If you were lurking on Instagram back in late 2014, you probably remember that grainy, 15-second clip. Rihanna was in the studio, the lighting was terrible, and this aggressive, plinky synth beat was rattling the speakers. She barked out a line about nothing being certain. Then, silence. For a year and a half.
Fans were losing their minds. Was it for Anti? Was it a scrap? Honestly, by the time Mike WiLL Made-It Nothing Is Promised actually dropped in June 2016, most people had given up hope. But when it finally hit Apple Music, it wasn't just another Rihanna feature. It was a statement. It was Mike WiLL at his most experimental and Rihanna at her most "IDGAF."
The track eventually became the lead single for Mike WiLL's Ransom 2 project, but the journey from a teased snippet to a club mainstay is a wild lesson in how the music industry's "reference culture" actually works.
🔗 Read more: Heads of State Explained: What Everyone Gets Wrong About the Cena and Elba Team-Up
The Future Connection No One Saw Coming
Here’s the thing about the song that still trips people up: it’s basically a Future song.
In 2017, about a year after the official release, a demo leaked. It wasn't Rihanna on the track. It was Future. He didn't just write a few lines; he laid down the entire blueprint. The cadence, the "mouthy" delivery, the specific way the syllables bounce off the 808s—that’s all Nayvadius Wilburn.
When you listen to the final version of Mike WiLL Made-It Nothing Is Promised, you’re hearing Rihanna do her best Future impression. And she absolutely nails it.
Why the demo matters
It’s not rare for rappers to write for pop stars. It happens every day. But usually, the artist adapts the song to their own "voice." Here, Rihanna leaned into the "mumble rap" aesthetic before it was even a tired cliché. She kept the raw, jagged edges.
- Vibe: It’s hazy but heavy.
- Tempo: 135 BPM. Fast enough for the club, slow enough to feel like a fever dream.
- Lyrical Content: It’s about the fragility of success. Waking up, hugging your money, but knowing it could all vanish.
Is it a Trap Song or a Pop Song?
Critics struggled with this one. Some called it "borderline trap." Others said it was just Rihanna being a "trap queen" for a summer.
The production by Mike WiLL and Pluss is weird. It’s got these siren-like wails and a jerky rhythm that doesn't follow the standard pop formula. It doesn't have a massive, soaring chorus. Instead, it relies on a repetitive, hypnotic hook: "Ain't none of this shit promised, ain't none of it certain." It’s an anxious song dressed up as a flex.
By the time it hit the charts, it peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100. Some people called that a flop. But if you look at the Urban Radio charts, it was a Top 10 hit. It lived in the clubs and the cars, not on the Top 40 stations next to Katy Perry. That was intentional. Mike WiLL wasn't trying to make a radio jingle. He was trying to make a "Ransom" record.
The Production Magic of Mike WiLL Made-It
Mike WiLL was on a legendary run around this time. He’d just finished "Formation" for Beyoncé. He was working with Rae Sremmurd on "Black Beatles." He was the architect of the mid-2010s sound.
In Mike WiLL Made-It Nothing Is Promised, he uses space as an instrument. The beat "breathes." It drops out at weird times. It lets Rihanna’s nonchalant vocals carry the weight. It’s a masterclass in minimalism.
"I hope it was worth it," she sings.
You can almost hear her shrugging through the microphone. It’s that effortless "cool" that made the Anti era so iconic. Even though this wasn't technically on her album, it’s the spiritual cousin to tracks like "Needed Me."
👉 See also: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Luke Explained: Why He Really Did It
What Most People Get Wrong About the Release
There’s a common misconception that the song was "delayed" because it wasn't good enough for Anti.
That’s not really how it went down. Mike WiLL had been holding onto it for his own project. The delay was actually more about his schedule—he was busy executive producing for everyone from Miley Cyrus to Gucci Mane. He needed a "big" lead single to launch Ransom 2, and he knew the Rihanna hype was the perfect fuel.
Also, remember the timing. June 2016. Rihanna had just released "This Is What You Came For" with Calvin Harris. She was everywhere. Dropping a dark, gritty trap song right as a massive EDM hit was peaking was a genius pivot. It reminded people she still had one foot in the streets.
The Breakdown: By the Numbers
- Release Date: June 3, 2016.
- Album: Ransom 2 (Released March 2017).
- Peak: #75 Billboard Hot 100 / #15 UK R&B Chart.
- Key Collaborators: Future (Writing/Demo), Pluss (Co-production).
The Legacy of the Song Today
Does it still hold up? Honestly, yeah.
If you play Mike WiLL Made-It Nothing Is Promised today, it doesn't sound dated. A lot of the synth-heavy trap from 2016 sounds like a time capsule of "SoundCloud rap," but this feels more sophisticated. It paved the way for more pop stars to experiment with "reference-heavy" tracks where they adopt the persona of the songwriter.
It also serves as a reminder of the "lost" Rihanna tracks. We’ve been waiting for R9 for a decade now, and looking back at the 2014-2016 era shows how much music was actually being made behind the scenes.
💡 You might also like: Shawn Ashmore in The Rookie: Why Wesley Evers Became the Show's Secret Weapon
Actionable Insights for Fans and Producers
If you’re a fan of this sound or a producer trying to capture this energy, there are a few things to take away from this collaboration.
For Producers:
Study the "empty space" in the mix. Don't overfill the track with melodies. Mike WiLL uses a single, haunting synth line and let the drums do the heavy lifting. The tension comes from the lack of a traditional resolution.
For Artists:
Collaboration is about more than just a name on a track. Rihanna’s ability to take a Future reference track and make it feel like her own—without losing the essence of the original writer—is a skill. It’s about finding the "pocket" in the beat.
Where to Listen:
The track is a staple on most "Dark Trap" or "Night Drive" playlists. It’s best experienced on a sound system with a heavy sub-woofer to catch those 808 slides that the iPhone speakers usually miss.
The song might not have been the "Song of the Summer" in a traditional sense, but it remains one of the most interesting artifacts of the Mike WiLL and Rihanna partnership. It proved that you don't need a "perfect" pop structure to make a song that sticks in people's heads for years.
You just need a beat that rattles and a message that rings true: nothing is certain.