Numb (Rihanna song)
"Numb" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her seventh studio album Unapologetic (2012). It features guest vocals by American rapper Eminem, making it the pair's third collaboration since the two official versions of "Love the Way You Lie". Following the album's release, "Numb" charted on multiple charts worldwide including in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Numb" lasts for a duration of 3:25. The song's instrumentation consists of an Egyptian flute riff and "a crashing bombastic beat." "Numb" contains a sample of Kanye West's song "Can't Tell Me Nothing", written by West and Aldrin Davis. The lyric "Let the champagne smash/ Let that man get cash" from "Can't Tell Me Nothing" is the sample used in "Numb". The song's lyrical content is "controversial" as it is about feeling "numb after taking drugs." and a "homage to getting high." Rihanna performs the lines
I don't care
Can't tell me nothing
I'm impaired
The worst for wear"
in the first Verse. Eminem "spits" his verse, performing the lines