Singin’ in the Rain!

Rihanna established herself, big-time, in the summer of 2005 with her debut smash hit, “Pon de Replay” and has continued to demonstrate her smash hit potential in subsequent years (e.g. “S.O.S.”, 2006; “Umbrella”, 2007). By the time of her third album, “Good Girl Gone Bad” (2007), she was a full-fledged international pop star with a regular presence atop the charts, from Germany to Japan.

Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, she always exhibited a special quality, winning beauty and talent contests as a schoolchild. But because she lived on the fairly remote island of Barbados in the West Indies, she never foresaw the sort of stardom that would later befall her. That stardom came courtesy of a fateful meeting with a man named Evan Rogers. The New Yorker was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, a native of the island, when someone turned him on to Rihanna. Since Rogers had spent years producing pop artists -- including superstars like *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Laura Pausini, and Rod Stewart -- he offered her the opportunity to record some music after he recognized her talent and potential. Along with Rogers’ production partner, Carl Sturken (the other half of Syndicated Rhythm Productions), Rihanna recorded some demos that sparked the interest of the Carter Administration -- that is, newly appointed Def Jam president Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. This led to an audition and, in turn, an on-the-spot offer to sign with Def Jam, which Rihanna indeed inked on the spot. Come the summer of 2005, Def Jam rolled out “Pon de Replay”, the lead single of “Music of the Sun”, which was produced almost entirely by Rogers and Sturken and which synthesized Caribbean rhythms and beats with urban-pop song writing.

“Pon de Replay” caught fire almost immediately, climbing all the way to number two on The Billboard Hot 100 and contesting the half-summer reign of Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” atop the chart, and this was before “Music of the Sun” even had been released. The album spawned one other hit, “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want”, which broke the Top 40. Rihanna’s follow-up album, “A Girl Like Me”, was a greater success, spawning three big hits: a chart-topper (“S.O.S.”) and two Top Tens (“Unfaithful”, “Break It Off”). Rihanna’s third album, “Good Girl Gone Bad” (2007), continued her success and, more notably, signalled a change of direction. Whereas her past two albums had been imbalanced -- often weighed down by faceless balladry and canned Caribbean-isms -- “Good Girl Gone Bad” was a first-rate dance-pop album. Moreover, it was surprisingly solid, stacked with potential singles and easily enjoyable from beginning to end. Collaborators included Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Timbaland, and StarGate. The lead single, “Umbrella”, shot to number one and, for the third year in a row, was a potential “song of the summer”. By this point it was clear that Rihanna had become one of the biggest singles artists of the mid-2000s.

Source: Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Good Girl Goes Gold!

Rihanna’s rise to the top of the popular music industry has been rapid, to say the least. She’s been in the public eye for roughly the same amount of time as “Doctor Who” has been back on air in the UK. She’s been very productive, too, for a pop artist, producing an album a year over the last three years. In 2005, Robyn Rihanna Fenty, to give her her full name, released her debut CD, “Music of the Sun”, the songs on which reflect her native Barbados. This record spawned the first two of - currently - a total of ten singles, “Pon de Replay” and “If it’s Lovin’ that You Want”. These two tracks would reappear, in new versions, on the end of her second album, “A Girl Like Me” (2006), presumably to help sales! A further four singles were lifted from this release; “SOS”, which samples Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”; the beautifully-understated “Unfaithful”, written by R‘n’B singer Ne-Yo and with whom she would later collaborate on her third full-length release; the less successful “We Ride”; and “Break it Off”, featuring Sean Paul, meaning this disc actually contains a total of six singles and thus borders, already at such an early stage in her career, on a greatest hits package!!

One year later and Rihanna’s ascension is complete! I would go so far as to say Miss Fenty is now bigger than either Britney or Kylie. They’ll be battling it out next month for chart domination but I can’t see either beating the phenomenal success of Rihanna’s lead single, “Umbrella”, from her third album “Good Girl Gone Bad” (2007). Again, this release contains four singles. They are the aforementioned ultra-successful “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z, which opens the album; “Shut Up and Drive”, the fifth track on the CD; the funkier “Don’t Stop the Music”, which is the disc’s third song; and, finally, sixth track “Hate That I Love You”, a duet with Ne-Yo, is a ballad accompanied by a clever little video with a twist in its tale. This type of R‘n’B isn’t usually my thing but, on this occasion, Rihanna’s third album seems to be infused with a rock sensibility which makes it more agreeable to my ear! I’ve posted the promos that accompany these four tracks in a “Rihanna Special” on my Jukebox, currently at the bottom of the front page, together with a slightly distorted performance of second single “Shut Up and Drive”, from the “Late Show with David Letterman”, directly above it. Hope you enjoy listening to some of the songs from what will probably end up being voted album of the year!!