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Talk That Talk

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Untitled

Talk That Talk is the sixth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna and was released on November 18, 2011, through Def Jam Recordings. The lead single from the album, "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris, premiered on Capital FM radio on September 22, 2011, and was released on iTunes U.S. the same day. The album is rooted in R&B, dance-pop, and pop, but also incorporates a variety of genres such as hip hop, electro, trance, house, and dubstep. Lyrically, the album speaks of love, sexuality, and empowerment. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, many of which complimented its departure from the dark themes presented on her fourth and fifth studio albums, Rated R (2009) and Loud (2010), respectively.

Background and development

Rihanna performing during The Loud Tour in Florida

Following the release and success of Rihanna's previous studio album, Loud, the singer revealed via Twitter that the album would be re-issued with new songs and released in fall 2011, writing that "[t]he [Loud era] continues with more new music to add to [your] collection".[1][2] In September 2011, Rihanna took to Twitter to confirm that plans for a re-issue of Loud had been scrapped, with the singer tweeting "I [thought about] a [re-release], but LOUD is its own body of work! Plus [you] guys work so [fucking] hard that [you] deserve to act brand new."[3]

In an interview with Mixtape Daily, producer Verse Simmonds, half of the duo The Jugganauts, who wrote and produced the reggae-infused song "Man Down" from Loud, revealed that the singer was nearing completion of her sixth studio album in August 2011.[4] The duo also said that they had penned two tracks for possible inclusion on the album, saying "From what I understand, she is closing the album up now, and we did two records for her that she really, really loved and I'm really excited about them as well" and also expressed interest in writing a third song.[4] On September 15, 2011, Rihanna confirmed via her official Twitter account that recording sessions for the album were indeed underway, tweeting "I can't wait to start filling u guys in on some details!"[5] The tweet was soon followed up by another, where Rihanna tweeted "*Zips lips*," implying that she would no longer talk about the project's development.[5] Although the tweet suggested that the singer would not give any more details about the album, a fan tweeted to Rihanna asking when the album would be released, to which she replied, "THIS FALL!!!!! [sic]."[6]

Title and artwork

As part of the promotion for the album, Rihanna created a Facebook campaign page entitled "Rihanna: UNLOCKED" [sic], whereby her fans on Facebook are given missions to complete, in the form of games, in order to "unlock" new information about the album.[7][8] On October 4, 2011, fans unlocked "Mission:5", which meant that fans had unlocked another piece of information from the album, with number five revealing the title of the album. The title, Talk That Talk, was announced via her official Facebook page.[9] On October 10, 2011, after the Loud Tour concert in Glasgow, Scotland, Rihanna gave a copy of the album's artwork to a fan.[10] The singer later tweeted to explain that the fan she gave the copy to was the only person outside of the singer's management to have seen the artwork up until that point, writing "One very lucky fan outside my concert just got the 1st album cover! She's the 1st to see it! Only 1 person in the world has it".[10] The following day, fans unlocked "Mission:6" via the singer's official Facebook page, which resulted in Rihanna officially unveiling two artwork covers for the standard and deluxe editions of the album.[11] The standard edition artwork features Rihanna "[licking] her coral red hued lips, posing in a camouflage sleeveless shirt with the album title tatted on her right arm".[12]

Upon on unveiling of the standard edition's artwork, both James Dinh of MTV and a reviewer for NME commented that Rihanna looks "seductive" in the image.[11][13] Gordon Smart of The Sun humorously criticized the standard edition artwork by saying that it looks as though the singer is trying to cover up a cold sore with her tongue, writing "It's easy to pick them up at this time of year – especially as she's constantly naked or attached to her new boyfriend Dudley O'Shaughnessy by the lips."[14] Smart continued, writing "Let's hope they had some decent soap on set to remove the album title Talk That Talk from her wrist as well".[14] The deluxe edition artwork shows the singer "[blowing] out a puff of smoke" and is shot in black and white.[12] Rap-Up commented that the deluxe edition artwork features Rihanna billowing smoke out of her mouth whilst staring into the camera with "piercing eyes".[15] Amanda Hensel of Popcrush noted that Rihanna is French inhaling the cigarette smoke, whereby someone takes a deep drag, then while the mouth is open and the jaw is slowly closed to force the smoke out, then inhales through the nose, thus inhaling the smoke drifting from the mouth.[16] Hensel also commented that the singer looks "fierce" in both the standard and deluxe edition covers.[16]

