Rated R (Rihanna album)

Justin Timberlake, one of the writers and producers of the album, stated that Rated R significantly differs from Rihanna's previous album and represents a different sound for her.

Rihanna's previous album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) was a commercial success[1] and received generally positive reviews from most music critics.[2] The album featured five top ten singles—three US number one songs—including the international breakthrough single "Umbrella". Following the assault of Rihanna's boyfriend Chris Brown on her in February 2009,[3] there was much speculation as to whether any song featured on the upcoming album would be about him. In an interview with MTV News, regular Rihanna collaborator Ne-Yo clarified that he would not write a song for Rihanna about Brown, because he considered the idea unnecessary.[4] Producer Chuck Harmony mused that no matter what song Rihanna released as the lead single, it would immediately be looked at as a song about Brown.[5]

During an interview at the MTV Video Music Awards, Ne-Yo stated that listeners should expect an "edgier" and "angrier" Rihanna on the album.[6] He later told In Touch Weekly that the album is definitely more edgy than Rihanna's prior work, describing the album as "liberated".[7] American singer Akon, on the other hand, stated that he was "going to lighten her up" and did not want an angry Rihanna.[6] With the success of her last album, Rihanna wanted to make sure that she did not fall into one sound or vibe.[8] At the "Justin Timberlake & Friends Concert in Las Vegas", Timberlake told MTV News that the Rated R is a whole new sound and that the new material significantly differs from the one on her last album. "She broke onto the scene so hard with the last record — to have that many songs on the charts is impressive. I think that the smartest thing she's doing is not trying to emulate what she did but move forward", Timberlake explained.[8]

After the release of the lead single, "Russian Roulette", Harmony was aware of the mixed reaction from fans who had heard the track.[5] He assured fans that the song was not fully representative to the rest of the album, though it reflected Rihanna's growth as an artist.[9] In an interview with Rap-Up, Tricky Stewart announced that he had collaborated with The-Dream on the project and said that the album is different from her past works.[10] In February 2010, Rihanna expressed a positive opinion on the album, but commented that her future work would be less intense. She asserted, "I really like the bottom, the grime of it. But if I were to combine that with more energetic, up-tempo pop records, then I think that would be a happy marriage. And that's where we'll probably go next".[11]

Rihanna began recording songs for the album in March 2009.[12] The recording sessions for the album took place at Milk Studios in Manhattan, New York, Metropolis Studios in London, England, Studios Davout in Paris, France and at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California.[13][14] Rihanna worked with several different songwriters and producers on the album, including Chuck Harmony,[5] The-Dream, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Chase & Status, Stargate,[15][16] Demo, and Justin Timberlake.[17][18][19] Rihanna wanted the album to be less influenced by synthpop, attempting to avoid the "lighthearted commercial pop" of her previous albums. By doing so, she incorporated a production style with more bass, and utilized Gothic imagery.[20] In the early stages of the production, she worked with Adonis Shropshire, who stated that Rihanna had brainstormed a large number of ideas over the course of a few weeks.[21][12] Rihanna also worked with Norwegian producer duo Stargate, who mused that the collaboration was "very rewarding" and "inspiring for us", commenting: "I don't think we should talk about titles just yet. We don't really know which songs are gonna make it, but it feels exciting."[15] It was later revealed that Stargate originally produced a collaboration between Rihanna and Canadian rapper Drake,[22] however, the song did not make the final cut for the album.[23]

Rihanna performing "Russian Roulette", a song with dark and morbid elements.

Rihanna was involved with writing most of the lyrics on the album with the help of Timberlake and Ne-Yo, who helped the singer to translate her emotions into the songs.[20] She worked with Ne-Yo on a number of songs although he was often unclear as to which songs would actually make the album.[24][25] While working together, he felt that Rihanna was not the same girl as the one he worked with a few years before, complimenting her growth musically.[25] In terms of musical direction, Rihanna requested more somber songs for the album.[26] Ne-Yo and Harmony co-wrote "Russian Roulette", pushing a darker and more morbid aesthetic.[5]

After listening to the track "Saxon" performed by Nicki Minaj and production duo Chase & Status, Rihanna got in contact with the latter and wanted to collaborate. Chase & Status had a pair of sessions with Rihanna and worked together for a few weeks in an undisclosed location.[27] The songs they worked on had a "big beats and big bass", although Rihanna had some disagreements with the duo.[19] In October 2009, she concluded recording sessions with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream.[28] Dream and Tricky flew out to Paris and played a few songs for Rihanna which included "Hard" and "Rockstar 101."[29] She felt that "Hard" stood out from all the songs, due to its arrogance.[30] In the song "Rockstar 101," guitarist Slash contributed a bass guitar on the track while "Photographs" is a duet with singer-songwriter will.i.am.[31] In addition, Ester Dean co-wrote "Rude Boy".[32] "The Last Song" was one of the last tracks crafted for the album. Rihanna recorded the song within the final twelve hours of the album's conception; "when the label finally said we had 12 hours to turn in the album, I was like, Okay, I have to do it. I just drank some red wine, dimmed the lights, got in the booth and sang it", she explained.[20]

