The stylistic and precocious Barbadian hip-hop megastar Rihanna is unsurprisingly out with a new album, Rated R, another ambitious work that has heads turning for its range of style and earnest song writing. This album compiles clubby tracks (with Rihanna’s usual Caribbean/US melee twist), rock (listen for Slash on Rockstar 101), and soft, painful ballads. In brief, this album endeavours to cover a large scope and succeeds. The title of the album is a bit deceptive, although Rihanna raunchily swears here and there, warranting an “explicit” stamp on her album by the powers that be. Truth be told, this record isn’t trying to be rated R, but deep and reflective even when it wants to kick it. For an artist who has been brazen in style primarily, Rihanna does get dark in some instances; she actually shows some bitter strength and a tough attitude at times, like in G4L. But, we also see the Rihanna that was enamored and influenced by Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. I always saw the influence of groups like Destiny’s Child in Rihanna’s choreography, but this is the first album where you can hear impressions coming through the music. There’s even a little of reggae artist Tanya Stephens in Wait Your Turn. But Rihanna still has an edge, something profoundly hers alone, a form of expression that is as naive and innocent as a Disney song, but enmeshed with something darker and more sinister. You can’t bottle it or put a label on it, but I think it accounts for this young artist’s confounding success. Rihanna fans will be much more than pleased with this one.
David Rozon
Key Tracks: Hard, Wait Your Turn, Te Amo, Rockstar 101
Moods: Slick, Passionate, Dramatic, Sexy, Cathartic, Confrontational
Buy: Rated R
related
- Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back
- Chris Brown Defends His Woman Beating Ways
- Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Xenophanes
