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Background and synopsis[]
Rihanna in a flesh-colored leotard in the music video. This scene was subject of an allegation by Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø who accused Rihanna of plagiarism.
The music video for "You da One" was filmed on November 30, 2011 at MC Motors in Dalston, East London. It was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who also directed the controversial video for her previous single, "We Found Love". In the first images from the London set, Rihanna sported short blonde hair, torn denim shorts, patterned leggings, and a white bowler hat. She held a black cane as she performed scenes in front of a bright pink wall in the visuals inspired by the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. It premiered on December 23, 2011.
The clip is partly a photo shoot and a lyric video as lyrics are stamped across the screen and Rihanna's body, and was shot mainly in black and white. She wears numerous outfits and blonde wigs throughout the video as she emulates the clothes from A Clockwork Orange by wearing a white bowler hat and cane from Laird Hatters, sporting a smoky eye in homage, and smacking her pink pouty lips with bubble gum. Rihanna later strips down to a flesh-coloured leotard as she writhes on the floor with strategically placed artistic shards of light to create leopard spots and tiger stripes on her skin. Several scenes capture solely her mouth; first with a gold grill covering her bottom row of teeth, and later with smoke billowing from her lips transitioning into and out of the words "Dream" and later "You Da One". Another scene finds Rihanna in a white tank top and tattered jean shorts, swinging a cane in between two brick buildings. She continuously exudes sexuality; in several scenes, she touches and thrusts her crotch (reminiscent of Michael Jackson's dance moves, as noted by Jason Lipshutz of Billboard), struts toward the camera with a pimp cane, endorses provocative dance moves, and drapes herself over a giant ball. Using the latter move, she is found in a black and white chequered background room where she moves around a larger than life playing card. The video ends with Rihanna running away from the camera and jumping into a chair, throwing her legs over the side with a smile on her face.
Reception and plagiarism allegations[]
A reviewer for Idolator described the video as "glorious." Amy Sciarretto for PopCrush wrote "Judging from the song's official video, it is, since RiRi can’t keep her hands to herself. The black and white video features the newly blond singer cavorting in an array of black and white outfits, dancing, smiling, giggling and grabbing her crotch with a great degree of regularity." Hours after the release of the video, Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø alleged that the scene of Rihanna wearing a white outfit with black dots shining on her (pictured) is the same as a photo shoot he completed in 2008 titled "Numero 93'". A reviewer for Idolator wrote that "the evidence really doesn’t look to be in Rihanna's favor." The reviewer continued to write "Not only are the projected shapes similar, but both Rihanna and the model are wearing nearly-identical body suits and wigs (though the color differs). Plus, those pink lips providing the only splash of color also look pretty familiar." A reviewer for The Huffington Post concurred with Idolator's observations, and noted "The nakedness, the projections, the interplay of light and shadow... even the haircut" were very similar to that of the work by Sundsbo.