Kanye West has some familiarity with diamond-themed songs. With Rihanna’s Unapologetic now on the net, the Bajan beauty drops a surprise remix of her lead single featuring West going in for the song’s first half. It feels more “mixtape freestyle” that a true original collaboration, but Ye’s verse rocks out enough that you won’t mind. Rihanna’s Unapologetic officially drops this coming Tuesday (November 19).
A horse, items falling in a house, swimming in a pool… a good portion of the shots here don’t exactly coincide with the “shine bright like a diamond” mantra of the song. Nonetheless, Rihanna is her usual sultry self and the shots, especially the scenic ones with her, are beautiful. Rihanna’s new album Unapologetic drops on November 19.
Rihanna is in “big ballad” mode “Diamonds,” the lead single off her currently untitled seventh album. There’s not much to criticize here. The lyrics are simple and don’t clutter Stargate and Benny Blanco’s triumphant arrangements. And credit to Rihanna (or studio tricks), her voice remains strong and not drowned out by the grand production. Expect this to be another hit for the Bajan bad girl.
We get another dose from the Theater of the Absurd today with Chris Brown penning a diss verse at newfound adversary Drake. Breezy has been rapping for awhile (most notably on the Boy In Detention mixtape), so the bars are decent enough. But it’s the details behind the “beef” that makes this whole situation downright comical, up to the actual picture you see for this article. Game’s been doing a nice job with these recent freestyles, and we know he loves any type of drama so this is right up his alley.
Guess it’s time to put Rihanna’s “Power of the P” ability up to Badu level. And to date, I think every rapper that’s spit over this track has done a better job than Chief Keef.
Drake and Rihanna get hugged up for the house-leaning title track off Drizzy’s Take Care album. There’s a lot of random imagery here like frolicking animals, tribal dancing and winter scenery that doesn’t quite all come together, but if you like the song this should be enjoyable.
Rihanna and Chris Brown have reunited on wax with remixes of their hits “Birthday Cake” and “Turn Up the Music.” The former blows up the sexual innuendo with Brown’s opening line stating “girl, I wanna fuck you right now.” “Birthday Cake” was already catchy enough and Brown’s addition does nothing to change that. “Turn Up the Music” is the unexpected drop. Rihanna drops a short verse in the middle, but outside of that and some ad-libs the song remains the same.
As expected, there’s been a lot of dicussion about Rihanna being a disappointment and a bad role model for not only forgiving but working with an ex-boyfriend that viciously beat her three years ago. The former couple has pretty much went against the advice of their labels in working together. But what people are going to need to accept is their music and leave their personal lives to just that… being personal. Rihanna and Chris Brown are not role models at all and haven’t been anything near that for the majority of their careers. If your child looks up to either of them, then there’s a much better job you need to do at parenting.
There are many musical icons not named Ike Turner who were women abusers, ranging from James Brown to the Notorious B.I.G. and Fela Kuti. If we can acknowledge their musical gifts without endorsing their personal transgressions, is it not possible to do the same here?
RIHANNA X CHRIS BROWN “BIRTHDAY CAKE REMIX”
CHRIS BROWN X RIHANNA “TURN UP THE MUSIC REMIX”
After listening to this, you’ll never here me complain about Rihanna’s singing ever again. With that said, the Bajan beauty should be getting a royalty check from this.
NICKI MINAJ “MARILYN MONROE” (TAGS)
“You gon’ learn today…”
DJ Omega and Ty Kidd are blessing crate diggers early this year with a 49-song collection of samples from Wale’s career. Instead of testing your knowledge, these guys make things easier by blending the original with Wale’s rendition. From Phil Collins and Aretha Franklin to Angela Bofill and Kut Klose, this tape is a great offering of decades worth of music history. Check the few samples beflow before downloading.
THE MOMENTS X WALE “GIRLS/BACK YARD BAND/PRETTY GIRLS”
ANGELA BOFILL X WALE ”TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
PAUL MCCARTNEY X WALE X MMG ”JET/SELF-MADE”
The visuals for Rihanna’s bombastic club single begins with the carefree zeal of youthful love. The narrative takes on a sinister edge when the viewer discovers much of that reckless passion is the result of drug addiction. As with many such stories, this doesn’t end well. You may disagree with Rihanna being dubbed the “sexiest woman alive” by Esquire, but this clip is an excellent example of the sex appeal the Bajan beauty exudes. Her new album Talk That Talk hits stores on November 21.
In keeping with the successful release format of last year’s platinum plus Loud, Rihanna has returned to the international dance pop sound for “We Found Love,” the first single from her still untitled sixth studio album. While Loud’s lead single, “Only Girl in the World,” was more subdued and seductive in parts, Calvin Harris’ production on “We Found Love” has a much bigger and consistent upbeat stadium sound. Rihanna’s vocals are also amplified to match the arrangements. Overall, there are no “risks” taken and this will likely be a safe radio hit. Her more urban fans won’t dig this, but she usually compensates them with later singles from her albums. The track is available now on iTunes.
RIHANNA “WE FOUND LOVE”
