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Rated R (2009)

Where the lyrics of Rated R take you, and where it was really made.

Rated R was made in studios across the US and Europe, and it came out nine months after Rihanna's domestic violence case, yet it is a darker and more personal record than anything she had released before.

Key places

Metropolis Studios, London (2009)

Recording site Metropolis Studios — Metropolis Studios in London was one of the four studios where recording sessions for Rated R took place. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles (2009)

Recording site Westlake Recording Studios — Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles hosted recording sessions for Rated R, among studios in New York, London and Paris. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Studios Davout, Paris (2009)

Recording site Pathé Marconi studios — Studios Davout in Paris was one of the recording locations for Rated R, alongside studios in London and Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Rated R is the fourth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna
• Released November 20, 2009, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records
• Released first in Australia, France and Germany, then in North America and the United Kingdom three days later on November 23
• Rihanna served as executive producer alongside Antonio 'L.A.' Reid and The Carter Administration
• Additional production by Chase & Status, Stargate, The-Dream, Ne-Yo and Brian Kennedy
• Guest performers include Young Jeezy, will.i.am, Justin Timberlake and Slash
• Pop, hip hop and R&B album with rock influences, dubstep elements and a foreboding, atmospheric tone
• Dancehall appears in 'Rude Boy' and Latin music in 'Te Amo'

Background

• Recorded after the February 2009 assault of Rihanna by her boyfriend Chris Brown
• Speculation followed over whether any song on the album would be about Brown
• Ne-Yo told MTV News he would not write a song for Rihanna about Brown, because he considered the idea unnecessary
• Ne-Yo said listeners should expect an 'edgier' and 'angrier' Rihanna on the album
• After her previous album's success, Rihanna wanted to avoid falling into a single sound or vibe
• Justin Timberlake described Rated R as a whole new sound that differs significantly from her last album
• Rihanna said she wanted the album to be less influenced by synthpop than her previous work

Recording

• Rihanna began recording songs for the album in March 2009
• Sessions took place at Milk Studios in Manhattan, Metropolis Studios in London, Studios Davout in Paris and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles
• Rihanna worked with several songwriters and producers, including Chuck Harmony, The-Dream, Christopher 'Tricky' Stewart, Chase & Status, Stargate, Demo and Justin Timberlake
• Stargate produced a collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake that did not make the final cut
• Chase & Status had two sessions with Rihanna after she heard their track 'Saxon'
• In October 2009 she concluded recording sessions with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream
• 'Russian Roulette' was co-written by Ne-Yo and Harmony
• 'Rockstar 101' includes a guitar contribution from Slash

Cover

• Final image from the photoshoot made by German fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth
• Cover released October 27, 2009
• Black-and-white image of Rihanna in a leather top, one hand covering her right eye, each finger wrapped in rings
• The cover was compared to 1980s album covers by singer Grace Jones

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

• Critics gave Rated R positive reviews, praising Rihanna's mature performance
• AllMusic's Andy Kellman gave four out of five stars and called the songs exaggerated but compelling
• Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune rated it three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it powerful and moving art
• Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times gave it four out of four stars and called it a complex and fascinating portrait
• Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone called it one of the year's best pop albums
• Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly named it the best pop album of 2009
• Sean Fennessey of Spin wrote a mixed review, finding the album does not suit Rihanna's ballad-based strengths
• Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork said her artistic aspirations were loftier than her abilities
• Michaelangelo Matos of The A.V. Club rated it C+

Reappraisal

• At Metacritic, based on 21 reviews, the album holds an average score of 75, her highest rated album on the site
• Chuck Arnold of Billboard described it in 2019 as a coming-of-age manifesto
• Jordan Simon of Blavity described it as a dark portrait of a Black woman's journey to self-healing
• Ann Powers identified regret as a significant theme of the album

Records

• Debuted at number 4 on the US Billboard 200 with 181,000 first-week copies, her highest first-week sales at that time
• Topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, her first number 1 there
• Certified two-times platinum by the RIAA on March 26, 2018, with over 1,130,000 copies sold in the US as of June 2015
• Peaked at number 5 on the Canadian Albums Chart
• Peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, two-times platinum from the BPI
• Peaked at number 4 on the German Albums Chart, platinum certification
• Worldwide sales over three million copies as of November 2010

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• 'The Last Song' was among the last tracks made for the album, and Rihanna recorded it within the final twelve hours before the album was due.
• Stargate originally produced a collaboration between Rihanna and Drake, but that song did not make the final cut.
• A bonus track 'Hole in My Head' featuring Justin Timberlake was offered as an exclusive by the Nokia Music Store on the release date.
• Ten songs from the album were remixed by Chew Fu and released as a remix album called Rated R: Remixed.
• The album's first solo concert promotion came at Brixton Academy in London, where Rihanna premiered songs from the record.
• The album was promoted on the Last Girl on Earth Tour, which started in Belgium on April 16, 2010.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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