Rated R features a darker and more foreboding tone than Rihanna's previous albums.[33] Primarily a pop,[34] hip hop[35] and R&B album,[36] it also incorporates musical elements of rock music.[37] The album's production is typified by a sleek sound and incorporates ominous synthesizers, intertwining guitar licks, tense beats, minor-key melodies, and polyrhythmic vocal harmonies.[33][34][38] Songs such as "G4L", "Mad House", and "Wait Your Turn" incorporate elements of dubstep, including brooding synths and grumbling basslines.[39][40] The album also incorporates other musical genres, such as dancehall in the Jamaican inspired "Rude Boy" and Latin music-infusion in "Te Amo".[41][42] Rihanna discussed the musical direction of the project in an interview for Glamour magazine, stating "The songs are really personal. It's rock 'n' roll, but it's really hip-hop: If Lil Wayne and Kings of Leon like my album, then I'll feel good."[43]

The lyrical content of the album features generally bleak views on love and boastful lyrics concerning perseverance and overcoming adversity.[38][44] Its lyrics are characterized by grim and angry tones,[45] and songs that contain boastful and persevering themes are characterized by images of violence and brutality.[37][46] While journalists Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times, Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine, and Rob Harvilla of The Village Voice perceived its lyrics as allusions to Rihanna's assault by Chris Brown,[37][45][47] Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the album "doesn't specifically address those events, but it hardly ignores them".[44] According to Powers, regret is a significant theme on the album: "The songs on 'Rated R' never have their singer apologize for the man who so seriously wronged her, but they do acknowledge the other emotions that come with separation, even from a partner who's also a perpetrator. Those feelings include regret, tenderness and deep sadness".[37]

The final image from the photoshoot for the album was made by German fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth. Von Unwerth, who has also shot other album covers such as The Velvet Rope (1997) by Janet Jackson, Back to Basics (2006) by Christina Aguilera, and Blackout (2007) by Britney Spears, said that Rihanna was "fantastic to work with — very giving, very creative, very involved in every aspect of the shoot and ready to push the boundaries."[48] The album cover was released on October 27, 2009, and features Rihanna in a moody, contemplative pose wearing a leather top with her hand covering her right eye and each finger wrapped in an intricate set of rings. The black-and-white cover was compared to the 1980s album covers by singer Grace Jones.[48]

The brand and styling of Rated R was conceived by British artist and director Simon Henwood. "We spent a lot of time developing ideas, yes. We went to Paris for Fashion Week, met with designers, sat and made drawings/designs together for the photo shoot/costume pieces, etc," Henwood revealed in an interview with MuuMuse. "Everything comes from the music, and this is her most personal album to date—so everything draws from it in one way or another."[49] For the visual creation of the era, Henwood took inspiration from the film The Omega Man and the book The Lathe of Heaven, "We wanted to create her a world that was personal... The whole thing was a dark dream; a chance for her to express all these things without being specific/literal."[49] Henwood also conceived the look and feel of the album's artwork, videos and TV spots, and also contributed to Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour, including the show's stage design, costumes, and background visuals.[49]

On October 13, 2009, Rihanna released a statement along with a picture of a metal 'R' on her official website saying, "The Wait is Ova. Nov 23 09", indicating the release date for Rated R.[50] Two days later, a countdown timer appeared on her official website and was scheduled to end on October 20, 2009.[51] After the timer ended, "Russian Roulette" premiered on BBC Radio 1, the singer's official website and on American radio stations.[52] Three days after, on October 16, Rihanna shot a music video for "Wait Your Turn" in Washington Heights, New York City; it premiered on her official website on November 3, 2009.[53][54] A snippet of the song with the title "The Wait is Ova" also appeared as background music for a promotional video of the album.[55] On November 5, 2009, Rihanna's first televised interview since her altercation with Brown aired on Good Morning America in support of the album.[56] In addition to appearing on Good Morning America, the interview continued the following day on ABC's 20/20.[57]

Rihanna performing "Rockstar 101" on the Last Girl on Earth tour.

