‘The wait is finally over’, according to Rihanna’s PR folk (although I’m a little confused though, as no one told me I was waiting on anything). In any case, Rihanna’s brand new single ‘Russian Roulette’, the first from new LP ‘Rated R’ (due November 23rd) made it’s worldwide premiere moments ago. As a sceptic of Rihanna’s artistry and longevity, I’d be lying if I said I went into listening to this expecting it to be any good.
Unfortunately, true-to-form, Ms. Fenty did not live up to her hype (which is surprisingly off-the-charts this time, for what reason I don’t know). The Ne-Yo penned track sounds as if it’s trying to sound ‘epic’, but falls kinda short. Ballads really aren’t her forte, so it baffles me why they didn’t go with something more her (i.e. uptempo, sing-songy).
In the interest of fairness, Ms. Fenty’s vocals, in parts, do sound better. Mind you, I’m not convinced we’ve heard the last of her sheep-bleating (I’ve still got many a prayer meeting to attend before that ever happens). That said, off the hype alone, I imagine this will do pretty well. Hell, I’ll probably be humming this one once the Def Jam promo machine is done (ever heard of the phrase: “eat sh*t enough times and you’ll begin to like the taste!”). Errr…welcome back Ms. Fenty…
Hit or Miss?
[Audio Removed As Requested]
Full album press release after the jump!The Wait Is Ova: Official Press Release
THE WAIT IS OVA!!! RIHANNA’s NEW ALBUM – RATED R – HITS MONDAY, NOV. 23rd
“Russian Roulette,” first new single pick –written by Ne-Yo – launches worldwide Oct. 20th on radio and on official Rihanna website.
“Russian Roulette” video to premiere on ABC-TV.
Long-awaited follow-up to 2007’s worldwide multi-platinum Good Girl Gone Bad.
(October 20, 2009 – New York, […]
THE WAIT IS OVA!!! RIHANNA’s NEW ALBUM – RATED R – HITS MONDAY, NOV. 23rd
“Russian Roulette,” first new single pick –written by Ne-Yo – launches worldwide Oct. 20th on radio and on official Rihanna website.
“Russian Roulette” video to premiere on ABC-TV.
Long-awaited follow-up to 2007’s worldwide multi-platinum Good Girl Gone Bad.
(October 20, 2009 – New York, NY) The wait is ova – for one of the most hotly anticipated new albums in recent history, as multi-platinum, award-winning Def Jam recording artist Rihanna announces the completion of her fourth original studio album, Rated R, scheduled to arrive in the physical and digital marketplace on Monday, November 23rd.
Rated R’s first single pick, “Russian Roulette” will be launched at 11:23am EST on October 20th worldwide on http://rihannanow.com. The “Russian Roulette” video, directed by Anthony Mandler, will premiere in prime-time on ABC.
“Russian Roulette” was written and produced by fellow Def Jam artist Ne-Yo, whose long track record with Rihanna includes the #1 hit “Unfaithful” (2006, from A Girl Like Me), their Top 10 duet “Hate That I Love You” (2007, from Good Girl Gone Bad), and #1 pop/ #1 R&B “Take A Bow” (2008, from Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded). In addition to Ne-Yo, other producers and writers on Rihanna’s new album include the team of The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, Chase & Status, Stargate, Justin Timberlake and more.
Rated R is the long-awaited follow-up to Good Girl Gone Bad (May 2007), which contained the non-stop string of hit singles that began with the MTV VMA and Grammy Award-winning global #1 hit “Umbrella” (featuring Jay-Z), then “Shut Up and Drive,” “Hate That I Love You” (featur ing Ne-Yo), and “Don’t Stop the Music.” Good Girl Gone Bad spent 98 total weeks on the Soundscan chart, earned cumulative sales of more than 36-times platinum in at least 20 territories around the world, and spun off the CD+DVD package Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (January 2009) – which continued the string of hits with the #1 “Take A Bow,” and the #1 “Disturbia.”
Good Girl Gone Bad was the third album release in less than two years by the 21-year old Barbados native Rihanna. It followed-up 2006’s RIAA platinum A Girl Like Me, which contained the back-to-back hits, “S.O.S.” and “Unfaithful”; and her RIAA gold debut from 2005, Music Of the Sun, featuring the world-wide smash, “Pon De Replay.”