FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Seventy-Five: Rihanna
___________
IN this seventy-fifth A Buyer’s Guide…
PHOTO CREDIT: Samir Hussein/Getty Images
I am recommending the essential albums from Rihanna. I think several of her albums are really underrated. Because of that, I am highlighting her music here. There is rumour that a ninth studio album has been completed and is almost ready for release. Before I get to recommending the best from the R&B superstar, here is some biography from Wikipedia:
“Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, fashion designer, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna was discovered by American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the United States to record demo tapes. After signing with Def Jam in 2005, she soon gained recognition with the release of her first two studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl like Me (2006), both of which were influenced by Caribbean music and peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard 200 chart.
Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), incorporated elements of dance-pop and established her status as a sex symbol in the music industry. The chart-topping single "Umbrella" earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award and catapulted her to global stardom. She continued to mix pop, dance, and R&B genres on her next studio albums, Rated R (2009), Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011), and Unapologetic (2012), which became her first Billboard 200 number one. The albums spawned a string of chart-topping singles, including "Rude Boy", "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?", "S&M", "We Found Love", "Where Have You Been" and "Diamonds". Her eighth album, Anti (2016), showcased a new creative control following her departure from Def Jam. It became her second US number-one album and featured the chart-topping single "Work". During her musical career, Rihanna has collaborations with artists such as rappers Drake, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Kanye West and singers Adam Levine, Paul McCartney, Ne-Yo, and Shakira.
With sales of over 250 million records worldwide, Rihanna is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She has earned 14 number-ones and 31 top-ten singles in the US and 30 top-ten entries in the UK. Her accolades include nine Grammy Awards, 13 American Music Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and six Guinness World Records. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2018. Forbes ranked her among the top ten highest-paid celebrities in 2012 and 2014. As of 2021, she is the wealthiest female musician, with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.
Aside from music, Rihanna is known for her involvement in humanitarian causes, entrepreneurial ventures, and the fashion industry. She is the founder of the nonprofit organisation Clara Lionel Foundation, cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and fashion house Fenty under LVMH; she is the first black woman to head a luxury brand for LVMH. Rihanna has also ventured into acting, appearing in major roles in Battleship (2012), Home (2015), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017), and Ocean's 8 (2018). She was appointed as an ambassador of education, tourism, and investment by the Government of Barbados in 2018”.
If you are new to Rihanna or are not sure where to start when it comes to her catalogue, I hope that the below is of some use. Whilst the world awaits a ninth album, go and check out her work to date. There is no denying the fact that she is a sensational artist and…
HUGELY inspiring person.
____________
The Four Essential Albums
Good Girl Gone Bad
Release Date: 31st May, 2007
Labels: Def Jam/SRP
Producers: Carl Sturken/Evan Rogers/Neo Da Matrix/J.R. Rotem/Stargate/Christopher ‘Tricky’ Stewart/Shea Taylor/Timbaland
Standout Tracks: Don't Stop the Music/Shut Up and Drive/Rehab
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=20387&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3JSWZWeTHF4HDGt5Eozdy7?si=_8wavlnGRIuuvNpvTKcFBg&dl_branch=1
Review:
“When you've released a pair of albums containing a few monster singles and a considerable amount of unsteady, unassured material, why mess around the third time out? From beginning to end, Good Girl Gone Bad is as pop as pop gets in 2007, each one of its 12 songs a potential hit in some territory. Unlike Music of the Sun or A Girl Like Me, neither Caribbean flavorings nor ballad ODs are part of the script, and there isn't an attempt to make something as theatrical as "Unfaithful." There is, however, another '80s hit involved: just as "SOS" appropriated Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love," "Shut Up and Drive" turns New Order's "Blue Monday" into a sleek, forthcoming proposition, one that is as undeniable and rocking as Sugababes' 2002 U.K. smash "Freak Like Me" (a cover of Adina Howard's 1995 hit that swiped from another '80s single, Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?"). "Shut Up and Drive" is part of an all-upbeat opening sequence that carries through five songs. Rihanna knows exactly what she wants and is in total control at all times, even when she's