A Girl Like Me by Rihanna
A Girl like Me is the second studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. It was released through Def Jam Recordings on April 19, 2006 in Japan, on April 24 in the United Kingdom, and on April 25 in the United States. For the production of the album, Rihanna worked with Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate and J. R. Rotem with label-mate Ne-Yo who wrote the album's second single. Musically, the album incorporates a combination of R&B, reggae, pop and ballad elements which received mixed reviews by music critics. Some critics gave the album positive reviews stating that she gracefully avoids the sophomore disappointment while others compared the album to her previous effort. A Girl like Me was released less than eight months after her debut album. It peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and on the UK Albums Chart. The album was successful in other Countries, entering the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Japan while topping the charts in Canada on the Canadian Albums Chart. A Girl like Me spawned four singles; "SOS", which became her first single to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, "Unfaithful" and "Break It Off", both reaching the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, however, the third single, "We Ride", failed to reprise the success of the previous singles. The album was re-released as an expanded double-disc deluxe package in Germany, which includes her previous hit single, "Pon de Replay". The album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Rihanna was no stranger to EDM by the time her sixth album, <i>Talk That Talk</i>, was in the works: “Don’t Stop the Music”, off 2007’s <i>Good Girl Gone Bad</i>, quickly became a ubiquitous dance-floor standard; she dipped her toes into dubstep on 2009’s <i>Rated R</i> and collaborated with David Guetta for a track off his own 2009 album, <i>One Love</i>; and 2010’s “Only Girl (In the World)”, <i>Loud</i>’s earth-shaking single, pulsed with the kind of shimmering, synthetic elements fit for the top of the charts and the clubs of Ibiza. But with “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been”, two of the tunes that kicked off her <i>Talk That Talk</i> era, she reached a new echelon of electronic alchemy while cementing her status as a fearless pop star who thrives in the experimental space between genres. Co-written and -helmed by prolific DJ/producer Calvin Harris, “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been” not only set a new benchmark for Rihanna’s vocal performance, but they also gave the Navy two contrasting dance anthems—the former a euphoric ode to love itself, the latter a moody, urgent search for understanding and affection. Both would go on to be pillars in Rihanna and Harris’ respective setlists, but “We Found Love” remains their shared greatest hit: It spent 10 weeks at No. 1, and its video, filmed by renowned director (and frequent Ri collaborator) Melina Matsoukas, took home a Grammy and a VMA. Yet in spite of the dance largesse of “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been”—as well as “Drunk on Love”, which had Rihanna crooning over The xx’s “Intro”—<i>Talk That Talk</i> was as eclectic as her prior albums, in that these dance smashes were right at home next to power ballads (“We All Want Love”, “Farewell”), an appearance from long-time partner in rhyme JAY-Z (“Talk That Talk”), unfiltered, R-rated sexploits ebbing over heavy beats (“Cockiness [Love It]”, “Red Lipstick”), and blissful flirtations (“You Da One”, “Do Ya Thang”). Each song throws back to a sound, aesthetic or genre she’s experimented with before, from her dance inclinations to her Caribbean lilt and her omnivorous embrace of rock, rap and every genre in between. And though it delivered an exceptional vocal showing from Rihanna and the hypnotising, can’t-let-go choruses her fans have loved since her “Pon de Replay” days, she levelled up with <i>Talk That Talk</i>—and found the love of millions far beyond the dance floor.
