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Did anyone else not buy into the whole 'Rated R' image/era for Rihanna?


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Old 28-08-2011, 16:58
CSweeet7
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Now, I like Rihanna and I own all her albums so I am not a 'hater' like many people are deemed to be if they critisize an artist, but did anyone else just not buy in to the whole way the album was marketed? I like a lot of the songs on there - Hard and Wait Your Turn are the standouts for me and are absolutely fantastic - but this album was claimed to be a very personal album with a lot of creative control etc....

And Rihanna does have writing credits on a lot of the songs and some do sound very personal to what was happening in her personal life at the time and what she was dealing with, yet there was still 'Te Amo' and 'Rude Boy' tagged in the middle of the album. One song is about sex and the other about a lesbian love, so someone somewhere in her camp knew that these two songs would sell if released as singles.

So after meaningful/honest mostly sex-less songs like Hard, Russian Roulette and Wait Your Turn have been released and the album sells averagely, surprisingly Rude Boy and Te Amo are released to gain commercial success and then the album's sales increases rapidly and chart positions increase a lot aswell.

Then after Rated R, RIhanna goes back to generic songs about dancing, clubs and sex and Loud has sold bucketloads and Rude Boy and Te Amo which sound like two songs that could have fitted in to Loud perfectly, were tacked on to Rated R to release if the album sales went tits up - which they did initially underperform after the success of Good Girl Gone Bad.

I like Rated R a lot, I like all her albums, but I didn't really appreciate the deceit of the whole creative control album that gained her some credibilty, to realising it didn't sell and didn't make her as much money so she instantly flipped back to Loud full of generic dance songs which has sold by the bucket!
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:01
AssistedAction
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She's a talentless manager's/record company's/producer's puppet with a useless voice, willing to do whatever it took to get a record deal and whatever it takes to keep it.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:08
scratchy23
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Hmm, I kind of agree, but it doesn't really bother me. Rated R is a bloody brilliant album. It's not great in terms of pop singles, but as a whole it's really good.

I always think LTWYL Part II should be on Rated R, and Rude Boy should be on Loud. And come to think of it, Te Amo should be on Loud too.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:09
LuigiRavioli
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I was becoming an actual fan til she started coming across like a classless chav on Twitter.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:11
CSweeet7
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I was becoming an actual fan til she started coming across like a classless chav on Twitter.
I know! I cringe when I see some of what she's written on twitter...
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:16
little-monster
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I brought heavily into the Rated r album

It's one of the best albums i have heard in the last decade. Rihanna changed her image and did an album that a lot of people wanted her to do and that was a personal meaningful album. Yet when she did that, sales were slightly lower and they wanted the old Rihanna back. Her label did that and the fans got old rihanna back but with Red hair.

Rated r for me is her best album to date. If allowed to spread her wings again, she could easily do a great album like this again.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:25
O.Michel
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Actually I loved it.It's not even a matter of 'buying into it".It was a very risky album; a brave move for her and I admired that.The album is a gem and the videos were very interesting.I believe that this is who she truly is.Just think about it; she has been doing the oversexual staging a lot since then, the way she acts on Twitter is VERY reminiscent of songs like 'Hard' and 'GFL' and she uses the "rockstar" references all the time.Also, when she got the chance to be part of the decision making for 'Loud', she chose 'Man Down' (there is NO way a label would choose this song) and she has even performed along with Bon Jovi, so she obviously is not a cookie cutter popstar that was trying to be edgy.I think it's actually her only very interesting era thus far and the only one where she showed some artistic indegrity at some extent.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:29
MindBodySoul
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I think Rated R is great, and it's the only time she tried to be any other than another Britney clone.

LOUD is good too though. Just a little overproduced in parts, and there's a good few more generic songs there too.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:38
LuigiRavioli
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I know! I cringe when I see some of what she's written on twitter...
It really ruins the air of mystery about popstars. But I guess if you want more sales then let people get closer to you.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:41
glyn9799
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I love Rated R. I rate it higher than Loud. Russian Roulette was a fantastic single. Not so fussed on Rude Box mind.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:41
toanythingtaboo
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I guess I did buy into it at first, thought she was maturing and progressing as an artist. Really enjoyed the album and it made me like her.