throwing things and proclaiming "I'm a fight a man" amid marching percussion and synthesizers set on "scare" during "Breakin' Dishes." The album's lead song and lead single, "Umbrella," is her best to date, delivering mammoth if spacious drums, a towering backdrop during the chorus, and vocals that are somehow totally convincing without sounding all that impassioned -- an ideal spot between trying too hard and boredom, like she might've been on her 20th take, which only adds to the song's charm. The album's second half is relatively varied and a little heavier on acoustic guitar use, but it's not lacking additional standouts. Three consecutive Timbaland productions, including one suited for a black college marching band and another that effectively pulls the romantically codependent heartstrings, enhance the album rather than make it more scattered” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Umbrella (ft. JAY-Z)
Rated R
Release Date: 20th November, 2009
Labels: Def Jam/SRP
Producers: Chase & Status/Terius ‘The-Dream’ Nash/Chuck Harmony/Brian Kennedy/Stargate/C. Tricky Stewart/Rob Swire/will.i.am/The Y's
Standout Tracks: Stupid in Love/Russian Roulette/Te Amo
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=206209&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7uGmyYwDFJbSc1xs4hkEs2?si=n0mLDzBQQa6OPedYHf7Gkg&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Anyone who caught Ri’s interview with Diane Sawyer a few weeks back can empathize with or, at the very least, recognize what a fine line the still excruciatingly young star must walk at this precise moment. She firmly told Sawyer, “I am strong…This happened to me.” But she also admitted that her reasons for walking away from Chris Brown after refractory dalliances were in deference to the superego of pop culture, not because she fell immediately out of love with Brown. She didn’t want the death of some other little girl on her head, simply because her hypothetical forgiveness of Brown’s weak act could be construed as an endorsement. And thus, she’s put into the position of living outside of her own instincts. “F love,” she explained, as close to the verge of tears as she allowed herself to come. Rated R is the dissociative fallout of that decision.
In short, Rihanna don’t feel much like dancing no more. Leave that sort of soft shoe to the defense. Twelve and a half tracks, and not one is likely to help those looking for a new groove with which to force their bridesmaids and groomsmen to one-two step their way down the aisle. She may not ever call Brown out by name or by act, but her promise that she’s “got my middle finger up/I don’t really give a fuck” is a calculated blow against his brand of sunny R&B-lite, as devastating in its own way as her telling Sawyer she’s “embarrassed” that she could fall in love with someone like him. Like a musical reenactment of Newton’s third law of (e)motion, Rated R is 100-percent grit and grind. “The lovers need to clear the road,” she warns in the galvanizing “Fire Bomb,” which distills Rihanna’s state of mind into a single violent image: Her, driving an out-of-control hot rod, already leaking flames and careening toward the front window of the man whose face she can’t wait to see as she crashes into it, killing both in a blaze of glory. That this sentiment comes attached to the closest musical approximation of triumph (sounding a little bit like “Umbrella” covered by Roxette) should give you a solid indication of how Rated R plays. Or doesn’t.
“Russian Roulette,” the morose leadoff single, is a little bit more abstruse in its you-or-me dialectic, and the initial reaction has been predictably confused. Backed by a spare piano-and-bass drone, embellished only by the sound of rolling dice, “Roulette” is the recalcitrant flipside to the finality of “Fire Bomb.” In the video, Rihanna at one point literally wears her heart on her sleeve—or thereabouts. And if the song’s wavering admissions of being “terrified” are conveyed vis-à-vis the ultimate in “out of my hands” metaphors, well, it may also be the song that cuts closest to the mark. Any objectors can take solace in the fact that the two songs are sequenced in satisfactory order on the album: first comes the guilt of “Russian Roulette,” then comes the retribution of “Fire Bomb.”
The first six full songs of Rated R (following the “Thriller”-nodding introductory “Mad House”) are grim and relentless. Even the token ballad in their midst concludes, “I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid in love.” And the rest are littered with snatches of rock guitar and sentiments like “I’m such a fucking lady.” This 25-minute opening salvo is so direct, it’s sort of disillusioning that the second half is, psychologically speaking, a total retrenchment, starting off with the ill-advised rough-sex jam “Rude Boy” and reaching a peak with “Te Amo,” an appraisal of one possible romantic alternative to men like Brown: women like Brown. Though Rihanna’s flirtation is touching, it’s also ultimately dead-ended. Far be it from me to force a sexual orientation on someone when it doesn’t fit, but at least when Janet brought a new deck to the table in Velvet Rope’s cover of Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night,” she let her fingers do the walking.
