The music video for “Wait Your Turn” was filmed on October 16, 2009 in New York City and was directed by Anthony Mandler. The music video made its premiere on November 9, 2009. In an interview with MTV News, Mandler spoke of the conceptualization of the video as well as the inspiration behind it:
“We shot the clip in mid-October on a cold day in New York City. The vibe and feeling was great … It was the first video for the album, so obviously everyone was excited and focused on setting the tone for what’s to come. Rihanna and I spoke in depth about creating a piece that was gritty, raw and more of a street video then a classic beauty piece … We loved the energy and bravado of early hip-hop videos that were made without a lot of resources, working more with the textures and shapes of the surroundings, then trying to build and manipulate environments as we have done in the past … I wanted to try and take everything we have done in the past and put it to the side.”
It starts with a series of shots displaying Rihanna wearing a black eye-patch, a high-necked jacket and suspenders, and was filmed in a black and white grainy fashion, whilst Rihanna recites the lyrics “The wait is ova”. Scenes are then intercut with shots of Rihanna wearing a black hooded top, in what appears to be a Church, which is followed by Rihanna changing outfits, again wearing a black bra top and a fur coat sitting on a pair of Angel’s wings for the chorus. For the bridge of the song, Rihanna is featured in yet another change of outfit, this time wearing a white vest top and black fur coat, standing on the roof top of a New York skyscraper, with other tall buildings in the background. As Rihanna sings the final chorus, scenes from throughout the video are intercut with each other, with the new addition of Rihanna shown to be wearing what she wore at the start of the video in an underpass.