So Rihanna has another new album out imminently with Chris Brown on it
There's a review of it here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/rihanna-unapologetic-review
I've struggled to know if I want to get it myself, which is odd as obviously it's none of my business what they do with their lives. But I dunno... I found 'Loud' a hard album to review because it felt like there was a bunch of songs on here that seemed to be saying 'I still love you Chris and I quite like it rough' and a bunch that were saying 'You fucker, how could you do that?'
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/15803/reviews/4141526
I don't truly know enough about her process to work out if that's an artistic decision Rihanna took, the culmination of having some songs written for her (and therefore being more generic) or because they're the lyrics she wrote. She's certainly credited with being involved on most of her output more these days.
It seems now that maybe 'Rated R' was the sound of a depressed girl in a bad state, 'Loud' was coming to terms with her confusion of the aftermath and this release might be her trying to say 'I'm back with him, sorry world'. 'Talk that talk' I can't quite place in the grand scheme of things.
Long and rambling, but yeah. My point is that this is a pretty fascinating album arc for an artist and I don't know how I feel about it all. We could be witnessing a still young girl basically documenting an abusive relationship and totally unaware of the effect it's having on her.
- - - - - - - - -
We can talk about the music once it's out too, though I suspect it'll be much like the last 2 sadly (a decent single, 2 generic crap ones, a bunch of interesting album tracks but nowhere near as godo as 'Good girl gone bad' or 'Rated R').
- Relevant artist taggings:
- Future eX Wife »[x]
- Stunned Face »[x]
- Kicks »[x]
- Bruises »[x]
- The Stranglers »[x]
- Black Eyes »[x]
- Mr & Mrs »[x]
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- Awful Sparks »[x]
- The Beatings »[x]
- Total Abuse »[x]
- Captains Of Industry call time on record releasing
- Reading/Leeds: The Other Stages
- Fickle Public, Future eX Wife, Small Town America Compilation, Fighting With Wire - Public Service B
- Fickle Public, Future eX Wife, Small Town America Compilation, Fighting With Wire - Public Service B
- DiS Manchester #2 = ROCK NIGHT 23/01/04!!!
- Future eX Wife - Miss September
- Future eX Wife - Miss September
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I stopped pretending to know or care about these two
a while back. She can do what/who she likes, he's obv a douce of the highest order but who cares. As long as she keeps cranking out the jams of course.
Diamonds is the absolute worst song, though.
It's the worst single I think she's ever put out
I said that about Russian Roulette too initialy, and was very wrong, but this new one is just balls.
I think Diamonds is great
I've had that and Skyfall on repeat for a while now. Each one sounds like a very popular artist taking a victory lap in a classy fashion.
i think diamonds would have been a great, understated album track for her
it's a shame
it's probably the catchiest chorus since you da one
I think we all know that hitting women is bad...
but if in this instance these two people have managed to put whatever happened behind them, i don't see why the general public can't.
People don't have to like the guy, or buy his records, but they could at least stop constantly bringing up an episode from his past that both he and the other person directly involved in seemt o have got past.
Doing this isn't condoning what he did, and he doesn't owe anyone else an apology for his actions, however appalling or unecessary they might've been.
the problem is that he has 100& got away with it.
People who lay a finger on a woman shouldn't be able to sustain his level of fame or public acceptance and certainly not make a shed tonne of cash of the exposure.
As for someone taking an abusive partner back history has a long record of showing this to generally be a pretty stupid move.
100%
It would obviously be much easier for everyone to stop bringing the episode up
if he didn't appear on her albums and she didn't allude to it so much (I'm taking Vamos at his word here as I haven't listened to the last album*). i'm not saying she shouldn't do these things, but if she does obviously people will, rightly or wrongly, continue to talk about it.
*any of her albums
easily her worst album
shame because it starts kinda promising, like it's going to be a really gritty dark sounding album, but quickly falls apart into wub wub and ballads.
probably like about two songs total from this, not good.
Is it online anywhere yet?
to stream...
sorry no
i'm naughty like that
The single with Chris Brown
is being streamed in most places now. She's an idiot for having him back but meh. She'll learn the hard way innit.
christ
Yeah you're right.
He wont punch her again.
I think
this is my favourite recent DiS quote.
But it's hard to tell. Because mostly people talk about people I'm not cool enough or pop acts that I'm too cool to like.
I hate the internet
when I'm drunk.
some of you really need to just shut the fuck up already
isn't there a guardian comment section you could be using for this shit
Bastard he may be
but it's nobody's business but their own.
true
Even if she ends up dead ( Like the majority of these domestic abuse cases end up).