Musical structure

Talk That Talk combines a variety of musical genres, including hip hop, R&B, electro, dancehall and dubstep, a genre first heard on the singers fourth studio album, Rated R (2009).[17] The opening track, "You Da One", which was produced by Dr. Luke, is a bouncy mid-tempo song with a Caribbean flavor, and features a dubstep influenced breakdown towards the middle of the song.[17] "Where Have You Been", produced by Dr. Luke and Ester Dean, runs through an acoustic beat and incorporates elements of trance.[17] The lead single, "We Found Love", is an electro house and dance-pop song.[18][19] The title track, "Talk That Talk" features rapper Jay-Z and samples The Notorious B.I.G.'s "I Got A Story To Tell".[17] The fifth track, "Cockiness (Love It)", was produced by Bangladesh features hip hop and dancehall influences.[17] The sixth track, "Birthday Cake", produced by Da Internz and The-Dream, is an interlude lasting one minute and 18 seconds. It runs through a distorted electro beat.[17] The seventh track, "We All Want Love", is an acoustic song with shaking drum beats.[17] The eighth track, "Drunk On Love", was produced by longtime collaborators StarGate and Ester Dean features elements of trance influenced beats and clattering synths. It samples the song "Intro", originally written and performed by English band The xx.[17] The tenth track, "Watch n' Learn", features a flirtatious and playful hip hop melody with grinding synths.[17] The final track of the standard edition, "Farewell", is a ballad.[17] The first bonus track of the deluxe edition, "Red Lipstick", is a dubstep song produced by Chase & Status and The-Dream and features co-production from Rihanna.[17] The thirteenth track of the album, "Do Ya Thing", is an R&B song co-produced by The-Dream and Rihanna.[17] The final track of the album, "Fool In Love", is a midtempo song with acoustic guitars.[17]

Singles

"We Found Love", featuring Calvin Harris, was released as the lead single from the album.[22] It premiered in the United Kingdom on Capital FM radio on September 22, 2011, and was released the same day,[23] and was sent for US mainstream radio adds on October 11, 2011.[24] Critics praised Harris's production of the song, but criticized the lack of lyrical content, with many citing the lyrics as second best to the song's production and composition.[25][20] Rihanna filmed the video for the song on September 26, 2011, in a field in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland,[26][27] and premiered on Whosay.com on October 19, 2011.[28][29] "We Found Love" debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has peaked at number one, giving Rihanna the record for a solo artist to have amassed twenty top-ten singles in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the shortest amount of time.[30][31] and tying her with Whitney Houston in third place amongst females with the most number one singles on the chart, behind Madonna and Mariah Carey.[32] The song also peaked at number one in Denmark, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom,[33] and attained top-five positions in Australia, Finland and Italy.[34] "You Da One" was confirmed by Rap-Up to be the second single from the album, being released on November 13, 2011. The singer appears smoking a cigarette on the single's black-and-white cover art.[35]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(72/100)[36]
Review scores
SourceRating
Billboard(Positive)[37]
Daily Mail[38]
Digital Spy[39]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[40]
The Observer[41]
Slant Magazine[42]
Sputnikmusic[43]
The Daily Telegraph[44]
Under the Gun(3/10)[45]
USA Today[46]

Critical reception of Talk That Talk has been mostly positive, with critics noting the departure of the darker elements seen in her previous two albums, Rated R (2009) and Loud (2010), in favor of a more relaxed sound.

Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a positive review, commenting that "it's a relief to find that on her blissed-out sixth album, ... [Rihanna's] stopped trying to play it so tough",[40] while also noting, "...apparently love has never come so easily to RiRi, whose new song titles include 'We Found Love', 'We All Want Love' and (yes) 'Drunk On Love'. Is she finally admitting that being young and crushed-out on someone might feel, y'know, kind of fun?"[40] James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph echoed this sentiment, stating Rihanna's "sixth album in seven years [is] an adrenalised behemoth of a record which reasserts her position as one of pop's most compulsive pleasures" and "[t]he demons from her relationship with Chris Brown now sound fully exorcised – Rihanna sings as if she is in love with life, and wants to bring us along for the party."[44] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard also gave the album a positive review, but commented on its feeling of having been "rushed". "After reclaiming her crown on Loud... Rihanna is not about to take any sort of break to let her pop princess competitors catch up" He also said, "[Talk That Talk is] an oddly rushed-out release to the objective music fan. Why not wait a bit and let the buzz of Loud set in?"[37] Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album a positive review saying, "[she] may talk dirty when she's trying to lure you into the bedroom or out on the dance floor ... when driven by the intoxicating rhythms ... [she] compels you to listen. So while she revels in satisfying her carnal desires, she also craves a little genuine affection ... but probably the most potent ingredient in the mix is the Barbadian singer's charisma."[46]

Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly gave the album a mixed review, stating, "Nothing here has the undeniable immediacy of 'Only Girl (In the World)' or 'Umbrella', but Rihanna remains charismatic whether she's bringing in a little Caribbean flavor ... or belting an appropriately grand ballad"..."[the album] doesn't feature any bad songs, but it doesn't feature enough great ones either".[47]

Matthew Cole from Slant Magazine gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, saying it is "pretty easily the worst Rihanna album yet, though I wouldn't be surprised to see her break that record next November".[42]

