let the muSSSic play

Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake perform on this with Timbaland. Furtado duetted with Timbaland on her 2006 hit single "Promiscuous," making this track something of a favor returned. He has also produced a number of tracks for her, including "Promiscuous," "Maneater," "All Good Things (Come To An End)" and "Say It Right." For Justin Timberlake, he produced "SexyBack," "My Love" and "What Goes Around."

The single is a dig at several unnamed music stars. Timbaland has confirmed in an interview with MTV that fellow producer Scott Storch, with whom he co-wrote Timberlake's 2002 single "Cry Me A River," is the target of his verse. Though the production of "Cry Me a River" is credited solely to Timbaland, Storch has claimed that he was responsible for producing it.

There are contradictory reports that Justin Timberlake's target is either Janet Jackson or Prince, while Nelly Furtado has denied in interviews that her verse is about Fergie despite many reports to the contrary.

On the same day that MTV premiered the music video for this song, Scott Storch responded by releasing "Built Like Dat," featuring the Latino rapper Nox, which makes various accusations against Timbaland.

Furtado expressed regret about contributing to this track in a December 2010 interview with The Metro: "I wish Justin, Timbaland and I hadn't put out that dis song Give It To Me," she said. "It was like the first ever pop dis song – a genre usually reserved for rap. We put a lot of negative energy out into the world."
Source: Songfacts

Unlike the Amy Winehouse song of the same name, this is a metaphorical song. Rehab means we have to get over the guy. So we talk about checking ourselves into rehab, and we compare the guy to a disease or an addiction. (thanks, Amber - mocksville, NC)

This was written by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Hannon Lane. Timbaland also produced the song and contributed backing vocals with Timberlake on the tune's bridge.

Rihanna told Entertainment Weekly about Timberlake's contribution to this song: "Well, Timbaland was on tour with Justin and we had to follow Timbaland, really. So we went to Chicago first and one night after the show, Justin just came into the studio and he started messing around, making a beat. And it was fun. We played around with that one, too. And when we came to New York, Justin came back to the studio and he was like, 'I wanna write this song for Rihanna.' So Timbaland had an idea and he knew he wanted to call the song 'Rehab' and he had a beat. So then Justin Timberlake came in and he just put his thing on it. He wrote the song in his head. He didn't write anything on paper. He went into the booth and sang it and I was very, very impressed. We all loved it."

This was Rihanna's eighth single to be taken from her album Good Girl Gone Bad.

This song's arrival on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2008 meant that all eight releases from Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad album had become hits. It was the first time an artist had extracted eight Hot 100 hits from one album since Shania Twain achieved an octet of chart entries from Come On Over between 1997 and 1999.

This is the third single from American record producer Timbaland's third studio album, Shock Value II. The long player is Timbaland's first not to carry a Parental Advisory or to contain the "n word".

The song features Justin Timberlake with whom Timbaland has collaborated several times previously, including on the Grammy-nominated "Give It To Me." He told MTV News: "We got a chemistry that cannot be described. People ask, 'Well, what are you and Justin like?' Can't tell you what it's like - it's a chemistry that can't be described. Something you would have to see for yourself and be, like, 'Them two got magic.'"

Timbaland told MTV that this is his favorite track on Shock Value II. He explained: "That is my favorite, favorite record. Me and my best friend J.T. - Justin Timberlake. That [song] reminds me of a 2010 'Drop It Like It's Hot.' All these sounds from all over."

Timbaland told MTV News that the studio session for this song was similar to their previous collaborations. Timberlake came in, heard the track, and without a pad or pen, composed the lyrics in his head. The producer explained the lyrical content to MTV News: "We tried to give another slang for women. Instead of 'Your phat butt' or 'Your big breasts,' we say, 'Oh, I need you. Can I be your carry out? Be my carry out. I want you to be my dinner, my leftovers, my everything.' It's a different slang. We're grown men, I wanna be subliminal to females. Like, 'Oooh, carry out? That's kinda sexy.'"

"Carry Out" is a southern name for a shop or restaurant where customers pick up food for consumption elsewhere, and in this song Timba and Timber use the term as a metaphor for what they would like to happen with some eye candy of the female persuasion.
Source:Songfacts