Who's That Chick? (feat. Rihanna)

"Who's That Chick?" is a celebratory anthem centered on themes of transformation, confidence, and escapism through music and dance. The song's narrative voice belongs to someone who finds ultimate freedom and a powerful sense of self on the dance floor. The lyrics depict the club not just as a location, but as a transformative space where one can shed inhibitions and adopt a new, more daring persona.

The central figure, the "chick," represents an enigmatic and alluring alter ego. She is a "disco diva" who is both captivating and unattainable—"Too cold for you to keep her, Too hot for you to leave her." This duality suggests a woman who is fiercely independent and in complete control of her allure, embodying a fantasy of confidence and mystique. She is the center of attention, yet her identity remains a question, adding to her power. The song celebrates this self-possessed female energy.

At its core, the meaning revolves around the intoxicating power of music. The opening lines, "Feel the adrenaline movin' under my skin / It's an addiction, such an eruption," portray the musical experience as a physical, all-consuming force. The sound is a "remedy" and "energy," suggesting that dancing is a therapeutic and liberating act. The repetitive and carefree declaration, "Baby, I just wanna dance / I don't really care," reinforces the song's message of living in the moment and finding joy in the sheer act of moving to the beat.

The narrative begins with an immediate immersion into a state of high-energy excitement, describing a feeling of adrenaline coursing beneath the skin. This sensation is likened to an addiction or a sudden eruption, establishing that music is the source of this power, serving as both a remedy and a source of boundless energy. The protagonist's sole desire is to dance, completely unconcerned with anything else. This desire is a palpable feeling that hangs in the air, a shared experience on the dance floor.

The central figure of the song is introduced in the chorus: a mysterious and captivating woman. She is described as a "crazy Dita" and a "disco diva," an enigmatic presence that makes everyone wonder about her identity. This woman embodies a duality; she is simultaneously "too cold for you to keep her" and "too hot for you to leave her," highlighting her independent and untamable nature. The question "Who's that chick?" is repeated, emphasizing her mystique and the fascination she commands.

The second verse transports the listener back to the dance floor, where the atmosphere is intense and charged. The bass is so powerful it feels like it's blazing through the protagonist's heart. The scene becomes more hedonistic with descriptions of "French kissin' on the floor" and the party getting "hardcore." A reference to "Crazy Juice" suggests a state of intoxication that leads to uninhibited, sexy behavior, with the implication that these wild antics might become public knowledge, ending up on the news. Despite this potential for notoriety, the core desire remains unchanged: an overwhelming urge to dance without a care.

The bridge elevates the song's theme of sensual liberation. The protagonist declares herself "ultra sexual," completely sprung by the love and energy of the night. There is a clear intention to continue the revelry until sunrise. Her heart is personified as a dancer, beating in time with the relentless rhythm of a disco drum. This metaphor powerfully connects her physical and emotional state to the music itself, portraying a complete and euphoric surrender to the moment. The repetition of these lines reinforces the commitment to this nocturnal, hedonistic freedom, where the music and the night itself have triggered a profound sense of love and abandon.

"Who's That Chick?" was born from a collaboration between French DJ David Guetta and Barbadian superstar Rihanna. Initially, Guetta was asked to produce tracks for Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud (2010). After struggling to find a sound that he felt was a perfect fit, Guetta conceptualized the track and felt it was ideal for her. He presented the demo to Rihanna backstage at one of her concerts in London. While she was initially hesitant, she found the song stuck in her head after the show and agreed to record it.

The song ultimately did not make the final tracklist for Loud. Rihanna stated in an interview that while it was a "great song," she considered it "safe" and too similar to other dance-pop tracks at the time, which is why it was designated as a bonus track rather than being on the main album. Instead, the track found its home on the 2010 reissue of Guetta's fourth album, One Love, retitled One More Love, and was released as its second single on November 22, 2010.

The song's creation credits include Guetta, Kinda "Kee" Hamid, Giorgio Tuinfort, and Frédéric Riesterer. Notably, due to its interpolation of Madonna's 1987 hit "Who's That Girl," Madonna and Patrick Leonard are also credited as co-writers. The production was handled by Guetta, Tuinfort, and Riesterer.

A major part of the song's history is its unique release strategy tied to a massive promotional campaign with Doritos. Two separate music videos, a bright and colorful "Day version" and a darker, edgier "Night version," were directed by Jonas Åkerlund. These were part of the Doritos "Late Night" campaign, which featured an interactive augmented reality experience where consumers could use a special Doritos bag to switch between the two videos via their webcam, creating a unique viewing experience. This innovative marketing approach was a significant aspect of the song's initial buzz and release.

The song is built on a driving, uptempo rhythm characteristic of electro house, with a consistent four-on-the-floor kick drum pattern that makes it highly danceable. The tempo is approximately 128 BPM. The rhythmic interest is generated by the interplay between this steady pulse and the syncopated synth basslines and vocal melodies. As noted in a technical analysis, the producers use 3/16-note and 3/8-note patterns to create memorable riffs that bounce off the main beat, a common but effective dance music trick.

