‘Friend of Mine’ co-producer talks how the song came together during writing camps

[Teletubby 148,196]

Jon Bellion who co-wrote and co-produced Rihanna's ‘Friend of Mine’  last year was initially surprised to hear that the song would be featured in the upcoming Smurfs film in which Rihanna is voicing Smurfette.

“My whole career, I’ve wanted [a song] that plays at all the events — all the baby showers and sweet sixteens and wedding and Bar Mitzvahs,” Bellion says with a laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever really had one of those, so it feels great, and hopefully it does well.”

He considered the sonic profile of “Friend of Mine” and understood its mass appeal. “From a product standpoint I don’t think you get such major chords and such a positive [message] over a dance record that doesn’t sound like a kids movie too often” he tells Billboard. “So when do you nail the feel-good family-friendly high-taste deep ‘90s nostalgia that can also be played into the kids movie? Shoot it out into the world!”

The song came together during one of Bellion’s writing camps at his vacation home in the Hamptons last summer, with the studio veteran producing the song with Pete Nappi and Fallen, and all three receiving co-writing credits along with Elijah Noll, Elkan, Tenroc and Rihanna. 

Bellion was uncertain that “Friend of Mine” would see the light of day, but the spontaneity of the track’s creation stood out in his mind when it came together last year. “The song is raw — like, she didn’t really mix it further than the two track that we sent out,” he says. 

The energy heard on “Friend of Mine” is a reflection of his collective’s collaborative spirit.

”We spent about three days on ‘Friend of Mine,’ just refining and dialing it in. Coming from the hip-hop world, I’m used to making five songs in a single session, so this level of detail was new for me. But it’s been the most valuable lesson I’ve learned working with Jon Bellion” - the producer Fallen said.

Bellion couldn’t recall another Rihanna single that sounded quite like “Friend of Mine” — and he says that, at some point after the song was finished, the realization hit him that unexplored territory was exactly what she had been searching for. “She’s not looking for ‘We Found Love 2.0,’ or ‘Work 2.0,’” he says. “The arrangement and the feel feels all very new — very cutting-edge, in front of what the next wave will be, because she usually tries to do that every time she puts something out.”

One of Bellion’s earliest hits as a co-writer was Eminem and Rihanna  “The Monster". In the decade-plus since that breakthrough, he’s stayed in touch with Rihanna’s team, and says that he’s contributed “a couple songs” to her camp over the years that have yet to be released.
 

 

[Ilia Malinin 1,543]

5 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

We spent about three days on ‘Friend of Mine,’

it shows 

[The Walrus 105]

Wait... It wasn't supposed to sound horrible 

[SevenWonder 4,300]

I love Rihanna. But it's a shockingly bad song. It doesn't even feel like a song. Just a collection of odd syllables. 

[nATAH 48,323]

7 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

“My whole career, I’ve wanted [a song] that plays at all the events — all the baby showers and sweet sixteens and wedding and Bar Mitzvahs,” Bellion says with a laugh.

[The Walrus 105]

1 minute ago, Ilia Malinin said:

it shows 

3 days is way too much. You can write a very solid song in 10 minutes, like Gaga did with Poker Face, with mixing and arranging the next days. 

When they say 3 days, I think they mean 5 minutes work then just laying around lazily on the floor thinking of their enormous upcoming pay day

[Ilia Malinin 1,543]

1 minute ago, The Walrus said:

3 days is way too much. You can write a very solid song in 10 minutes, like Gaga did with Poker Face, with mixing and arranging the next days. 

When they say 3 days, I think they mean 5 minutes work then just laying around lazily on the floor thinking of their enormous upcoming pay day

yeah the 3 days was filming and editing the music video, everything else was done in about 15 minutes 

[River 115,870]

The lack of self awareness is brutal

find a better job 

not every dumb -ck who says "I feel the music in my veins, since I was a kid I knew it" has to actually work in music

[Ronnie 5,965]

16 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

”We spent about three minutes on ‘Friend of Mine.’

There. Fixed it.

[Anderson123 38,113]

Honestly I like the instrumental and sounds like something that could be part of some experimental album from her. Not what I was expecting AT ALL for a Smurfs movie and feels like it has potential at first but then idk. 

[LilMonst3r 5,442]

I really liked at first play, The vibe is so fun. Definitely a family friendly dance banger… im gonna eat this song up 😇 while i patiently wait for riri to drop more music….

[komronjoel 1,549]

The delusion is real with that one, what a mess 

[lasagna 2,861]

i think the instrumental has sooo much potential but it goes nowhere and the vocal production on it is genuinely hilarious theres no way they took 3 days to make this at a writers camp mind you who did the writing theres one whole line in the song 😭

[OliviaRodrigoStan 6,567]

2 hours ago, Teletubby said:

she didn’t really mix it further than the two track that we sent out 

We can tell  

[ChvVolk 2,282]

I love how uninvolved Rihanna is in music. She sings songs that other people write about their own lives and then passes them as her own, as her idea, her feelings, but it's nothing of the sort