Again, though, it’s all symptomatic of the difference between the two albums. Velvet Rope craved for experience and a broadening of previously limited horizons, whereas Rated R just needs some time to think. Velvet Rope wanted desperately to be thought of as a brave album, while Rated R doesn’t really care what you think of it. When Janet’s album ended with the singer tagging it a “work in progress,” you wanted desperately to believe her. When Rated R ends on an unresolved chord, the sentiment carries over into Rihanna’s pop persona. Let’s hope that this doesn’t mean she’s about to back off and start working on her All for You” – SLANT
Choice Cut: Rude Boy
Loud
Release Date: 12th November, 2010
Labels: Def Jam/SRP
Producers: Alex da Kid/C. ‘Tricky’ Stewart/Ester Dean/Mel & Mus/Polow da Don/The Runners/Sandy Vee/Sham/Soundz/Stargate
Standout Tracks: What's My Name? (ft. Drake)/Only Girl (In the World)/Man Down
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=288815&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7vN82vd1Vq44fjlhjfvHJp?si=n6LPMr4WTd-L4Objyk-sMQ&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Rihanna may still have her umbrella (ella, ella), but all offers to stand under it are off. If 2007’s multiplatinum chart beast Good Girl Gone Bad was her gleaming pop opus, Rated R is a defiant middle finger to all that — a posttraumatic diary built on ? furious bravado, rampant profanity, and the bruising fallout from her February assault at the hands of then boyfriend Chris Brown.
Granted, the 21-year-old Barbadian star has spent the last five years shedding successive skins — first emerging as the blithe island princess of her 2005 debut, Music of the Sun, then remolded into the nascent urban Lolita of ’06’s A Girl Like Me and the increasingly provocative baby diva of Gone Bad. Here, the material is almost obsessively dark and mono-focused, from the not-difficult-to-parse metaphors in shuddering first single ”Russian Roulette” to the self-lacerating balladry of ”Stupid in Love.”
Throughout, Rihanna dons hip-hop swagger like borrowed armor, leaning heavily on her Caribbean accent and unleashing a string of baddest-bitch boasts via dancehall-riddim’d bangers like ”Hard,” ”G4L,” and ”Wait Your Turn.” But R is also spiked with aggressive guitars, from the Slash-guesting ”Rockstar 101” to the shamelessly ”Purple Rain”-riffing coda, ”The Last Song.” A genuine moment of vulnerability plays stunningly on the meticulously layered ”Cold Case Love,” penned by Justin Timberlake. Still, Rated R rarely delivers Top 40 fodder. Instead, it’s a raw, often unsettling portrait of an artist who is, she insists, no longer a Girl at all” – Entertainment Weekly
Choice Cut: S&M
Unapologetic
Release Date: 19th November, 2012
Labels: Def Jam/Roc Nation/SRP
Producers: Benny Blanco/Brian Kennedy/Carlos McKinney/Chase & Status/David Guetta/Elof Loe lv/Flippa123/Future/Giorgio Tuinfort/Justin Parker/Labrinth/Luney Tunez/Mex Menny/Mike Will Made-It/Mikey Mike/Mikky Ekko/Naughty Boy/Nicky Romero/No I.D./Oak/Parker Ighile/Andrew ‘Pop’ Wansel/Stargate/Terius ‘The-Dream’ Nash
Standout Tracks: Pour It Up/Jump/What Now
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=493452&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4XBfFj0WYyh5mBtU61EdyY?si=TRGRT-S1RL2rkEAWj88qlg&dl_branch=1
Review:
“A reaction from Rihanna to the endless tabloid concern over her “constant partying” would be enough for a few tunes, but her reunion with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown trumps that. ‘Unapologetic’ not only confirms that the rumours are true, but is a ‘fuck you’ to anyone who dares warn her off the 23-year-old after he beat her up in 2009. The singer has already reacted angrily to suggestions in the media that her actions are not those of a responsible role model. But aside from the album title, it’s there in the opening lines of gleaming lead single ‘Diamonds’: “I choose to be happy”.
