The year was 2011, and club music was untouchable. David Guetta dropped Titanium with Sia, LMFAO had us shuffling to Party Rock Anthem, and JLo made her grand return with On the Floor alongside Mr. Worldwide himself.

It was an era ruled by powerhouse female vocals and hands-in-the-air dance anthems. You knew exactly what was coming on the playlist and you lost your mind to it every single time.

I was in peak student mode then, living at the union and not exactly excelling in my coursework (unless my kids are reading this in the future, in which case: I worked very hard, and so should you).

Today, I want to talk about a track that was brilliant at the time, but didn’t mean much to me until later on. It’s now a silly in joke between my husband and I.

I want to talk about Rihanna and Calvin Harris’s ‘We found love’.

Rihanna’s 2011: Loud, Red Hair, and Club Bangers

We can’t talk about Rihanna in 2011 without first relishing in the 2010 triumph that was Loud.

Her fifth album was a masterpiece, blending club bangers with reggae influences. It was eurodance. It was high energy. On tracks like Man Down, she leaned into her Barbados roots, echoing the darker vibes of 2009’s Rated R.

Only Girl (in the World), What’s My Name, and S&M all climbed the charts, showcasing her powerhouse vocals and giving millennials the perfect soundtrack to scream after a few drinks.

And of course, the hair. That iconic, pillar-box red. It inspired a whole generation of women (myself included) to reach for the dye.

Venom and Victory: Rihanna vs. Chris Brown

In 2009, the world (myself included) was horrified by the photos of Rihanna, bruised and swollen after Chris Brown attacked her. She was just 21.

Since then, he’s tried to downplay it: “we both argued,” “it was about another woman.” Spare me. He still tours, still profits. To me, he’s a raging scumbag. No second draft, no redemption.

More importantly, Rihanna’s 2010 album and hair change was liberation at its purest. She was powerful. She was beautiful. She was successful. I couldn’t support her enough.

Quick Instagram Break! Follow me for these vibes:

We Found Love: Rihanna, Calvin Harris, and a Cultural Moment

When Rihanna and Calvin Harris dropped We Found Love in 2011, it became the soundtrack of the year. Harris built a relentless, pulsing beat, and Rihanna’s vocal cut through it with both power and vulnerability. It was hypnotic: euphoric enough for a dance floor, haunting enough to stick in your head the next morning.

The music video pushed it further. Instead of glossy pop polish, it showed chaos. A messy, destructive relationship played out in stolen moments, screaming matches, and self-destruction. It felt raw and uncomfortably real, especially given Rihanna’s history. Whether you wanted to or not, you couldn’t separate the art from the life behind it.

That duality is what gave We Found Love its edge. It looked like heartbreak, it sounded like ecstasy, and somehow it managed to be both at once. That’s why it still lingers long after the night out is over.

Calvin Harris: From Dumfries to Dance Floors

It saddens me that Calvin Harris doesn’t list “Scottish” in his Spotify bio. As a Scot, we take aggressive pride in anyone who “makes it,” and I’ve always counted Harris as one of us.

Back in 2009, he teamed up with Dizzee Rascal on Dance Wiv Me, sliding neatly into his second album Ready for the Weekend. By 2011, Harris had cracked the global formula: the male DJ + powerhouse female vocalist, perfected by David Guetta. Bounce with Kelis kicked it off, followed by collabs with Ellie Goulding and Florence Welch, proving Harris had become an international production machine.

And then came We Found Love. While forever a Rihanna track in my heart, it also anchored Harris’s third album 18 Months and cemented his global dominance.

Every track was easy to dance to, and in Glasgow clubs at the time, a Calvin Harris drop was guaranteed chaos. Scottish first, international DJ second; we’ll always claim him as ours.

Why We Found Love Still Matters to Me

Fast forward to 2018. I was just starting my teaching career when I met this guy. He was funny, calm, and completely clueless about pop culture outside of Warhammer. I fell for him, and eventually married him. Cute, right?

We met in a pub called Top Joes, the most neutral, beige place in Thurso. Thurso’s small, so everyone ends up in the same bar: 18-year-olds, old men, fleece-wearers, and girls in full glam all sharing the same sticky floor. Its the kind of place you wonder how you got there, or where you even fit in (I’m more fleece than dress these days).

Cue Rihanna and Calvin Harris.

Driving along one afternoon, I blasted my mainstream pop at him. Rihanna sang “We found love in a hopeless place…” Without missing a beat, he turned to me and deadpanned: “Top Joes.”

And just like that, an in-joke was born. It still cracks me up to this day.

Rihanna and Calvin Harris in 2025: Where Are They Now?

In 2025, Rihanna is better known as a businesswoman than a singer. With two kids with A$AP Rocky and the roaring success of her Fenty brand, music has (sensibly) taken a back seat. She still drops the occasional track, most notably Lift Me Up, the lead single from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack in 2022.

Of course, we can’t forget the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Rihanna rocked her pregnancy while delivering a high-energy set list, with We Found Love holding pride of place as the third song.

Calvin Harris hasn’t fared too badly either. Now the richest DJ in the world, he releases singles more often than albums, still collaborating with major artists like Dua Lipa. He’s even made the tabloids for his rumored romances. Not bad for a lad from Dumfries.

Both Rihanna and Calvin Harris remain press darlings, staying close to their brands, avoiding major controversy, and proving their staying power well into 2025.

Other 2011 Club Bangers Worth a Shout

And while this post belongs to Rihanna and Calvin, 2011 gave us plenty more to scream along to, I would like to shout out some excellent songs from 2011 (outside the major pop girlies who deserve posts all of their own):