The rhyme scheme is straightforward, primarily using couplets (AABB) and simple end rhymes to maintain a catchy, pop-friendly structure. For example, in the first verse, "skin" rhymes with "eruption" (as a near rhyme) and "remedy" rhymes with "energy." This simplicity makes the lyrics easy to follow and sing along to in a club environment.

Rihanna's vocal rhythm is dynamic. She delivers the verses with a staccato, punchy cadence that aligns with the syncopated synths ("Feel the a-dren-a-line / mov-in' un-der my skin"). This contrasts with the more fluid, melodic chorus. The rhythmic interplay between the vocals and the instrumental backing is crucial to the song's energetic feel, creating a cohesive and propulsive track.

Musically, "Who's That Chick?" is a quintessential example of early 2010s dance-pop and electro house. A key stylistic choice is the heavy use of Auto-Tune on Rihanna's vocals, a popular effect at the time to give the voice a processed, robotic, and synthesized quality that blends seamlessly with the electronic instrumentation.

The song's production, analyzed by The Mix Review, employs a sophisticated rhythmic structure. It uses repeated 3/16-note and 3/8-note groupings in its synth riffs and vocal melodies. This creates an interesting syncopation against the steady four-on-the-floor kick drum pattern, making the track rhythmically engaging and bouncy. The arrangement also utilizes dynamics effectively, for instance, by stripping away rhythmic complexity at the end of pre-chorus sections to create a powerful sense of anticipation and 'lift' into the main chorus hook.

Lyrically, the song uses a direct, declarative narrative voice. The use of rhetorical questions, primarily "Who's that chick?", forms the central hook and theme, immediately engaging the listener and creating a sense of mystery. The lyrics are filled with sensory language ("Feel the adrenaline," "Bass kicking so hard") to immerse the listener in the club atmosphere. Repetition is a key literary device, particularly in the pre-chorus ("I just wanna dance / I don't really care") and the main hook, which enhances the song's anthemic quality and memorability.

"Who's That Chick?" achieved significant chart success worldwide, becoming a staple of early 2010s dance-pop. It peaked at number one on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and the UK Dance Chart, and reached the top ten in numerous countries including the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, and Spain.

The song's most lasting cultural impact lies in its pioneering integration with a major brand campaign. The partnership with Doritos for their "Late Night" promotion was highly innovative for its time. It featured an interactive augmented reality component, allowing fans to use a Doritos bag to control and switch between two different music videos (the "Day" and "Night" versions) on their computer screens. This was a novel approach to music video distribution and fan engagement, blending music, technology, and advertising in a way that garnered significant media attention.

The song itself is remembered as a classic collaboration between David Guetta and Rihanna, two of the biggest names in pop and EDM. It solidified the trend of major pop vocalists featuring on tracks by superstar DJs. Though some, including Rihanna herself, deemed it a "safe" track, it remains a memorable and well-loved artifact of the era's electro-pop boom.

The most prominent symbolism in "Who's That Chick?" is the duality of the female persona, explicitly visualized in the parallel "Day" and "Night" music videos.

• The "Day" Version: This video, with its vibrant, candy-colored aesthetic, symbolizes a playful, exuberant, and approachable side of femininity. It's a fantasy world of pure, unadulterated fun.
• The "Night" Version: This video features a darker, grittier, and more chaotic style, symbolizing a wilder, more mysterious, and perhaps more dangerous alter ego. This version represents the uninhibited side that emerges in the club scene after dark.

Together, they symbolize the multifaceted nature of identity, suggesting that a person can embody different, even contradictory, characteristics. The "chick" is not one-dimensional; she contains multitudes.

The dance floor itself serves as a metaphor for a space of liberation and transformation. It's a sanctuary where the protagonist can become this powerful, confident version of herself. The lyric "My heart is a dancer, beating like a disco drum" is a direct metaphor that merges the physical self with the music and the environment, suggesting a complete and total immersion in the experience where the body and the beat become one. The feeling of "adrenaline" and "addiction" is used metaphorically to describe the overwhelming and irresistible pull of the music and the escape it offers.

The most significant recurring lyrical motif is the question "Who's that chick?". It serves as the song's title, central hook, and primary theme. Its repetition throughout the chorus reinforces the idea of a mysterious, head-turning woman who commands attention and sparks curiosity. This phrase is the anchor of the song's narrative.

Another key recurring phrase is "Baby, I just wanna dance / I don't really care." This line, repeated in each pre-chorus, functions as the song's central mantra. It encapsulates the theme of carefree abandon and the desire for escapism through music, acting as a build-up to the chorus's reveal of the "chick" persona.

Musically, the main motif is the bouncy, syncopated synthesizer riff that opens the track and underpins the verses and chorus. This infectious electronic melody is instantly recognizable and is the primary driver of the song's energetic and playful mood. The steady, pounding kick drum is a constant rhythmic motif that establishes the dance-floor foundation of the entire track.