Released: 2016
Rihanna’s “Needed Me” is a cold, hard slice of real talk layered over DJ Mustard’s haunting production. The melody might be smooth, but the lyrics? They’re sharp as a knife, cutting through illusions of romance to expose the raw truth underneath. Rih Rih ain’t holding back as she schools someone on the harsh reality that they needed her more than she ever needed them.
Let’s start with that iconic opening: “Mustard on the beat ho!” Whenever you hear that, you know it’s about to go down. DJ Mustard’s tag signifies we’re in for a track with his signature West Coast vibe. Then Rihanna comes in, making it clear from the jump that she’s been good by herself: “I was good on my own, that’s the way it was.” Homegirl’s independence is a fortress. She’s saying, essentially, ‘I was chillin’, living my best life before you came around.’
When she mentions “You was good on the low for a faded fuck, on some faded love,” Rihanna’s spitting about a casual relationship, one kept on the down-low, often fueled by substance-enhanced encounters rather than any real emotional bond. A “faded fuck” isn’t about love; it’s about two people looking for a temporary fix. And when she asks, “Shit, what the fuck you complaining for? Feeling jaded huh?”, she’s calling out her partner’s misplaced sense of entitlement and disillusionment, despite the situation’s transient nature.
This whole talk about “Used to trip off that shit I was kickin’ to you” reveals that the game she was spitting – the things she was telling this dude – were never that serious. They had their fun (‘on the run’), but it wasn’t deep. Rihanna’s not here to cater to anyone’s fixer-upper fantasies, where a ‘bad bitch’ is the solution to their issues. Nah, she makes it crystal that “You was just another nigga on the hit list,” emphasizing how this guy was never a standout in her life, just another one in the lineup.
Now, the line “Never told you you could have it” shuts down any misconceptions he might’ve had about where he stood. It’s her way of saying that she never led him on, never promised him a fairytale ending, symbolized by “your white horse and a carriage.” As for being a savage? Rihanna is affirming that she’s fierce, untamed, and unapologetic about it—she’s a force to be reckoned with, not your stereotypical damsel waiting to be rescued.
The hook is a minimalist confession of sorts: “You needed me, Oooh, you needed me.” It’s Rihanna’s stark declaration that she was the essential one, the provider of whatever it was – attention, validation, affection – and this dude, well, he was just grasping at it. To “feel a little more, and give a little less” suggests that he wanted the emotional high without investing himself, and even though he might hate to admit it, he’s got to face the music that he was more invested in her than she was in him.
In the second verse, Rih talks about how they were both in their own worlds, possibly involved with other things—or people—with “You been rollin’ around, shit I’m rollin up.” Here, “rollin up” might double as a reference to preparing a blunt and moving on with her life. The breakdown of “Break it down like a pound, shit was never us” is a witty play, referencing both the process of breaking down weed and dismantling any ideas that what they had was solid or serious. It’s her final statement of their non-relationship: “Shit was never us.”
“Needed Me” is Rihanna at her most unbothered, laying down the law of self-worth and independence. Through sharp lyrics and an assertive tone, she shakes off the fantasy and stands firmly in her own power, leaving no room for confusion about where she stands. So when someone steps to you with half-hearted intentions, channel your inner Rihanna and remind them: you’re not the one.