And if you assume that their young fans aren't using them as role modelas for their future relationships.
The other half heard
two young girls talking about it on the bus a while back. They decided "she must have deserved it".
grim
woooooooooah there.
The majority of people who suffer domestic abuse end up dead?
Quite a statement.
I'm sure you've got some sort of questionable research to back that up, though, so it's fine.
the
majority of cases where she takes him back generally ends up with the lady dead. Guys like that never learn if they get away with it.
As evidence, i give you numerous cop shows and that episode of breaking bad with Mike.
the vast majority of people end up dead
because of chris brown
well
Guns don't kill people. Chris Brown does ( as long as they are female and smaller than him)
That's obviously not true because their lives are lived in public
The assault was public, she is now making her acceptance of the assaulter a prominent part of her music. What she does and says has a clear influence on thousands, perhaps millions, of fans most of whom are young girls just starting to have relationships themselves.
In the circumstances I think we are entitled to comment.
By taking the vicious thug back into her life she makes it that much more difficult for the world as a whole to understand the absolute 100% unacceptability of domestic violence. I find it hard to hear the music over the sound of my stomach turning.
Where is that one thread where all this was covered?
Just blame KiK
and his "hey guys I have an alternative opinion on all this controversy" schtick.
She needs to go away for a bit and come back with something good.
I loved Loud, but Talk That Talk and Unapologetic both sound so heinously rushed. It feels like she's just constantly cranking out new material without putting any great amount of care or effort into it. If she fucked off for about three or four years and took her time, she'd probably come back with an absolutely AMAZING album again.
Surely she must also be knackered
Been reading this 777 tour blog thing over on Popjustice and it's just relentless. THAT'S WHAT EVERY DAY IS LIKE FOR HER.
beyonce had the right idea when she took a year off for four
since rated r rihanna has had an absolutely relentless schedule.
i've been thinking about ri ri turning in an album a year recently, it seems that if she and roc are interested in collaborating with seemingly relevant artists (chase and status, calvin harris, nicki minaj, knife party) then theres a push to release it quick and stay current. also it keeps the fans happy.
She's become more of a singles artist anyway.
The album just seems like an afterthought for her at this point. Fair enough. I just haven't really been into the new singles so...
to me i remember thinking that rated r was really rounded
the last two haven't been like that at all. haven't heard unapologetic yet
I think her and her team lost interest in the album format
after Rated R. Rated R was ok to me, I dont think she has released a truly great album, but that shouldnt really be how we judge her imo.
I think Loud is getting a bad rep here.
At least half of the tunes on it are total bangers.
half isn't all of them
It's enough though, isn't it?
How many albums spawn 5 amazing singles? Even the other tracks range from decent to very good.
-amazing-
I dunno, I like Whats My Name and Cheers and Man Down. Thats about it though.
I'm not a Rihanna fan so I've not heard it
but in my view no album is good unless it's all good. It can have some great songs on it but unless you've put out an album where every track is decent to amazing you can't really be said to have made a good album.
So half an album isn't enough. Particularly at a time when MP3 purchasing allows you to only purchase the bits of an album you like and ignore the rest.
Chris Browns new album
is going to be called 'Pukka Pad'
* Pie
^
Pucka Pies a revocal of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0I1V3HeYk
even the-dream tracks aren't good on this one :(
:(
Fuck off, everyone
?
isn't this whole shit with her and chris brown
just to get you talking about her and chris brown? I wouldn't take it so seriously....or think about it....for a second
It's like I said before...
"that" was the best career move ever!
yeah they planned it together with Dubya and the Illuminati to promote album sales
keep the black man down and wage oil wars in the middle east. It's pretty obvious once you join the dots really, Chris Brown's tattoo was what inched it for me
smart ass
Actually her publicist should be getting paid crazy dollars.
She's a slightly more interesting than average pop star
Bit over-rated by some on here. She's had one good hit (Umbrella), a couple of middling ones but she's too ubiquitous to maintain any kind of quality. Her voice sounds a bit robotic and cold to me which is fine for electro-ey stuff like SOS but makes the ballads horrible and whiney. I think it's clear she is idolised by a lot of young fans, it's not necessarily a bad thing them being exposed to those kind of things but she does seem to have taken her validation of it a bit too far. I guess I would listen to any duets out of morbid curiosity though.
I like a bit of brown.
^ HP Sauce fan
bit racist, mate.
This fucking thread you guys
Hi can I derail the thread and naively ask for seven or eight MEGAHITS by Rhianna that you would seriously recommend
Seriously, I've had my head under a rock when it comes to pop for about five years now, I want to see what all the fuss is about with this young lady.
