Background and Composition
"Trading Places" was written by The-Dream, Carlos "Los Da Mystro" McKinney and Usher, and produced by McKinney, while Jaycen Joshua mixed the record. The song was recorded at Music Line Studio, Triangle Sound Studios and Chalice Recording Studios, and was released on October 17, 2008.
"Trading Places" is a slow-tempo R&B ballad, and contains influences of hip hop music. McKinney used the drums that appear in J. Holiday's "Bed"; "Trading Places" also uses guitar instrumentation. The theme of the song surrounds role reversal in a relationship, predominantly in sexual situations, with its hook consisting of the lyrics, "I'm always on the top, tonight I'm on the bottom / 'cause we trading places". Usher described the song's idea as "wishful thinking for all men to have a woman who takes control and compliments us the way we compliment them", and Steve Jones of USA Today saw the song as a way for Usher to "satisfy his inner freak ... within the confines of marriage." Angela Barrett of Rap-Up noted "Trading Places" as a male version of "Cater 2 U" (2004) by Destiny's Child.
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