In November 2009, Island Def Jam convened with Nokia for a special promotional concert held on November 16, 2009, in the United Kingdom. Rihanna shot a promotional video for the event which took place at the Brixton Academy in London. She premiered songs from the album during the event which was her first solo concert since the incident with Brown.[58] Nokia hosted listening parties around the globe on the same date of the event.[58] The Nokia Music Store offered an enhanced version of the album on its release date, a remix and exclusive track titled "Hole in My Head" which featured Justin Timberlake.[58][59] Rated R was first released on November 20, 2009, in Australia,[60] France[61] and Germany.[62] Three days after, on November 23, it was launched in North America and the United Kingdom.[63][64]

On February 4, 2010, Rihanna performed at the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam on VH1 along with performers Timbaland and Justin Bieber. She sang a "hard-rocking version" of "Wait Your Turn", "Live Your Life", "Disturbia" and "Russian Roulette" among others.[65] Rihanna performed a medley of "Hard", "Rude Boy" and "Don't Stop the Music" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on March 27, 2010.[66] To further promote Rated R, Rihanna embarked on her third concert tour titled Last Girl on Earth Tour (2010–2011).[67] It started on April 16, 2010, in Belgium, Europe and ended on March 12, 2011 in Australia; it also visited Asia, North America and Oceania.[68] Ten songs from Rated R were remixed by electronic disc jockey Chew Fu and released as a remix album under the title Rated R: Remixed.[69] The majority of the remixes were remastered to incorporate sounds from the genre of house music, and incorporate heavy usage of synthesizers as part of their instrumentation.[70]

"Russian Roulette" was sent to US radio stations on October 27, 2009 as the lead single from Rated R.[71][72][73] The pop ballad received positive reviews from music critics, with Todd Martens of Los Angeles Times praising Rihanna's vocal performance and its lyrics.[74] It peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart,[75] and at number two on the UK Singles Chart.[76][77] The music video for the song was directed by Anthony Mandler[78] and features American actor Jesse Williams.[79] "Hard", which features rap vocals by Jeezy, was released as the album's second US single, being sent to radio on November 10, 2009.[80][81] Leah Greenblat of Entertainment Weekly praised the singer's vocal performance and the decision to include Jeezy as a featured artist.[82][83] It became Rihanna's thirteenth top ten US Billboard Hot 100 single, peaking at number eight.[84]

The album's third single, "Wait Your Turn", alongside its music video, was released three days after "Hard" on November 13, 2009.[86] Mandler shot the video, which was filmed in a black and white grainy fashion.[87] "Rude Boy", the album's fourth single, was released to US urban radio stations in the US on February 9, 2010.[88] It became Rihanna's sixth song to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[89] By doing so, she equaled Paula Abdul and Diana Ross as the female artists with the fifth-most number one singles on the Hot 100 chart in its fifty-one year history.[90] It stayed on the summit for five consecutive weeks.[91]

"Rockstar 101" was released as the fifth single on May 18, 2010.[92] The song peaked at number 24 in Australia[93] and number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[94] An accompanying music video was shot in April 2010[95] and was directed by Melina Matsoukas.[96] "Te Amo" was released as the sixth and final single from Rated R; a CD single of the song was launched in Germany on June 11, 2010.[97] It peaked within the top-ten in the Czech Republic,[98] Hungary[99] and Poland,[100] and reached number one in Brazil.[101] The Mandler-directed music video was shot at Castle of Vigny in Paris[102] and featured French model Laetitia Casta as Rihanna's love interest.[103]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.1/10[104]
Metacritic	75/100[105]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[33]
The A.V. Club	C+[106]
Chicago Tribune	[107]
The Guardian	[108]
Los Angeles Times	[37]
NME	7/10[109]
Pitchfork	6.1/10[110]
Rolling Stone	[111]
Slant Magazine	[45]
Spin	5/10[112]

Rated R received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 21 reviews. It is currently her highest rated album on the site.[105] Jody Rosen, writing for Rolling Stone, called it one of the year's best pop albums.[111] AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave the album four out of five starts and said that Rated R is exaggerated, but "compelling" and performed convincingly by Rihanna, who sings "many memorably belligerent lines".[33] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune rated it three-and-half stars out of four and called it "powerful and moving art" that Rihanna personalizes in a way that suggests she had more creative input than on her previous albums.[107] Pareles of The New York Times, said that, although its personal subject matter is brave, it does not compromise the creativity of the music.[44]

Powers of the Los Angeles Times gave the album four out of four star rating and called it "a complex and fascinating portrait" of an abused woman's emotional range and resolve.[37] Alex Macpherson of Fact said that, apart from its interesting music, Rated R is important for how Rihanna has "seized back control of her public story" during "our current panoptic age".[113] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe praised it as a brief look at both Rihanna's development as an artist and "the confluence of tabloid culture and pop art".[114] For MSN Music, Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention,[115] indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy."[116] He cited "Hard" and "Rude Boy" as highlights and credited Rihanna for "concocting a persona of interest out of one dynamite musical trick" and a difficult period in her personal life.[115]

