jumbledray55: Rihanna Initially Against 'Love The Way You Lie (Part II)' With Eminem

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Rihanna Initially Against 'Love The Way You Lie (Part II)' With Eminem

Sequel to appear on Loud; piano version will be iTunes bonus.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Rihanna
Photo: Matt Harper/ MTV News

Fans seemed pumped to hear "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)," the follow-up to the smash Rihanna/Eminem collaboration. The track, which is Rihanna's answer to the original version, will appear on her forthcoming November release, Loud, but Rihanna admits she had some hesitation about trying to re-create the magic of that first song.

"When I first heard the idea about doing a part two, I was just completely against it," she revealed to MTV News. "I just felt like you couldn't beat the original. There's no way you can outdo that, so why compete with it?"

However, after trying out several versions of a sequel track to the 2010 song off Em's Recovery LP, she knew the magic from the first cut was still in the air.

"We heard a broken-down version that was stripped down, just piano ... that's going to be a bonus on iTunes," she said. "I fell in love with it. We recorded it, then we did another version to the stripped-down version with drums, then we did another version with drums and Eminem. And then that was the one that just felt really good.

"I love both: I love the broken-down version, as well as the new one with Eminem," she continued.

Without giving away too much, Em certainly doesn't hold back on his verse, rhyming about trading punches with the song's female protagonist and being obsessively in love with her. Rihanna admits it's a "crazy verse."

"Something is wrong with Eminem," she said, laughing. "He has so much in his mind that I almost feel lucky for him that he has music. ... Music is such a great release for him. He's one of my favorite artists."

Not only did the original track have everyone buzzing, but its video, which features Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan, also had everyone talking.

So, will there be a sequel to that as well? "Who knows?" she teased.

Are you excited for "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)"? Tell us in the comments below!

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