"FourFiveSeconds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West, and English musician Paul McCartney.

It was written and produced by McCartney, West, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with additional writing from Kirby Lauryen, Ty Dolla Sign, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg and Rihanna.

Internationally, "FourFiveSeconds" reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the top three in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

To promote the song, an accompanying black-and-white music video was directed by Dutch photographer duo Inez and Vinoodh in New York City.

On January 21, 2015, Kanye West made a surprise appearance at the iHeartMedia Music Summit, where he teased a collaboration with Rihanna that "featured acoustic guitar and a big, soaring chorus and melody with a massive hook.

"[1] Earlier, on January 2, recording artist and producer Ty Dolla Sign gave an interview to Billboard magazine where it revealed that he, West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney worked on a track together, which was yet to receive its final title.

[6] "FourFiveSeconds" was written by West, McCartney, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Sign, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, Noah Goldstein and Rihanna.

[8] On February 8, during his Grammy Awards red carpet interview, West explained how the collaboration came to fruition: "I'm executive producer of Rihanna's album, and I said I'd done a few songs with Paul McCartney and she couldn't get past this record.

[12][18] It has been noted that West sings his lines in the song instead of rapping them, which prompted Jim Farber of the Daily News to write that he could have done with auto-tune to smooth out his "unsteady vocals.

[19] Billboard's Jocelyn Vena stated that the musical direction of the song represents a departure from the material present on Rihanna's most recent studio album, Unapologetic (2012), which incorporated EDM and dubstep.

[12] Lanre Bakare of The Guardian described "FourFiveSeconds" as an "acoustic ballad" and the antithesis of what Rihanna and West's previous collaborations have sounded like.

[26] Billboard's Vena stated that a "plucky acoustic guitar" accompanies Rihanna's vocals while she sings the lines, "I think I've had enough/ Might get a little drunk/ I say what's on my mind/ I might do a little time.

[28] Mclntyre of Forbes noted: "The song puts the spotlight on Rihanna's vocals, highlighting them in a way that her club-ready, bombastic tunes don't usually.

[15] Vox's Kelsey McKinney noted that "Rihanna's voice shows significant growth in range and tone since her last album".

[29] Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote of Rihanna's vocals: "Listen to the ragged squeak in her voice in the first verse, and how she maintains control as she alternates between contemplative trills and gospel shouts during the bridge".

[30] Travis Grier of Def Pen Radio thought that the song is a good choice for Rihanna to achieve legendary status, as, "she's tackled pretty much every genre under the sun and 'FourFiveSeconds' just expands her versatility even more".

[61] "FourFiveSeconds" topped the charts for five consecutive weeks[61] and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for selling over 30,000 copies in the country.

[78] The accompanying music video for "FourFiveSeconds" was directed by Dutch photographer duo, Inez and Vinoodh and shot in late December 2014 in New York City.

[84] According to Kreps of Rolling Stone, "The Herb Ritts-esque black-and-white clip finds Rihanna and West just singing their collaborative track while McCartney strums the riff on an acoustic guitar, with the real highlight coming when the three musical titans share the same frame.

"[85] Steven Gottlieb of VideoStatic described it as, "vertically constrained to just the center third of the screen, the focus of this silvery black-and-white clip is Rihanna's emotional performance", while McCartney and West supported her role.

[88] Additionally, Feeney noted that the video is shot in a square aspect ratio and compared it to the works of French-Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan.

[90] VH1's Alexa Tietjen called the visual "stunning" and further praised Rihanna's looks, West's attitude, and McCartney's "social media skills".

[91] Dee Locket of Slate called the visual a "performance video" in which Rihanna and West "appear to be on the verge of losing it".

Music stated that if the visual wanted to depict Rihanna "as a fragile woman on the verge of snapping", it succeeded: "Stylistically, the black and white video finds a happy medium between the look and feel of Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap ad campaigns with Rihanna [baring] just enough cleavage to make censors nervous.

[95] Rihanna, McCartney, and West performed "FourFiveSeconds" at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

[96] Chris Payne of Billboard named the performance as one of the best moments of the ceremony and praised Rihanna's vocals, "Let's face it – seeing this improbable collaboration in person is the main reason many tuned in.

[98] Isabella Biedenharn of Entertainment Weekly graded the performance an "A" and praised Rihanna and West's vocals and the trio's wardrobe.

[102] Canadian rapper Drake covered the song during his performance at the Sprite NBA All-Star Weekend concert held at the Irving Plaza in New York City on February 14.

Christina Garibaldi of MTV News, regarding the performance, wrote, "The 'New Problems' singer effortlessly covers Rihanna and Kanye's verses while giving off some serious John Mayer vibes.

Ariana Grande, with her team members Holly Forbes and Jim and Sasha Allen, performed this song on episode twenty of the 21st season of The Voice.