Unapologetic

**_Unapologetic_ is Rihanna’s seventh album in as many years, and at the time of writing, it is number one on iTunes in over forty countries. A lot has happened since the singer released her 2011 album _Talk That Talk_: career-wise, the singer has played an unprecedented ten dates at London’s O2 Arena; has sold over three million singles in the space of a year (in the UK alone); and her single ‘We Found Love’ became one of the best-selling songs of all time. In the United States, she opened the 2012 MTV VMAs, scored her twelfth number one single with ‘Diamonds’ and was crowned the best-selling digital artist of all time, with single sales of over fifty-eight-million in the United States alone. More recently, the singer became the first female artist to be viewed three billion times on YouTube.**

However, the singer’s personal life has become consistent tabloid fodder in the past year, with her drug-fuelled partying (evidenced by badgalriri, the singer’s infamous Instagram account) and of course, her reported rekindled romance with abusive former boyfriend Chris Brown. _Unapologetic_ is undoubtedly the singer’s rawest, darkest and most personal album to date. It is also one of her best. Sure, there are songs of a sexual nature (it is **Rihanna**, after all) such as ‘Jump’, but approximately half of the songs are in fact ballads of a much more meaningful nature (‘Stay’, ‘Love Without Tragedy / Mother Mary’). The album isn’t flawless, and there are a couple of moments where it stalls (‘Numb’, ‘Get It Over With’), yet the general consistency is much higher than that of _Talk That Talk_, matching (if not exceeding) that of the singer’s career-redefining 2010 set _LOUD_.

Opener ‘Phresh Out The Runway’ is an expletive-riddled song that becomes more enticing with repeated listens; ‘Pour It Up’ is a seedy hip-hop song which only **Rihanna** could pull off (sample subject matter: “strip clubs” and “dollar bills”); and the aforementioned ‘Jump’ is a highlight of the album, featuring in-your-face lyrics and a surprising (yet welcome) **Skrillex**-worthy dubstep break in the chorus. Elsewhere, ‘Stay’ is one of the standout tracks on the album, and one of the best tracks that **Rihanna** has ever recorded. Anticipation for this one has been high since the singer’s critically acclaimed performance of the track on Saturday Night Live, and the studio version – which features **Mikky Ekko** – lives up to it.

Other songs such as the 80s-influenced ‘Nobody’s Business’ and the captivating two-part ‘Love Without Tragedy / Mother Mary’ keep the quality high before _Unapologetic_ closes with ‘No Love Allowed’ and ‘Lost In Paradise’. The former is a fantastic Caribbean-influenced song that once again explores the dangerus aspects of romance (a theme at the heart of the album) with its violent lyrics; and the final track features a super-catchy beat and a chorus that will become embedded in your head instantly. With the addition of bonus track ‘Half Of Me’, **Rihanna** rounds off the LP nicely, drawing the curtain on a defiant, truly unapologetic album.

**MP3**: ‘Stay’, ‘Love Without Tragedy / Mother Mary’

**Similar To**: Rita Ora, Nicki Minaj