Rated R is the fourth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on November 20, 2009, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. Recording sessions for the album began in March 2009 and took place at recording studios throughout United States and Europe. Rihanna was the executive producer of the album alongside Antonio "L.A." Reid and The Carter Administration. It features additional production by various record producers, including Chase & Status, Stargate, The-Dream, Ne-Yo, and Brian Kennedy. The record features several vocalists and instrumentalists, including Young Jeezy, will.i.am, Justin Timberlake and Slash, who played the guitars in "Rockstar 101".
Musically, the album represents a departure from her previous effort Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), which contained up-tempo and ballad-oriented songs. Rated R is a rock-influenced pop, hip hop and R&B album; it features a foreboding and atmospheric tone in terms of musical and lyrical direction, and it incorporates elements of dubstep. It also explores other genres, such as dancehall in "Rude Boy" and Latin-infusion in "Te Amo". Rated R received positive reviews from music critics, who commended Rihanna's mature performance and called the album her most layered and heartfelt effort. The album debuted at number 4 on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold 181,000 copies in its first week. It also attained top ten positions in over twelve other countries.
The album produced six singles, "Russian Roulette", "Wait Your Turn", "Hard", "Rude Boy", "Rockstar 101", and "Te Amo". "Russian Roulette" was released as the album's lead single and managed to reach top-ten in over 25 countries. "Hard" became her thirteenth US top-ten single, while "Rude Boy" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks. "Te Amo" attained top-ten positions around Europe and reached number 1 in Brazil. To further promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her third worldwide concert tour Last Girl on Earth (2010–2011). Rated R is deemed as an important album in Rihanna's career and a groundwork inspiration for her follow-up releases.
Background
Rihanna's previous album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) was a commercial success and received generally positive reviews from most music critics. The album featured five top ten singles—three US number 1 songs—including the international breakthrough single "Umbrella". Following the assault of Rihanna's boyfriend Chris Brown on her in February 2009, 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. 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.
During an interview at the MTV Video Music Awards, Ne-Yo stated that listeners should expect an "edgier" and "angrier" Rihanna on the album. He later told In Touch Weekly that the album is definitely more edgy than Rihanna's prior work, describing the album as "liberated". American singer Akon, on the other hand, stated that he was "going to lighten her up" and did not want an angry Rihanna. With the success of her last album, Rihanna wanted to make sure that she did not fall into one sound or vibe. 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.
After the release of the lead single, "Russian Roulette", Harmony was aware of the mixed reaction from fans who had heard the track. 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. 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. 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".
Recording
Rihanna began recording songs for the album in March 2009. The recording sessions for the album took place at Milk Studios in Manhattan, Metropolis Studios in London, Studios Davout in Paris, and at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Rihanna worked with several different songwriters and producers on the album, including Chuck Harmony, The-Dream, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Chase & Status, Stargate, Demo, and Justin Timberlake. 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. 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. 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." It was later revealed that Stargate originally produced a collaboration between Rihanna and Canadian rapper Drake, however, the song did not make the final cut for the album.
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. She worked with Ne-Yo on a number of songs although he was often unclear as to which songs would actually make the album. 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. In terms of musical direction, Rihanna requested more somber songs for the album. Ne-Yo and Harmony co-wrote "Russian Roulette", pushing a darker and more morbid aesthetic.
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. The songs they worked on had a "big beats and big bass", although Rihanna had some disagreements with the duo. In October 2009, she concluded recording sessions with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream. Dream and Tricky flew out to Paris and played a few songs for Rihanna which included "Hard" and "Rockstar 101." She felt that "Hard" stood out from all the songs, due to its arrogance. 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. In addition, Ester Dean co-wrote "Rude Boy". "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.
Music and lyrics
Rated R features a darker and more foreboding tone than Rihanna's previous albums. Primarily a pop, hip hop and R&B album, it also incorporates musical elements of rock music. 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. Songs such as "G4L", "Mad House", and "Wait Your Turn" incorporate elements of dubstep, including brooding synths and grumbling basslines. The album also incorporates other musical genres, such as dancehall in the Jamaican inspired "Rude Boy" and Latin music-infusion in "Te Amo". 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."
The lyrical content of the album features generally bleak views on love and boastful lyrics concerning perseverance and overcoming adversity. Its lyrics are characterized by grim and angry tones, and songs that contain boastful and persevering themes are characterized by images of violence and brutality. 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, Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the album "doesn't specifically address those events, but it hardly ignores them". 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".
Artwork and fashion 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." 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.
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." 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." 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.
Release and promotion