It was later sent to contemporary hit radio on October 1. "What Now" was serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States on September 24. The same remixes, were also added on the iTunes Store on September 17. Ten remixes of the song were digitally released via Beatport on Augin the United States. "What Now" was released as the sixth single from the album Unapologetic. It was mixed by Phil Tan at Ninja Club Studios in Atlanta, Georgia with Daniela Rivera serving as assistant mixing engineer. Blake Mares and Robert Cohen served as assistant vocal engineer of "What Now". Kuk Harrell provided the vocal production of the song and also recorded Rihanna's vocals together with Marcos Tovar at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Ighile and Cassells recorded the music for the track in Metropolis Studios located in London, United Kingdom, and provided all of the instrumentation and programming. "What Now" was written by British singer-songwriter Livvi Franc together with Rihanna, Parker Ighile, Maestro The Baker and Nathan Cassells, while the production of the song was done by the latter two. On October 11, 2012, in one of her tweets revealed that the title of her new album is Unapologetic alongside with its cover. On September 12, 2012, Def Jam France announced via Twitter that Rihanna would release a new single the upcoming week while her seventh studio album was scheduled to be released in November 2012. Rihanna began "working on the new sound" for her seventh studio album in March 2012, even though she had not yet begun recording. British television network ITV used the song for their "Where Drama Lives" 2014 advertisement. Rihanna promoted "What Now" on Alan Carr: Chatty Man and the song is included on the set list of her Diamonds World Tour (2013). Critics complimented the video and compared it to Rihanna's 2008 video for the song " Disturbia". It portrays Rihanna having an "emotional breakdown" and performing exorcism-type dance moves. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Jeff Nicholas, Jonathan Craven, and Darren Craig from Uprising Creativity. Following its release as a single, the song re-peaked in multiple territories, having it also reach new peaks at number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 25 on the UK Singles Chart, while topping the US Dance Club Songs chart and attaining a top three peak on the UK R&B Chart. Following the release of Unapologetic, "What Now" made appearances on various charts around the world. "What Now" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many calling it an emotional, stand-out song on the album and praising Rihanna's vocals. The song is a mid-tempo piano ballad which incorporates sounds which resemble "sonic bombs" during the chorus and "crashing" drums. Another remix collection was released to Beatport on October 29, 2013. The single was serviced to US rhythmic radio on September 24, 2013, before impacting mainstream radio on Octoas the fifth international single and sixth overall from Unapologetic. A remix collection was released exclusively to Beatport on Aug and later via iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play on September 17, 2013. It was written by Olivia Waithe, Parker Ighile, Maestro The Baker and Nathan Cassells alongside Rihanna, with production handled by Ighile and Cassells. " What Now" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her seventh studio album, Unapologetic (2012).