SOS (Rihanna Song) - Background and Conception

Background and Conception

"SOS" was written by J. R. Rotem, Evan "Kidd" Bogart and Ed Cobb, with production helmed by Rotem. The song was recorded at Bartmitzvah Hall Studios, Century City, California, and Loft Recording Studios, Bronxville, New York. "SOS" contains a sample of "Tainted Love", written by Ed Cobb in 1965, and popularized by English synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1981. In an interview with HitQuarters, Rotem explained the song's conception, saying "I heard 'Tainted Love' and wanted to take the bass line and update it with a new swing. When I gave the track to Evan, the 80s feeling was already in the track." Rotem was asked how he felt about working with singers who became successful international recording artists after he had worked with them in an interview with William E. Ketchum for HipHopDX in May 2011, and referred to Rihanna and writing "SOS" in his response, saying:

I did 's song “,” and it wasn't her first song, but it was her first number one. Since then, she's obviously one of the biggest stars in the world. But I never look at it like that's because of me or something like that. I just look at it like it was amazing to have worked with her at that time, and I would like to work with her again.

Originally, "SOS" was intended to be given to and recorded by former Def Jam Recordings label mate Christina Milian, for her third studio album, So Amazin' (2006), but Milian turned down the song and former Def Jam CEO and chairman LA Reid offered the song to Rihanna instead. After the release of So Amazin', Milian was dropped from Def Jam due to poor album sales.