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“Rated R” is the fourth studio album by Rihanna is set to be release on November 23th 2009 in the US.

First Impressions
Was rather emotional upon getting my hands on this album for the review. So many stuff has happen to me these couple of days. Okie, shan’t digress. The hype for her first single, “Russian Roulette“, creates tons of negative reception from most of her fans and casual listeners alike. Same goes with promo single, “Wait Your Turn” and 2nd single, “Hard“. This is because when the songs are being released individually, it does not capture one’s attention immediately sonically.

As a whole, you’ll understand what Rihanna is trying to express with this album. Gone are the dance-y syth (Dont’t Stop The Music, Disturbia), enter erratic hip-hop beats and amazing guitar riffs.

Don’t say Rihanna didn’t warn you guys about the sound of this album. A good prelude song to this album would be “Run This Town“. It’s towards that direction. Love it that there are explicit lyrics without being censored. And rest assured, not all songs sound extremely dark. =)

Track By Track Review

• Mad House
  A short instrumental to start this album. It’s a way of saying this album is ‘NSFW‘, which means ‘Not Strictly For the Weak’.
• Wait Your Turn
  Promotional Single and is being used as the teaser for the album’s release. “The Wait is Ova” hook is rather catchy. Many dislike this song, but I think otherwise. Produced by Stargate, the clash beats is recognizable as their signature.
• Hard
  Featuring Young Jeezy (or Jeezy in this case). 2nd single from the album. It’s a grower due to the fact that it’s not a conventional mainstream single that RiRi used to release. Has a genuine swagger to it.
• Stupid In Love
  Ne-Yo + Stargate = Surefire Hit!!! Need me say more??? =) Way better than “Take a Bow“.
• Rockstar 101
  Featuring Slash (on the guitar). Another rather dark track, Slash’s contribution on the track is like icing on the cake. Strain your ears for detaling.
• Russion Roulette
  On first thought, it’s an unusual move for Rihanna to release a ballad as a first single. But she has learned to break rules, I have to give it up to her. Another grower track. As I’ve said on the single review, this song is extremely haunting.
• Fire Bomb
  Describing love using ‘cars’ related words and the freeway. Unique and original. Kinda intrigued by this song.
• Rude Boy
  Another Stargate production. Has that dancehall vibe which traces back to Rihanna’s roots. You guys shouldn’t complain. This song is not dark at all. It’s in fact extremely catachy with its “Rude Boy Boy” hook.
• Photographs
  Featuring Will.i.am. Reminds me of Will.i.am’s own “Heartbreaker” but it’s 100 times much better. The verse by Will feels it’s straight from BEP’s “The E.N.D”. A hidden gem of the album.
• G4L
  Derived from the song itself, G4L stands for Gangsta 4 Life. Seems like it’s quite effortless for Riri to transist into a Hip-Hop artist. =) Doesn’t sound forced.
• Te Amo
  This song leaked quite a long while ago as a demo. Sounds really good in album quality. The ethnic tribal drum beats are hypnotic. Produced by Justin Timberlake’s production team, The Y’s.
• Cold Case Love
  A long epic song (6 mins!!!) written by Justin Timberlake and produced by The Y’s. Love the organic sound of this song. Flows well like a story. The tempo picks up at 3:46. Another highlight of the album. A song custom-made for Riri.
• The Last Song
  Feels like a filler but it ain’t. Riri is pouring her emotions out on this album closer.

Final Verdict
I would rank this album with the likes of Kelly Clarkson’s “My December“. Both are dark, but different genres. Commercially, it wont do as well as GGGB, but critically she’s up onto another level, proving that she’s diverse and not containing herself in the mainstream box. I applaud her for taking this risk.

To the detractors who’s saying this album is a bore, bland and blah, it’s a mistake by shunning this album without trying to understand it. Sure, it’s too Hip-Hop-ish, but it’s the direction that Rihanna wants to go with this album. She could’ve pull off another “Disturbia” easily with the array of producers she work with, but this is where she wanna go with this album. Respect it.

To those who think she’s fake, try experiencing being abused urself and recover from it. Ain’t easy. I can relate to what she’ve been through, in a way (not neccessary being abused, but alike).

This album is a masterpiece and a MUST have for every music fanatic.

This album scores a full 5 out of 5 (cause it’s FLAWLESS).