The video was shot at the Trona Pinnacles by director Floria Sigismondi. At the video's ending, Rihanna turns into a celestial god, face to 'face' with the USS Enterprise. The music video features Rihanna dressed in a sci-fi costume performing magical acts, with Swarm Ships from Star Trek Beyond flying around her. The music video was the first to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. The video was then released onto Vevo and Tidal an hour later. No doubt, this probably came in handy, since вЂњSledgehammerвЂќ - from RihannaвЂ™s haunting drones to the songвЂ™s thunderous melody - is a monster of a track.' A Bit of Pop Music wrote, 'вЂSledgehammerвЂ™ is a powerful pop ballad with a huge chorus, that should do well in combination with the probable success of its movie.but it might be time for Sia to shake up her formula a bit, as вЂSledgehammerвЂ™ is in no way a surprising composition.' Music video ДЄ music video for the song premiered Jin IMAX theaters at 9:00am EST. As a radio hit? The vocals arenвЂ™t prominent enough.Both are excellent, but both just need to be more.' Daniel Kreps from Rolling Stone wrote, 'Rihanna sings on the aching chorus, which sports a monster hook typical of Sia's work.' Rachel Sonis from Idolator gave the song a 7/10, stating, 'The Aussie singer-songwriter knows exactly how vast RihвЂ™s vocal abilities are and isnвЂ™t afraid to push them. ItвЂ™s a little orchestral, swooping, but with a strong enough chorus and verse pattern to be commercially successful.' However she also stated, 'As a dramatic theatrical piece? ItвЂ™s a little weak, too much fuss with the lyrics while instrumentation takes a back seat. Critical reception Д¬amila Cassidy of The Edge gave the song a generally positive review stating, 'She pretty much nailed it вЂ“ it feels tone perfect. It follows a chord progression of DВ вЂ“В B в™ (B в™/C in the coda)В вЂ“В Gm, and Rihanna's vocals span from G 3 to F в™Ї 5. The song is a piano ballad written in the key of D major with a slow tempo of 65.5 beats per minute in common time. because Star Trek is such a big deal across the globe.' Composition It's such a big deal not only as a fan, as a musician. She explained that 'This is something that's been a part of me since my childhood, it's never left me, I love Star Trek. Rihanna subsequently said that she had been a fan of the Star Trek franchise since she was a child, after being introduced to it by her father. ДЄ new trailer for Star Trek Beyond featuring 'Sledgehammer', was released on June 27, 2016, the same day that the song was released. Rihanna and Sia had previously worked together on the former's 2012 song, ' Diamonds'.

The song was written collaboratively by Rihanna, Sia and Jesse Shatkin.

Over two years prior, Rihanna tweeted, 'You're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer', hinting that she had been working on the song since 2014. On June 26, 2016, Rihanna hinted that she would release a new song, stating on Instagram, 'Got something for y'all tomorrow'.

Rihanna sledgehammer release date