Her take on the situation is tackled most brazenly on ‘Nobody’s Business’, effectively her and Brown’s ‘we’re back together’ letter sung over a swinging summer jam. This is the record’s pop centrepiece, even if Brown’s croak of “Let’s make out in this Lexus” underlines once again that there really is no accounting for taste. But while it’s a definite ‘fuck you I won’t do what you tweet me’, there’s more to ‘Unapologetic’ than that. The highlight, the gorgeous piano ballad ‘Stay’, puts a vulnerable spin on the Brown situation, repeating another theme of the album – failing to resist true love. Musically, ‘Unapologetic’ is one of Rihanna’s more successful creative statements. The great strength of the ongoing project of her as the world’s biggest pop star, is that operating at such a work rate (this is her seventh album in seven years) means each record has moved things on. It’s why, as fun as 2011’s Calvin Harris banger ‘We Found Love’ was, her last album ‘Talk That Talk’ floundered by following the EDM pack too slavishly. On ‘Unapologetic’, French overlord of the genre, David Guetta, is present, and his contributions on tracks like the opener ‘Phresh Off The Runway’ are largely box-ticking exercises to illustrate Rihanna’s commitment to making loads of money, but they’re at least subtle.
At its best, ‘Unapologetic’ trades in daring avant pop, and has an absence of straight-up bangers. The Eminem hook-up ‘Numb’ trades in the same broad strokes that their previous collab, 2010’s ‘Love The Way You Lie’, did; it’s based around a rave siren and sees Marshall Mathers pop up only briefly, and in cartoon mode. ‘Jump’ features Chase And Status’ dubstep wobbles in challenging style, ‘What Now’ is a bonkers marriage of pianos and bass-pop, and ‘No Love Allowed’ revisits the dancehall tales of murder from 2011 single ‘Man Down’, but this time surrounded by an oppressively murky fug. Perhaps best of all is ‘Love Without Tragedy’/‘Mother Mary’, a suite of Moog-y experimental electronica that morphs from love song to full-on confessional, moving Rihanna into a new sonic and emotional space. The mood is occasionally killed by moments of ‘In Da Club’ guff like ‘Pour It Up’, but perhaps that’s just how it has to be in the 2012’s world of Swag Pop. Say what you like about her judgment, but just as Rihanna never asked to be assaulted by Chris Brown, she also never asked for millions of Twitter followers determined to opine about her every decision. ‘Unapologetic’ makes a compelling case for Rihanna knowing what she’s doing. This most compelling of pop phenomena still has something new to offer” – NME
Choice Cut: Diamonds
The Underrated Gem
A Girl Like Me
Release Date: 10th April, 2006
Labels: Def Jam/SRP
Producers: The Conglomerate/Don Corleon/Mike City/Poke and Tone/Jonathan ‘J.R.’ Rotem/Evan Rogers/Stargate/Carl Sturken
Standout Tracks: Unfaithful/We Ride/A Girl Like Me
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=20320&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5pvFhFt1nzE8sCbm1wjNRv?si=V1W42aePSRmTEJnmWkwyog&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Versatile urban dance-pop singer Rihanna gracefully avoids the sophomore slump with A Girl Like Me, a less tropical-flavored, more urban effort than her sun-and-fun debut. Then again, it's hard to be an effervescent island goddess 24-7 when your love life has suffered a crushing blow, something inferred by the numerous heartbreaking ballads included, all of them elegant, mature, and displaying artistic growth. Fans of her brilliant single "Pon de Replay" need not worry, though, as the album kicks off with its equal. Bursting out of the speakers, "SOS" is a sexy club tune that bites the bleepy riff from Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" in a very modern, very exciting mash-up fashion. The crunchy reggae of "Kisses Don't Lie" offers a less revolutionary alternative to Damien Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock." Then the album gets bolder and seamlessly bounces from genre to genre. Attempting things that would make lesser artists crumble, Rihanna goes from a film noir song that elegantly uses murder as a metaphor for cheating ("Unfaithful") to an easy-flowing weekend cruiser ("We Ride"). Even more stunning is the jump from the 2006 prom-song candidate "Final Goodbye" to the totally juiced "Break It Off," where she gives guest star and dancehall king Sean Paul some serious competition. The good but not great redo of "If It's Lovin' That You Want" with Corey Gunz is the only track approaching filler, but it's clearly marked "bonus," so it's a wash. Executive produced by Jay-Z, A Girl Like Me is unsurprisingly polished, yet a richer experience than you'd expect from a singer responsible for the summer jam of 2005, arguably 2006” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: SOS
