Underrated: Rihanna - Rated R

In this edition of ‘Underrated’ we take a look at the album ‘Rated R’ by Rihanna.

By November 2009, Rihanna had become nearly as famous for her personal life as she was for her music career.  Previously that February, Rihanna and then-boyfriend singer Chris Brown had left a pre-Grammy awards party when, whilst Brown was driving, they got in to an argument.  What happened after is well documented and a police photo of Rihanna’s swollen and bruised face was leaked online – something she called “humiliating and embarrassing”. 

The incident left Brown’s career in tatters and many wondered where Rihanna would go next?  Surely she couldn’t make another dance-pop album in a similar vein to her previous mega-hit ‘Good Girl, Gone Bad’?  Rihanna’s public persona (and in all likeliness, her state of mind) had changed to a point where whatever she released next had to correspond with that.  The result is the goth-rock-pop-r’n’b hybrid that is ‘Rated R’.

In October that year, Rihanna, catching fans completely off-guard, posted a message on her official website and social-networking site Twitter that read ‘The Wait Is Ova Nov 23 09’.  The message was in reference to a line from a new track called ‘Wait Your Turn’ and what would be the release date of ‘Rated R’ – this was the first anyone knew that Rihanna would be releasing a new album.  As a frenzy built within fan communities, Rihanna appeared on ‘20/20’ in America to discuss for the first time, her assault by Chris Brown.  In one particularly moving part of the interview, Rihanna describes how she had gone back to Brown afterwards but had quickly realised she “couldn’t live” knowing her actions may be putting other girls in harm, so finally ended the relationship.

When a video for ‘Wait Your Turn’ was posted on Rihanna’s official website, it was met with an unenthusiastic response from fans and critics.  Featuring grainy black and white shots of Rihanna looking like a pirate from out-of-space, many felt that she had compromised the quality of her music for a high-fashion couture style that was not her own.  Lead single, the Ne-yo penned grower ‘Russian Roulette’, which is full of metaphors one can associate with Rihanna’s relationship with Chris Brown, and it’s dark video, also received a lukewarm response in the US but did become a number one hit in the UK and Europe.

Follow up single ‘Hard’ is a prime example of style over substance; the video is the best from the ‘Rated R’ era, but the song itself is pretentious without being fun and is pretty much completely forgettable.  However in third single ‘Rude Boy’, the album found it’s first and only big hit.  The video which is a homage/rip-off of Grace Jones and various other female musicians has a Caribbean vibe that suites the island-style track.  ‘Rude Boy’ became a massive number one hit in the US and UK and helped ‘Rated R’ sell over three million copies to-date, which is by no means a flop but when compared to the nearly eight-million-selling ‘Good Girl, Gone Bad’, it is hardly a runaway success.

It’s a shame that more people have not got to hear ‘Rated R’ as it is certainly Rihanna’s most personal and remarkable album – it is also importantly, full of great songs, including the two best Rihanna songs ever.  The first is the album’s last single ‘Te Amo’ a fantastic Latin-trance track with a subtle story of lesbian love that perfectly suites the sound of Rihanna’s sweet yet gritty vocals.  To it’s detriment, ‘Te Amo’ was paired with a music video that exploited the lesbian side of the song and distracted the public from the track’s greatness. 

The other track is the striking ballad, the Timbaland-produced ‘Cold Case Love’, which is not only the best song on ‘Rated R’, but the best of Rihanna’s entire career.  Starting with a church organ and Rihanna’s voice, the song builds in intensity as more instruments are added before Justin Timberlake comes in with a beat-box that takes the song to a powerful and dramatic level.  ‘Cold Case Love’ is really what ‘Rated R’ is all about; the personal story of a young girl becoming a woman, lamenting love and innocence lost.  It is exquisite.

Other stand-out tracks include the aforementioned ‘Rude Boy’, ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘Wait Your Turn’ as well as the ‘Unfaithful’-like ‘Stupid in Love’, the road trip style ‘Fire Bomb’ and album closer ‘The Last Song’.  It has been announced that ‘Te Amo’ is the final single from ‘Rated R’ so it’s a shame the public will not get to hear some of the best tracks from the album before Rihanna’s team move on to her next album, which is expected at the beginning of next year.

The direction of ‘Rated R’ has been described as “I’m gonna fuck you, then I’m gonna kill you” which is pretty spot-on with it’s dark, aggressive sexual tones and themes both lyrically, artistically and in style.  Unfortunately this sinister aspect has put many off the project and alienated Rihanna’s young fans who couldn’t possibly relate to it’s content.  And while many have described her latest neo-goth look as unauthentic, in my opinion it seems completely genuine, if a little ridiculous at times.  But for all the various costumes, haircuts and headlines, what really matters is the music -  and on that point Rihanna’s current style is her best yet, and more importantly, it’s all her own.