Track listing

Songwriting credits and producers per album liner notes.[48] Lengths per official newsletter.[17] The standard edition is housed in a jewel case and contains 11 tracks. The deluxe edition is packaged in a 6-panel Digipak and contains the standard 11 tracks as well as three bonus tracks, a DVD and a 16-page booklet.[49][50]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."You Da One"Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald, Robyn Fenty, John Hill, Henry WalterDr. Luke, Cirkut3:20
2."Where Have You Been"Dean, Gottwald, Calvin Harris, Walter, Geoff MackDr. Luke, Cirkut, Calvin Harris4:02
3."We Found Love" (featuring Calvin Harris)HarrisCalvin Harris3:35
4."Talk That Talk" (featuring Jay-Z)Dean, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Shawn Carter, Anthony Best, Sean Combs, Carl Thompson, Christopher WallaceStarGate3:29
5."Cockiness (Love It)"Candice Pillay, D. Loernathy, Shondrae Crawford, FentyMr. Bangladesh2:58
6."Birthday Cake"Terius Nash, Fenty, Marcos Palacios, Earnest ClarkDa Internz, The-Dream1:18
7."We All Want Love"Dean, Ernest Wilson, Steve Wyreman, Kevin RandolphNo I.D.3:57
8."Drunk on Love"Dean, Eriksen, Hermansen, Baria Qureshi, Romy Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie SmithStarGate3:32
9."Roc Me Out"Dean, Eriksen, Hermansen, Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillenStarGate, Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen3:29
10."Watch n' Learn"Priscilla Renea, Chauncey Hollis, Fenty, Alja JacksonHit-Boy3:31
11."Farewell"Dean, Alexander GrantAlex da Kid4:16
Total length:37:29
Deluxe edition additional tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Red Lipstick"Nash, Fenty, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Will Kennard, Saul MiltonChase & Status3:37
13."Do Ya Thang"Nash, FentyThe-Dream3:43
14."Fool in Love"Dean, Gottwald, WalterDr. Luke, Ester Dean4:15
Total length:55:49
iTunes Store bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."We Found Love" (featuring Calvin Harris) (Calvin Harris Extended Mix)HarrisCalvin Harris5:45
Total length:61:34
Sample credits[48]
  • "Where Have You Been" contains elements from the composition "I've Been Everywhere" written by Geoff Mack.
  • "Talk That Talk" contains samples from The Notorious B.I.G. recording "I Got a Story to Tell" written by Anthony Best, Sean Combs, Carl Thompson and Christopher Wallace.
  • "Drunk on Love" contains samples from the recording "Intro" as performed by The xx and written by Baria Qureshi, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith.
  • "Red Lipstick" contains interpolations from the composition "Wherever I May Roam" as performed by Metallica and written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Contains a sample from the sound recording "Saxon" performed by Chase & Status and written by William Kennard and Saul Milton.

Release history

Template:Wikipedia books

Region Date Format(s) Label Edition(s)
Australia[51] November 18, 2011 CD, digital download Universal Music Standard, deluxe
Germany[52]
Ireland[53] Standard
Poland[54] Standard, deluxe
Canada[55] November 21, 2011
France[56] Def Jam
Italy[57]
United Kingdom[58] Mercury
United States[23] Def Jam
Japan[59] November 23, 2011 Universal Music

References

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  2. ^ "Rihanna plans 'Loud' re-release for Fall". Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  3. ^ "Rihanna Scraps "Loud" Re-Release For New Album". Hello Beautiful!. BlackPlanet. 2011-09-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Text "accessdate-2011-09-19" ignored (help)
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  23. ^ a b "Rihanna's 'We Found Love' Gets First Radio Play". MTV. Viacom. 2011-09-22. Retrieved 2011-09-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
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  31. ^ "Adele Still Atop Hot 100, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa Debut". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011-10-19. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
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  33. ^ "We Found Love" peaked at number one on the following singles charts:
  34. ^ "We Found Love" attained top five positions on the following singles charts:
  35. ^ "Rihanna reveals second single, producers of 'Talk That Talk'". Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
  36. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/talk-that-talk
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  38. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-2063019/Rihanna-Talk-That-Talk-music-review-RnB-queen-says-loud.html
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  44. ^ a b Lachno, James (2011-11-17). "Rihanna: Talk That Talk, CD review". Telegraph. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  45. ^ "REVIEW: Rihanna – Talk That Talk".
  46. ^ a b Jones, Steve (2011-11-20). "'Talk' isn't cheap when Rihanna is in control". USA Today. Gannett. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
  47. ^ Bell, Josh (2011-11-16). "CD review: Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk'". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
  48. ^ a b (Media notes). {{cite AV media notes}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Format= ignored (|format= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Type= ignored (|type= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
  49. ^ "Buy Rihanna - Talk That Talk (CD & DVD Deluxe Edition)". Play.com. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  50. ^ "Talk That Talk (Deluxe Edition)". JB HI-FI. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
  51. ^ "Buy Talk That Talk Rihanna - Sanity". 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  52. ^ "Rihanna - Neue Single "We Found Love" im Radio, neues Album erscheint am 18. November" (in German). 2011-09-23. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
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  55. ^ "Talk That Talk (Deluxe)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  56. ^ "Talk That Talk" (in French). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  57. ^ "Talk That Talk" (in Italian). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  58. ^ "Talk That Talk". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  59. ^ "Talk That Talk [Limited Edition]". CD Japan. 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-14.

External links

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