/Sturken, Carl/Nobles, Vada) — 3:37

CD maxi-single (European version)

"Pon de Replay" (Brooks, Alisha/Rogers, Evan/Sturken, Carl/Nobles, Vada) — 3:36
"Pon de Replay" (Cotto's Replay Dub) (Brooks, Alisha/Rogers, Evan/Sturken, Carl/Nobles, Vada) — 6:48
"Pon de Replay" (Instrumental) (Brooks, Alisha/Rogers, Evan/Sturken, Carl/Nobles, Vada) — 4:05

Extras:

"Pon de Replay" (Video) — 3:37

[edit] Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Portugal Singles Chart	1
China Singles Chart	2
Belgium Singles Chart	2
Irish Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	2
Worldwide Airplay	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	3
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	2
Swiss Singles Chart	3
United World Chart	4
Austria Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	5
Tokyo Singles Chart	5
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	6
German Singles Chart	6
Italy Singles Chart	6
Canadian Singles Chart	7

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Finland Singles Chart	8
Lithuania Chart	11
France Singles Chart	18
Dutch Singles Chart	18
South Africa Singles Chart	22
Russia Singles Chart	53
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Dance Radio Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	2
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40	2
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	4
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks	7
U.S. Billboard Hot Ringtones	7
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	24