speaking of how the record came about, rowland said "motivation came about when i was in the studio with [producers] jim jonsin and rico love, and we kind of were just vibing. i told rico i wanted something really sexy ... and he came up with 'motivation' along with jim. it turned into this amazing record... i played [ 'motivation' for lil wayne ] and he got on it, and it was just as simple as that." along with the single announcement, "rap-up" said fans could expect the video and a remix produced by diplo to premiere in april 2011. however, the electronic remix, produced by diplo, premiered via "rap-up" on march 8, 2011.