"The Monster" is a song by Eminem featuring Rihanna. It was released as a single on October 29, 2013. It is featured on Eminem's eigth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. "The Monster" is the fourth collaboration by Eminem and Rihanna, after Love the Way You Lie, Love the Way You Lie (Part II) and Numb. The lyrics are about Rihanna facing her inner demons while Eminem focuses on the negative sides of his fame.
Background[]
While looking for songs to include on Eminem's eight studio album, Eminem's producer, Riggs Morales found the song and 'freaked out', and sent the song to Eminem. When Eminem heard the demo he added his own verses and adjusted the instrumental. On September 11, 2013, Rihanna tweeted that she recorded a '#monster' hook for one of her favorite artists.
Commercial performance[]
"The Monster" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at position 3 on the date issued November 6, 2013. This gave Rihanna her 25th top ten single. This also marked her overall 45th chart entry. After spending four weeks behind Lorde's "Royals", the song finally reached number one on it's sixth week. This marked Rihanna's thirteenth number one hit.