Ta.
PS no ballads
Would be interested by this too. Caught her performance at Hackney on the Beeb and nothing stood out particularly
there was that one
featuring drake where the drake verse was appalling but the rest of the song was quite good, that was her best song, but that's about it.
Apparently no one can do this. Interesting.
I think there was a thread recently with a million variations of what her best of would be
The point is that when she's bad she's fucking awful but when she's good she's in-fucking-credible
THIS
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4360443
Can you just distil it to the 7 or 8 requested?
I'm trying to make this thread go away
Though whilst here, I'd say Umbrella, Rude boy, Breaking dishes, SOS, Cake, Hard, some others...
I saw her last night at The Forum. It was great. Man down and Unfaithful were immense and Diamonds sounded really good. Hearing Umbrella sung live was special too.
Why are you trying to make it go away?
WELL
Personally
Watch N Learn
Where have you been
Whats my name
Umbrella
Cheers
S&M
Rude Boy
but then again I really really liked talk that talk.
BUT YOU'RE NOT EVEN FUCKING INTERESTED ARE YOU THEO
I was waiting for more so I could actually ascertain what was generally thought to be good
and what was just one crazy person's suggestion.
Easy.
Umbrella
Rude Boy
What's My Name?
We Found Love
Don't Stop The Music
Disturbia
Only Girl (In The World)
Pretty much ^this, yeah
9 that i'd say are massive from the past several years:
what's my name ft. drake
only girl (in the world)
we found love ft. calvin harris
rudeboy
umbrella
disturbia
please don't stop the music
my favourites:
pon de replay
if it's lovin that you want
hard
wait your turn
man down
you da one
shut up and drive
ballads/slower ones (her best)
we ride
hate that i love you w/ne-yo
take a bow
unfaithful
russian roulette
te amo
obvious ones i haven't included because they're too many: s&m, diamonds, cheers (drink to that), where have you been...
first two albums are genius, but you were all being far too indie and up your own arses to realise, because pop has only became properly hip the past four years or so
getting music of the sun off my shelf now
Music of the Sun is wank gb
sorry... and come to think of it I borrowed it the tweeist indie kid at my school. It might've been the only pop act he liked at the time haha ;-D
Also, is she allergic to clothes or something?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8791716/Rihanna-ordered-to-cover-up-by-Christian-farmer.html
Does Rihanna ever NOT have a new album out?
Here's the sultry opening line
Before the beat begins in time
Something saucy, awful rhymes
Little bit naughty, first verse is fine
And now we go to the chorus
And now we go to THE chorus
And now we go to the chorus
And now we go to THE CHORUS
^AND NOW WE GO TO THE CHORUS^
^AND NOW WE GO TO THE CHORUS^
^AND NOW WE GO TO THE CHORUS^
And now we go to the chorus
Repeat ad infinitum
Alright, Pete Waterman.
:D
so insightful
So this piece on The Quietus is really good and talks about what I was trying to get at MANY days ago
http://thequietus.com/articles/10746-rihanna-unapologetic-review-777-chris-brown
Also, seeing her on stage antics last night and reading the blogs about the tour this week
She came across as pretty odious and a far cry from the seemingly fun, younger version of herself making music 3 years back when she seemingly had more control of it's direction.
The opening half of the set was highly sexualised but ultimately as sexy as Eyes Wide Shut and it was so sponsor heavy and by-the-book that it left a weird taste in the mouth. I left very happy to have seen a bunch of my favourite songs of the past five years played in a tiny venue but also felt like I could almost have watched a robot do the same show.
Uber-corporate pop star puts on uber-corporate gig
Vamos is confused
I'm not confused
I get tie ins. I get advertising. I get product placement. Trust me, I understand all this as I work in branding.
But usually these things are just in the background and try to earn some kudos by association, which you can sorta tell by the artists' slight awkwardness at plugging the brand in question. Last night, Rihanna seemed more in thrall of the brands than she was the crowd or music and they weighed far too heavy on proceedings.
it wasn't half as sexualised as her good girl gone bad tour, or even the last one
Really?
Good girl gone bad has a couple of songs on there with innuendo in.
Last night she massaged her groin in every song, shoved a microphone between her legs several time, played 'Cockiness' in front of a giant pair of lips saying 'I love it when you eat it', chose the 'Oooh I wanna fuck you right now' line of 'Cake' to really belt out, had VT images behind her of people seemingly masturbating in an x-ray machine, various quick flashes of pubic hair and flashes of bondage in S&M.
Admittedly her outfit wasn't too raunchy but material wise, not sure how it could get any more explicit?