I’ve said it here before, but sometimes songs don’t click with me until the remix. One of the more recent tracks to find delayed favor with me this way is Rihanna’s “Rude Boy.”

I know, I know, recently the song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for, like, forever (well, five weeks), but it was only upon hearing the remix from UK duo The Wideboys that I found “Rude Boy” a real grabber. It’s not the first time that Jim Sullivan and Eddie Craig have been called to dancefloor duty for Rihanna, having turned out stellar re-rubs for several tracks from her previous set, Good Girl Gone Bad, including “Shut Up And Drive.”)

For “Rude Boy,” the higher BPM launches lyrics like, “Take it, take it / Baby, baby / Take it, take it / Love me, love me” and “I wa-wa-want / What you wa-wa-want / Give it to me, baby / Like boom, boom, boom” into a totally different stratosphere. Surprisingly, even the trance-style synth break bumps up the approval rating. Another ace turn from The Wideboys. Hear here:

Chew Fu, Low Sunday, and Jonathan Peters have also taken “Rude Boy” for a ride under the disco lights, though The Wideboys’ mix is the winner of the bunch, especially in its full, unedited form.

Stopped at #2 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart this week, Rihanna is patiently waiting for Beyoncé to hang up her “Video Phone” so “Rude Boy” can rule this other roost for a while.

Purchase Rihanna – “Rude Boy (Wideboys Stadium Club Edit)” via iTunes. Other mixes are available exclusively via Masterbeat.