The OFFICIAL BabyboiCampbells MUSIC REVIEW: RIHANNA-- "Rated R" (Rating 5/5)

(One of this week's "Featured Artists")

Before I go into this review, I have to make some revelatory statements about Chris Brown and RIHANNA. I have long been a fan of hers since the beginning. C.B., not so much...while there were some songs I liked, it was never enough for me to become a die-hard fan of his...really, the only thing that appealed to me was his dance moves that are now being copied by many others. I write these reviews to the best of my ability based on several things. In the case of RIHANNA and Chris Brown, I have to somehow eliminate what happened between them from my mind in order to properly write an effective review on their music...for the most part, at least. If it turns out by the time C.B.'s album "Graffiti" comes out that I gave RIHANNA the better review...it's not favoritism. It's all based on facts...there is a reason why she got the highest rating I give...and why she is another "featured artist" for this week.

No, she's not a "dyke". No, she's not suicidal. Is your Chris Brown a "faggot"? Is he a woman-beater? It's up to you to answer these questions on your own terms...but to highly criticize an artist in the worse way for switching up their style is beyond unethical. "Rated R" fits perfectly as the title of this unbelievable album. RIHANNA co-wrote nine of the thirteen tracks...and they feature some of the most provocative and intense lyrics EVER found on any of her albums. As a matter of fact, "Rated R" will be the first album in her career that receives a Parental Advisory Warning because of its explicit material. And you know what...I applaud it. Given everything that has happened, do you honestly think RIHANNA was gonna resort to recording "cutesy" music like "Umbrella"? You're an ignorant fool if you believed she would. "Rated R" is darker, more aggressive, sexual, and a departure from the "little girl" we once knew...

If you call yourself a true fan of RIHANNA's, maybe you were able to pick up on something that I did. "Rated R" is a continuation from where the album "Good Girl Gone Bad" ended. Remember this line... "...Once a good girl goes bad...we're gone forever" ...one can only assume that RIHANNA was ALREADY expressing her anger towards the situation she was in...she's just more willing to express it fully at this point in her life...but I bet you didn't think of that did you? And you call yourself a fan...please!

"Rated R" starts off with a slightly scary introduction entitled "Mad House" before entering the heavy bass-thumping sounds of "Wait Your Turn (The Wait is Ova)". This album isn't filled with pop-like sounds and airy material. It is heavy...and it is raw. For those who talk all that garbage about RIHANNA having lost her Caribbean roots...are you tone -deaf? Listen to "Wait Your Turn" one more time and tell me that you don't hear her patois coming through...she isn't faking a Barbadian accent, you know. The album proceeds through very deep ballads like "Stupid In Love", "Cold Case Love", and the haunting lead single "Russian Roulette". There are some sexier moments found on tracks like "Rude Boy". But honestly, as a whole, this album does not disappoint. One of my favorite tracks on the album has to be "Te Amo" ...it really does have the sweetest of the melodies out of the whole entire tracklist....and people like Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake, The-DREAM, and more contributed their expertise at making "Rated R" a remarkable masterpiece.

I may not know what's gonna happen next with RIHANNA's career...because of the ignorance of people, it seems like no one is really accepting of her change in music. All I have to say is this...a true artist knows the definition of evolution. Whatever the driving force, RIHANNA has captured said evolution in "Rated R". I'm very proud of her...and I know she's yet another artist that is here to stay around for a very long time.

SO GET USED TO IT!

Songs that I Absolutely Enjoyed from the Album:
• Wait Your Turn
• Hard featuring Young Jeezy
• Stupid In Love
• Rockstar 101 featuring Slash
• Russian Roulette
• Fire Bomb
• G4L
• Te Amo
• Cold Case Love
• The Last Song

From RIHANNA's new album "Rated R", here's "Photographs" featuring will.i.am...