Then LOUD happened and any illusion of artistic integrity was gone. It became clear that it was all an act, and the moment it didn't quite work out (it took Rude Boi, which was the most non-RR song on there, to 'save' the era commercially) they went running back to the drawing board to churn out something new ASAP. Either that or she's a spineless puppet who does what she's told. Not sure which is better.

Still like her well enough, but opinions were readjusted, shall we say.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:48
O.Michel
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It really ruins the air of mystery about popstars. But I guess if you want more sales then let people get closer to you.
I actually disagree.I remember a blog posting an article about Twitter ruining the mystery behind popstars, but I really do believe that it's not about Twitter at all.Most artists started turning into celebrities and that's enough to ruin the mystery for me.If I see an artist on TV doing advertisments, on the radio giving long interviews about everything, on the magazines talking about his/her personal life and on the cover of 5 magazines a month with 4-page spreads, then that's enough for the mystery to be damaged.And anyway Twitter is like a tool; everybody can use it differently.It's not like Twitter is destroying the mystery.The artists are destroying the mystery by tweeting nonsense
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:50
Lady.Penelope
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I think that era was actually her most exciting.
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:51
O.Michel
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I guess I did buy into it at first, thought she was maturing and progressing as an artist. Really enjoyed the album and it made me like her.

Then LOUD happened and any illusion of artistic integrity was gone. It became clear that it was all an act, and the moment it didn't quite work out (it took Rude Boi, which was the most non-RR song on there, to 'save' the era commercially) they went running back to the drawing board to churn out something new ASAP. Either that or she's a spineless puppet who does what she's told. Not sure which is better.

Still like her well enough, but opinions were readjusted, shall we say.
I agree 100%.I lost any interest (and respect) I had for her after 'Only Girl', 'WMN' and especially the S&M release, video and remix.'Man Down' however made me a bit interested again tbh and I think that was the only decision that she took for the campaign.If you listen to the album there are some songs with a RR vibe ('Skin' for example)
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Old 28-08-2011, 17:55
MindBodySoul
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It really ruins the air of mystery about popstars. But I guess if you want more sales then let people get closer to you.
People like Madonna (Truth Or Dare?) MJ (child abuse allegations) and Britney (Vegas Marriage) were ruining the mystery of celebrity before Twitter was around.
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Old 28-08-2011, 18:09
toanythingtaboo
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I agree 100%.I lost any interest (and respect) I had for her after 'Only Girl', 'WMN' and especially the S&M release, video and remix.'Man Down' however made me a bit interested again tbh and I think that was the only decision that she took for the campaign.If you listen to the album there are some songs with a RR vibe ('Skin' for example)
I know what you mean. When you listen to LOUD, it's fun pop songs...but Man Down is probably the only song on there I'd say was written for Rihanna and her alone. It has the island vibe she really suits and only she can pull off. The rest is really 'anyone could have recorded it' material.
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Old 28-08-2011, 18:30
yusuf
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I feel NOW considering her position as Pop 'Royalty' so to speak she is capable to doing a Rated R esq album because LOUD pretty much cemented her standing as a bonifide popstar.

I feel after Good Girl Gone Bad she wasnt really in a position to put out an album so dark and different from her other stuff and just expect the public to lap it up.
She had FINALLY found a winning sound for herself with GGGB after the false starts MOTS and AGLM were.

But I can understand her changing her sound with regards to her experience with Chris etc but if Rated R was sold after LOUD i think it would of done better as she has a greater profile here in the UK to the point where she can release a song and it would be a hit.
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Old 28-08-2011, 19:23
__3kerry
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I didn't really buy into it to be honest. I agree with a lot of people that she did take a big risk although I did appreciate the side of the album because she did have some fantastic vocals. for me, the best era will always be good girl gone bad.
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Old 21-09-2011, 08:38
cloudsailor
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I really liked it I felt it was a strong album and I love her on twitter. She's so funny especially when she talks back to the racists and Chris Brown fans. I love her I really do.
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Old 21-09-2011, 08:45
mkirilenkofan
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It's her best album and yeah, some songs are very true.

I totally buy 'cold case love' and 'the last song'
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