Shakira "Rabiosa (English Version)" Song ft. Pitbull

"Rabiosa" (English: "Rabid") is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira featuring rappers Pitbull and El Cata. It was released as the third single from her third bilingual and seventh studio album, entitled Sale el Sol. Two versions of the song were recorded, one in English, that features vocals from rapper Pitbull, and one in Spanish that features vocals from El Cata. "Rabiosa" entered the top ten of the Spanish Singles Chart, charted within French Singles Chart and the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, and received positive reviews from American critics such as Billboard. The music video for the song was shot in late April in Barcelona, Spain. "Rabiosa" was originally written and performed by El Cata on his first album "El Malo", as with another track on Sale el Sol, "Loca". Musically, "Rabiosa" is a Merenrap/Dancehall reggae song with Latin and rap influences. Shakira recorded the song in the summer of 2010 in the Dominican Republic with Pitbull and El Cata.

The trio wrote and produced it, along with Dizzee Rascal. There are two different versions (as in the cases of "Loca" & "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)"). The original English language version features Pitbull and includes some Spanish lines, while the Spanish version features El Cata and was released as a single in Spain, South America, Mexico and France. The lyrics are both sung and spoken in English as well as in Spanish, ending with Code-switching, a type of phrasing that combines both Spanish and English words and expressions ("Bite me en la boca"). Due to digital downloads, the song debuted at number 25 in the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (equivalent of #125 in the Billboard Hot 100) in the United States, prior to the album's release. Thus made Rabiosa become Shakira's fifteenth song to enter the Hot 100 (including the Bubbling under extension) in the history. The next week it fell off the chart, losing over 10,000 sales. After half a year, "Rabiosa" re-enter two Billboard surveys: Hot Latin Tracks, peaking at number twenty-three and Latin Pop Airplay, where it peaked within the top twenty.

Shakira "Rabiosa (English Version)" Song ft. Pitbull

After a month of airing on the radios all over the country, the Spanish version of "Rabiosa" (featuring El Cata) reached number 57 in the French Airplay Chart, out of 250 positions. The following week, the song debuted at number 94 in the French Singles Chart, because of the strong digital selling in the week ending March 27. The same week it rose to number 51 in the Airplay Chart. In the French Singles Chart, "Rabiosa" peaked, so far, at number eighteen, after reaching the top twenty in its second full month in the survey. In the Ultratip Chart from Wallonia, Belgium, the song debuted inside the top 50, at number 47 and reached the top twenty, as it peaked at number-twenty. It then entered the top forty of the Ultratop Wallonia official chart. In Spain, the song debuted at number twenty-three inside the Spanish Singles Chart, becoming that week's second best debut, after Lady Gaga's "Judas". The next week, "Rabiosa" climbed to number-six, being the greatest gainer.

It then moved further to number-five to reach the top three the next week and finally set its peak to date at number-two. It defended the peak position for two other weeks. In Portugal the song peaked within the top forty of the Airplay Chart. In the Italian Singles Chart, the song debuted at number twenty-nine and it peaked at number seven. In Switzerland it became an airplay hit and debuted at number twenty-eight and then moved to number twenty-six to latter peak at number twenty-four within the Swiss Singles Chart. In Germany it is reported to have debuted at number forty-four within the Media AG charts, though this fact wasn't confirmed thus far. Within the Youth Airplay Chart, the song peaked at number-eight in that country. In Austria the song debuted at number thirty-six and moved to number twenty-one the next week. In Sweden, the song debuted at number forty-eight to fall off the chart the following week. "Rabiosa" has also entered the charts in Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Mexico and received airplay in Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

The video starts with a man opening the gate to a party inside a house for Shakira. We then see a scene depicting people partying, a couple kissing (pushing the camera away from them) and a man smoking, exhaling his smoke in Shakira's direction as she makes her way through the corridor. After walking down a staircase she finally reaches the house's basement, where people are throwing confetti and party-string towards the camera while Shakira makes her way towards a guy with whom she starts to flirt. The video cuts repeatedly to shots of Shakira, with long blonde hair, pole-dancing in a dark room filled with bright lights. She continues flirting with the guy, who pushes her into a dry bathtub filled with coloured plastic balls and teasingly throws more in her direction. In the final scenes, we see her ending her pole dancing in a leg split, paying an homage to her 2009 music video She Wolf which took part in a golden cage, and in the ending scene we see her crowd surfing away.

Shakira with her cover "Rabiosa"

Shakira performance at her video clip "Rabiosa"

Beyonce "Best Thing I Never Had" Song

"Best Thing I Never Had" is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles taken from her fourth studio album, 4 (2011). It was released on June 1, 2011, through Columbia Records as the second single from the album. "Best Thing I Never Had" was written by Patrick "J. Que" Smith and co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Symbolyc One, Caleb McCambell, Atonio Dixon, Knowles and Shea Taylor. An R&B-pop ballad, "Best Thing I Never Had" has lyrics about revenge and karma. Not wanting to end up broken-hearted, the female protagonist relates that she feels happy to have parted from her love interest who did not recognize the potential of leading a happy life beside her. Critical response towards "Best Thing I Never Had" was generally positive with several music critics noting that its theme as well as its musical style bear resemblance to Knowles' own 2006 single, "Irreplaceable". Knowles' vocals and the lyrical content of the song were also complimented. It is presently impacting on charts worldwide.

