Rihanna Celebrates In "Cheers (Drink to That)"

Rihanna gets buddy Avril Lavigne on board in the just-released video for her celebratory tune "Cheers (Drink to That)," serves as the seventh overall single from 23-year-old Barbadian's fifth studio album, "Loud." This grungy party-drinking anthem dedicated to a night on the town is a wise, world-weary paean from a gal at the bar who's seen some stuff, has moved on and wants to buy everybody a round of fruity shots. The video is about letting loose and toasting to the weekend.
Bet you didn't think Avril Lavigne would be sampled anytime soon, but this track samples Lavigne's 2002 ballad "I'm With You," with incorporates the element of dancehall, dance-pop, pop rock, and R&B. About why the decision was made to sample Lavigne, rather than getting the Canadian pop singer to come in and re-record the vocal for the song. "I asked the same thing, but when I heard the track, it was already embedded in the music, so the producers already had it that way," she explained. "But it wouldn't have made a difference. It would have sounded the same. But I'm just glad that we could use her sample, because it became such a huge part of the instrumental that if it were not to be in the song, it would change the whole vibe of the song."
Rihanna told MTV News about this tune: "I love that song. That is one of my favorite songs on the album. It makes you feel like celebrating. It gives you a great feeling inside like you want to go out and have a drink. People can't wait for the weekend." Rihanna also told Spin magazine: "It's a song you would hear in a bar but I think you could also hear it all over pop radio. It's really grungy and melodic and catchy. And the way the producers sampled Avril — it's like she's an instrument. It's really cool how they combined [the song] with her vocals."
There are no special effects, storylines or no chance of lawsuits. The music video shows footage and behind-the-scenes from her concert experiences and performing on tour to her every day life as well as various different activities she did during her homecoming trip to Barbados. It also finds Rihanna in an appropriately celebratory mood and it's mostly a lot of shots of her partying backstage with friends and celebrities. This is probably the most candid and loose we've seen Rihanna as she goes bar hopping and slices open a coconut. Again, that video fit the song, as is the case here.