Rihanna pairs with Ne-Yo on this track, which plays on the love/hate dynamic. Instead of a typical love/hate relationship, this one is overloaded on love to the point that it's dangerous: they have each other under a spell. Ne-Yo and Rihanna were both signed to Def Jam Records, run at the time by Jay-Z. They were both rising stars at the label, with Ne-Yo doing double duty as a songwriter - he wrote the lyric to this one.
"Hate That I Love You" was produced by the Norwegian team StarGate (Mikkel S. Eriksen and Erik Hermansen), who are also credited as writers. They had previously teamed with Ne-Yo on Rihanna's "Unfaithful," Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable," Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar," and Ne-Yo's own "So Sick."
This was the third single from Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, following "Umbrella" and "Shut Up And Drive." The next single was another StarGate production: "Don't Stop The Music," followed by another Ne-Yo/StarGate co-write, the #1 hit "Take A Bow." As for Ne-Yo, he had released two albums, both of which went to #1. He remained a top songwriter and artist as Rihanna's career went stratospheric. Every subsequent album she released was packed with hits, and she became a global superstar.
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