"Best Thing I Never Had" was written by Knowles with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Patrick "J. Que" Smith, and was produced by Symbolyc One. A private listening party for Knowles' fourth studio album was held on May 12, 2011. Knowles offered a select group of fans a preview of five songs from her fourth studio album as well as the official video for the lead single "Run the World (Girls)". On that occasion, "Best Thing I Never Had" was one among the five songs previewed. On May 1, 2011, a song titled "End of Time" leaked as a demo while the full demo of the song, featuring Knowles professing her everlasting love to her love interest, leaked online on May 20, 2011, watermarked with the tag "internal use only". Several websites, including MTV News started reporting that it might serve as a potential follow up to the lead single, "Run the World". However, these speculations were soon overshadowed by the release of an exclusive US promotional single, "1+1" on May 25, 2011. In early June 2011, Columbia Records reported that "1+1" would however not be sent for airplay, with "Best Thing I Never Had" favored as the second single from 4, following "Run the World".

Beyonce "Best Thing I Never Had" Song

On May 27, 2011, Pittsburgh radio station 96.1 Kiss FM reportedly received an email from Knowles' management, informing them about the follow-up to the lead single, "Run the World (Girls)" from 4, will be "Best Thing I Never Had" and that it would premiere on radio on Wednesday June 1, 2011. As reported, the single debuted on US radio stations on the announced date at morning at 8 (EST). It was digitally released in the United States on June 1, 2011. The single's cover artwork was photographed by German artist Ellen von Unwerth, and shows Knowles posing in a bathroom in front of a mirror. She is holding a tube of red lipstick, which was used to write "King B" on the mirror. Knowles is wearing a "tight-fitting dress"."Best Thing I Never Had" is a midtempo pop and R&B ballad with influences of gospel music. According to the sheet music published by EMI Music Publishing, "Best Thing I Never Had" is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute, and is written in the key of G♭ major. The introduction follows the chord progression of G♭–C♭–E♭m–D♭, while the verses follow E♭m–G♭sus4–G♭–E♭m–D♭6–G♭sus4–G♭. Its theme and musical style has been compared to Knowles' previous releases like "Irreplaceable" (2006) and "If I Were a Boy" (2008).

The song's instrumentation consists mostly of a piano melody intro and outro, with some layered female vocals providing background support to Knowles' singing. As stated by Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly, "Best Thing I Never Had" seems to have partly borrowed form Celine Dion's "That’s The Way It Is" (1999), and from Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" (1986). Caryn Ganz of Yahoo! Music commented that the song bears resemblance to Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" (2000) paired with Ryan Tedder's signature thump beat. James Dinh of MTV News added that "Best Thing I Never Had" sounds like a song people will hear during a Broadway musical. He attributed this to the fact that Knowles collaborated with the band from Fela! for a couple of days to gain inspiration from the play's subject, Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, Fela Kuti.

Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly noted the moderate chart performance of Knowles' previous single, "Run the World (Girls)", before adding: "'Best Thing I Never Had' feels like the kind of crossover hit that will help 4 join the rest of Beyoncé's discography in multiplatinum land." Still making reference to the former single, Anderson added that "Best Thing I Never Had" finds Knowles mining the same kind of "girl-power imagery as she did on 'Run the World (Girls)', but there is something more direct and honest about the lyrics on the new single (perhaps it's the instant greatness of the line, 'When I think of the time I almost loved you / You showed your ass and I saw the real you')." Noting its similarities to Knowles previous singles, "Irreplaceable" and "If I Were a Boy", Gerrick D. Kennedy of The Los Angeles Times quipped that Knowles certainly knows "how to dump a man in style." Both James Dinh of MTV News and Robbie Daw of Idolator felt that the song has a "radio-friendly appeal and catchy chorus." Leah Collins of Canadian Dose Magazine wrote: "'Irreplaceable', 'Independent Women', 'If I Were a Boy', we could go on [...] Beyoncé had long since proven she could write a song for all the ladies. Songs that could deliver a shot of self-esteem. Beyoncé's newest single, 'Best Thing I Never Had' takes us back to those not-so-far-off days."

"Best Thing I Never Had" debuted at number 84 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart issue dated June 18, 2011. "Best Thing I Never Had" entered at number 53 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it was the highest debut of that week. The following week, the single rose to number 75 on the Hot 100 chart. It has since reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. For the week ending June 18, 2011, "Best Thing I Never Had" debuted at the top spot of the South Korea Gaon International Chart with digital sales of 85,742 copies. The following week, it maintained it number one position selling twice as much, transitioning into 174,773 digital copies. Before the song's official release in the United Kingdom, it debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number two on the UK R&B Chart on July 4, 2011, selling 51,365 copies that week. Music Week's Alan Jones attributed the high sales to a performance of the song by Knowles at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2011. "Best Thing I Never Had" is Knowles sixteenth Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom.

The music video begins with Knowles preparing herself for her wedding ceremony. She is in her boudoir and she is decked in a lacy corset and a lingerie combo, complete with garters. As the song begins, Knowles looks towards the camera directing the words at the viewer, while affirming the subject of the song that she was the best he ever had. From there, the video moves to Knowles playing with a tiara, a veil and lots of tulle on a bed, to various stages of getting dressed. In-between there is a quick cut to old video footage of a young Knowles and her former high school boyfriend, at their senior-prom night in 1998. As Knowles and her boyfriend dances, he becomes interested in another girl, leaving Knowles alone on the dance floor. The video then returns back to the present scene, showing Knowles in her final preparations before she walks down the aisle on her wedding day. Interlaced shot show her singing at sunset atop a grassy hill, in a white gown, followed by the walk down the aisle and the exchange of vows. A final shot shows her former lover at the prom deep in thought, with his prom king crown sitting askew on his head. In contrast, Knowles and her newly-wed husband is seen celebrating at a happy and well-attended reception. The groom removes the bride's garter with his teeth and then they start dancing with their younger family members. The final shot features Knowles looking into the camera, with a look of total satisfaction and happiness. She then walks off confidently, to re-join her wedding party and new husband, and then the screen fades to black.