The Latest Album
ANTI
Release Date: 28th January, 2016
Labels: Westbury Road/Roc Nation
Producers: Boi-1da/Brian Kennedy/Chad Sabo/Daniel Jones/DJ Mustard/Fade Majah/Fred Ball/Hit-Boy/Jeff Bhasker/Kevin Parker/Mick Schultz/Mitus/No I.D./Robert Shea Taylor/Scum/Timbaland
Standout Tracks: Kiss It Better/Work (ft. Drake)/Love on the Brain
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=950545&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/48i37aZTC1prDr4EcpQeEa?si=u_Scr6TiRu664Ycs3WGc5g&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Anti is first and foremost an experience built on vibes. Where previous LPs were built around clear peaks, here the songs fit together into a fluid landscape of seamless transitions – check the flow on the excellent mid-album run of after-hours joints from “Desperado” to “Woo” to “Needed Me.” Every song sounds like our collective fantasy of Rihanna: a carefree island girl lounging in a cloud of smoke, asserting a brand of independence that’s wholly her own. On “James Joint,” she assures us that she’d “rather be/Smoking weed/Whenever we breathe/Every time you kiss me” in her most dulcet tones. “You been rollin’ around/Shit, I’m rollin’ up,” she asserts on the biting kiss-off track “Needed Me.” Clearly, the stoned party goddess we’ve seen on Instagram and Snapchat is pretty close to the real Rihanna.
Anti‘s beats are more muted than the flashier productions of her past work, which leaves room for the album’s biggest revelation: Rihanna’s show-stopping vocal performances. One year ago, on one-off single “FourFiveSeconds,” she belted in a raw, raspy tone that expressed levels of soul the previous decade of her career had only hinted at. Here, she follows through on that promise, singing powerfully and with a deeper emotional density than she’s revealed before. On the bluesy late-album highlight “Higher,” when she sings “This whiskey got me feelin’ pretty” over a dusty strings sample from producer No ID, she could be crooning in a smoky post-war jazz club.
Rihanna serves up a one-two punch of left-field choices in the album’s second half, giving doo-wop a modern spin with ease on “Love on the Brain” and finding a new hypnotic pull in a Tame Impala song on “Same Ol’ Mistakes,” Anti‘s most shocking track. It’s a faithful take on Australian psych-pop mastermind Kevin Parker’s 2015 tune, but Rihanna’s mellow vocals make it worlds more inviting and compelling.
At her core, though, she’s still a hitmaker. Single “Work” isn’t even her best collaboration with Drake – that would be 2011’s expansive house ballad Take Care” – but it’s an impeccably catchy glide across a subtle, syrupy dancehall beat. The sexy, deep synth-pop of “Desperado,” meanwhile, could easily make it a club hit by summer; and Rih has her Purple Rain moment on the shimmering, funky “Kiss It Better,” which serves as the album’s most direct pop moment by far.
Ultimately, Anti‘s sound is more than just another new costume for a singer who’s dabbled in everything from flirty teen-pop to aggressive trap over the last decade-plus. This is an album that forces us to question the boxes we’ve placed Rihanna in all along. Is she queen of the clubs or a break-up balladeer? Are her pop instincts sharper than her hip-hop ones? The answer, as provided here, is all of the above and more. After years as a singer largely defined by her production, it finally feels like Rihanna is in charge of her own sound, remaking pop on her own terms. As she puts it bluntly on the glitchy groove “Consideration,” which opens the LP: “I got to do things my own way, darling” – Rolling Stone
Choice Cut: Desperado
The Rihanna Book
Rihanna
Author: Rihanna
Publication Date: 24th October, 2019
Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd
Synopsis:
“Rihanna invites you into her world with this stunning visual autobiography
"It's a piece of art that I am really proud of..." -Rihanna
From her Barbados childhood to her worldwide tours, from iconic fashion moments to private time with friends and family, the book showcases intimate photographs of her life as an artist, performer, designer, and entrepreneur. Many of these images have never before been published.
This large-format book is 504 pages with 1,050 color images on 3 paper stocks and 7 single- and double-page gatefolds, 9 bound-in booklets, 1 tip-in sheet, and a double-sided, removable poster” – Waterstones
Buy: https://www.waterstones.com/book/rihanna/rihanna/9780714878010