Album Review: Rihanna- "Unapologetic"

For those of you without a calendar, it’s November. What does that mean? Tons of men growing tragic moustaches, Thanksgiving, and for the past four years, a Rihanna album. Anyone that knows me know that I have been looking forward to this. I really enjoyed “Tal k That Talk” and was kind of surprised that it didn’t do better/spawn more singles. Then again, it produced the wildly successful “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been” so I guess she’s doing better than many other artists. I was just happy that she continued on the up tempo streak she hinted at with “Loud” and gave me some music that made me want to dance. It’d totally be a logical step to continue with her successful trend for her next project, right? Well, as RIhanna would say “#Phuckyologic”

The lead single for “Unapologetic” is “Diamonds” It was penned by music’s it girl, Sia and was a definite departure from “Talk That Talk” I’ll be honest: I didn’t like the song at all when I first heard it. After listening to the lyrics and that damn “shine bright like a diamond” hook , I fell in love with it. I was ready for more music and was totally amped for the new project. I then played the CD start to finish without skipping anything. First impression: no impression. Nothing stuck. No tracks stood out to me as singles, there wasn’t anything that stayed with me hours afterwards (ie SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND!) Needless to say I was disappointed. I know Rihanna is unapologetic, but I felt like I deserved an apology. The CD felt completely vibed out on some Frank Ocean shit and I just didn’t feel like I was high enough to really appreciate it. Quick run down:

Phresh Off the Runway: RIh comes out with her guns blazing. Guetta gives us a track that doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard him do, which is refreshing. The sample of “phresh off the runway” is a bit repetitive and the lyrics just pretty much have Rihanna talking about how dope she is. A good track to run to.

Diamonds: If you don’t know this song, you are dumb. GO away.

Numb: A laid back track that makes me want to curl up and eat pizza rolls and watch Sponge Bob. The chorus is just her “I’m going numb” repeated about 234423 times. I think the highlight of this song is Eminem’s verse. His wordplay and the effects they used on him are pretty dope.

Pour It Up: This could MAYBE bang in strip clubs if it was a tad bit faster. Rihanna is rich and likes strippers. Got it? Good.

Loveeeeee Song: A slow jam featuring Future. The track kind of lags to me and doesn’t really seem to go anywhere.

Jump: Did Rihanna really sample “Pony” by Ginuwine? It’s a cute song, but I think I give it more points because of that sample. She adds a dubstep breakdown to it, to update it for these children who don’t know that the original was cold as hell on its own.

Right Now: Another Guetta track, but this is a bit more classic Guetta. Ester Dean writes on this one so it feels a little more familiar as Ester has penned most of Rihanna’s biggest hits. This one doesn’t top their “Whose that Chick” collaboration.

What Now: After a blip of energy, Rihanna slows it down. This song is pretty cool and reminds me of “Too Close” by Alex Clare. It starts out slow and ballad like and then the chorus gets all gritty. I likes it gritty.

Stay: Another slow song. She premiered this on SNL last week. The lyrics are really deep. It’s pretty much just her and a piano, which is ballsy for someone who isn’t really known for her vocal prowess. It works for her though.

Nobody’s Business: This features Chris Brown and it samples Michael Jackson. I thought that for a couple of kids who are sick of people all up in their faces, they would have come with a harder track, but this is a sweet, breezy track. They don’t even cuss. This track reminds me of Bobby and Whit’s “Something in Common” Take that however you please.

Love without Tragedy/Mother Mary: this reminds me of the beginning of MJ’s “Dirty Diana” It’s an interesting track that also makes me think of the Police. I know that’s a random reference, but whatever, I’m random. Rih asks “what’s a love without tragedy?” I say “FUNCTIONAL”

Get it Over with: This has a Frank Ocean vibe to it, but not as good. This feels like a long, drawn out, interlude.

No Love Allowed: Rihanna goes back to the islands for this one. It’s a simple reggae beat and there isn’t much to the song, but I like it. It feels like a follow up to “Man Down” It’s not as good, but I like it.

Lost in Paradise: This song grew on me. It feels like stadium music. Like I could see Coldplay playing this at the O2 arena for the masses. Maybe Rihanna picked up some pointers while recording “Princess of China”

Half of Me: I love this song. Once again the production is stripped down and you can focus on her voice and the lyrics. Basically she’s talking about how we only see half of her story. Oddly enough this is one of the most relatable songs on here. I just like how in this introspective song she finds a way to say “I’m the type to not give a fuck” hahaha Oh Rihanna, behave!


Overall I’d have to give this a C-. It’s not only due to the fact that I really don’t like slow music, (I LOVED Rated R) but also the fact that nothing on here really feels special. Then again, someone who puts out 7 albums in 7 years is probably used to feeding us filler. I’m just not used to seeing THIS much filler on an album. Thankfully, she will probably be recording a follow up while she’s on promo for this. I know people were saying that this 7th album would be lucky and give Rihanna her first number one CD, but at this point I think people will be more apt to buy a Kelly Clarkson Greatest Hits or even Nicki Minaj’s reissue over this.

Let me end this positively. The cover is really cool. The artwork on the inside looks like Rihanna's stoner friends on instagram made her a collage, but it's cohesive. Furthermore, I am less and less disappointed with each listen. So maybe I won't be looking for that apology come February 2013. We'll just have to wait and see!