Rihanna: Rated R (2LP) [DEF JAM]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set comes in a trifold jacket. Rated R debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 181,000 copies in its first week, and "Rude Boy" spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Trifold jacket

About the album

After the bright, chart-sweeping Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna went somewhere darker on purpose. Recorded across the US and Europe from March 2009, with Rihanna herself as executive producer alongside L.A. Reid and The Carter Administration, Rated R swaps sunshine pop for a brooding, atmospheric mix of rock, hip hop, R&B and early dubstep. It's the sound of a pop star taking the wheel for herself.

The producers range from Stargate, The-Dream and Ne-Yo to Chase & Status, who give "Wait Your Turn" and "Fire Bomb" their low-end menace, and Brian Kennedy and Chuck Harmony also lend a hand. "Russian Roulette" was the tense lead single, "Hard" with Young Jeezy became her 13th US top-ten hit, "Rude Boy" brings the dancehall, and "Te Amo" goes Latin and reached No. 1 in Brazil. Justin Timberlake and will.i.am contribute.

Critics called it her most layered and heartfelt album, and it spun off six singles and her third world tour, Last Girl on Earth. It's often cited as the groundwork for much of what came next. Slash plays guitar on "Rockstar 101," presumably after being assured the course was beginners' level.

Also at Kops: more Rihanna on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On SRP / Def Jam (cat# B0025455-01), a reissue of the 2009 album.