Maps of Music

A Girl Like Me (2006)

Where the lyrics of A Girl Like Me take you, and where it was really made.

Released less than eight months after her debut, this second album sold nearly twice as many copies in its first week as the debut did.

Key places

Recorded in Kingston, Jamaica (2006)

Recording site Dynamic Sounds — "Break It Off" with Sean Paul was recorded in Paul's hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, and Rihanna flew down to Jamaica to record the song. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• A Girl Like Me: second studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna
• Released April 10, 2006 by SRP Records and Def Jam Recordings
• Pop, dancehall and R&B album shaped by Rihanna's Caribbean roots
• Adds rock elements and ballads to that base
• Released less than eight months after debut album Music of the Sun

Background

• Rihanna discussed experimenting with rock on the album with L.A. Reid, Chairman and CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group
• Announced in February 2006 for an April 2006 release
• Rihanna called it a very personal album and said it covers what it is like to be a girl like her
• Her debut album Music of the Sun was released in August 2005

Recording

• Producers: Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate, J. R. Rotem, and Ne-Yo
• The track "Break It Off" with Sean Paul was recorded in Paul's hometown of Kingston, Jamaica
• "Kisses Don't Lie" was written and recorded in Barbados, Rihanna's native country
• "SOS" was the first track recorded for the album and was recorded within three days

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career beginnings

• Robyn Rihanna Fenty, born February 20, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados
• Signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2005 after an audition for Jay-Z and Antonio "L.A." Reid
• Debut album Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006) both reached the US Billboard 200 top ten
• "SOS" became her first US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single

Peak pop era

• Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) marked a shift to dance-pop and R&B and is her best-selling album, with about nine million copies sold
• "Umbrella", "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia" each topped the Billboard Hot 100
• Rated R (2009), Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011) and Unapologetic (2012) followed
• Unapologetic was her first US Billboard 200 number-one album

Later career

• Moved from Def Jam to Roc Nation; Anti (2016) became her second US number-one album
• Headlined the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February 2023, the most-watched halftime show in history
• Has released sporadic singles since 2016 and acted in films including Battleship (2012), Ocean's 8 (2018) and Smurfs (2025)
• Sales estimated above 250 million records

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic's David Jeffries wrote that Rihanna gracefully avoided the sophomore slump with a less tropical, more urban effort than her debut
• Jeffries compared "Kisses Don't Lie" to Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock"
• The Washington Post's Dan Charnas noted a much broader musical palette and ambitious pop ballads
• The Observer's Ruth Jamieson said the album moved closer to the essence of Rihanna with Sugababes-style harmony and reggae
• Rolling Stone's Barry Walters said the album did not match the ingenuity of its lead single, but the rock guitar of "Kisses Don't Lie" made it more likable
• The New York Times' Kelefa Sanneh called the album scattershot and full of duds apart from three songs
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani said the ballads were too mature for the singer's vocal talent
• Vibe's Celia San Miguel described it as a pop album informed but not bounded by Caribbean roots

Records

• US Billboard 200 debut at number five, selling 115,000 copies in its first week
• UK Albums Chart debut at number six, peaking at number five in July 2006
• Topped the Canadian Albums Chart, her first number-one album in Canada
• Certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA in the United States
• Certified Platinum by ARIA for 70,000 units shipped in Australia
• Platinum certification from the IFPI across Europe

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "SOS" was originally intended for Christina Milian's third studio album So Amazin', but she rejected it, and L.A. Reid then had Rihanna in mind to record it
• "We Ride" was written and produced by StarGate, who also produced and co-wrote "Unfaithful"
• The album's "Break It Off" reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 without a music video
• Rihanna opened for Gwen Stefani on the Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005 in Japan, performing some songs that would appear on this album
• The album was re-released as a two-disc deluxe edition in Germany on November 17, 2006

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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