In a mixed review, Sean Fennessey of Spin felt that the album does not suit Rihanna's ballad-based strengths and found her voice too flat and unexpressive to convey the anger of the songs.[112] Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal similarly said that her "artistic aspirations are currently loftier than her abilities".[110] Michaelangelo Matos of The A.V. Club rated the album C+ and viewed the music as bloated and compared its lyrics negatively to "excerpts from a therapy session".[106] Alexis Petridis, writing in The Guardian, criticized its allusions to Brown's assault of her and said that the album does not offer anything beyond "the public's prurient interest in her private life."[108] Harvilla of The Village Voice found the subtext uncomfortable and commented that the album's highlights, "thrilling as they are, might make you feel even worse" than the low points.[47]

Rated R was included in three top-10 albums lists by critics for 2009.[117] In her year-end list of best albums, Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt named it the best pop album of the year.[118] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune ranked it number eight on his list of 2009's best albums.[119] Jonah Weiner of Slate ranked Rated R number 10 on his list and hailed Rihanna as one of the women that "have a stranglehold on the pop zeitgeist."[120]

Rated R debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 181,000 copies in the country, giving Rihanna her highest first-week sales at that time.[121][122][123] It surpassed the first week sales of her previous album Good Girl Gone Bad, which entered at number two on the chart in 2007, with sales of 162,000 copies sold.[122] It topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and became her first number-one on the chart.[124] On March 26, 2018, Rated R was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),[125] and has sold over 1,130,000 copies in the US as of June 2015.[126] The album debuted and peaked at number five on the Canadian Albums Chart[127] and it received a platinum certification from Music Canada (MC).[128]

For the issue dated November 29, 2009, the album entered at number sixteen on the UK Albums Chart[129] and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in just four days.[130] For the issue dated March 7, 2010, the album broke into the top ten, and reached its number nine peak in the 15th week on the chart.[131][132] As of August 1, 2010, Rated R has spent 36 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.[133] It has sold over 710,000 copies in the country, as of 2015,[134] and earned a two-times platinum certification from BPI.[130] The album debuted at number 15 on the Australian Albums Chart.[135] In August, the album was certified Platinum for shipping 70,000 units.[136] For the issue dated March 14, 2010, Rated R set a new high of 12.[135] It entered and peaked at number 14 on the New Zealand Albums Chart.[137]

Rated R debuted at number 22 on the Norwegian Albums Chart. In its tenth week, it peaked atop the chart[138] and became Rihanna's first number-one album in the country.[139] It was certified gold by IFPI Norway, denoting sales of over 15,000 copies.[140] The album opened at number one on the Swiss Albums Chart for the issue dated December 6, 2009, and spent a total of 43 weeks on the chart.[141] It received a platinum certification from IFPI Switzerland for shipment of 15,000 copies in the country.[142] Rated R debuted and peaked at number four on the German Albums Chart for the issue dated December 4, 2009. It became Rihanna's second top-five album[143] and received a platinum certification from Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for shipments of over 200,000 copies in the country.[144] In Poland, the album peaked at number five and received a gold certification, selling 20,000 copies in one month,[145] beating Good Girl Gone Bad's sales of 20,000 achieved in two years.[146] It also peaked at number 7 at the Austrian[147] and Irish Albums charts,[148] and number 10 on the Croatian,[149] French[150] and Japanese Albums charts.[151] Worldwide, Rated R has sold over three million copies, as of November 2010.[152]

Rated R is deemed a pivotal record in Rihanna's career as it was released nine months after the domestic violence case with Brown. Inspired by the altercation, it was also her first album to feature a parental advisory label as a result of the new "much more hard-edged persona" she embraced.[153] In 2019, ten years after the album release, Chuck Arnold of Billboard described the record as a "coming-of-age manifesto" and also Rihanna's version of Jackson's Control (1986). According to him, Rated R is "her declaration of independence from Brown and her taking charge of a narrative that had turned her into a victim."[154] Similarly, Blavity's Jordan Simon compared it to Jackson's The Velvet Rope, and described it as a "a dark portrait of a Black woman's journey to self-healing".[155] Jack Price of The Daily Nebraskan wrote that the album is a testament of evolution and being strong, "to getting knocked down, getting up and coming back harder than ever".[153]

Despite the lukewarm response towards the album at the time of release, according to Price, Rated R set the groundwork for "the emotional songs, powerful vocals and ability to float right from catchy pop singles to bass-heavy rap flows" featured on her follow-up albums Loud (2010) and Anti (2016).[153] Concluding his anniversary review, Simon, wrote, "Ten years later, the album's eclectic mix of dubstep, hip-hop, rock, pop, and R&B still sounds as fresh and new age as it did when it was first released."[155]

Credits for Rated R adapted from AllMusic and album's liner notes.[14][159]

Recording and mixing locations

Musicians and technical

• List of number-one albums in Norway (2010)
• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 2009