Following all that ’09 Grammy night/ Chris Brown mess, it was quite understandable why Rihanna would want to publicly present herself as this non-victim by giving people the dark, edgy and violence-obsessed tough girl-posturing that dominates Rated R. However, four months after it’s initial release, very little of Rated R really lingers in the brain on the same level as previous smashes “Pon De Replay”, “SOS”, “Umbrella” or “Don’t Stop The Music”, making us wish that Rihanna would’ve found a better way to marry her sudden stab at “maturity” with the sticky pop-craft that made her such an omnipresent Billboard chart force for so many years.
In other words, we would of appreciated more entries like “Rude Boy”.
Opposed to preceding Rated R singles “Russian Roulette” and “Hard”, which both, in a way, strained too…well, hard to paint Rihanna under a serious, “I’m a grown ass woman now” light, “Rude Boy”‘s attempt at separating the singer from her mostly teenybop-oriented past registers more effective because it subtly weaves it’s “adult” tendencies in while keeping in mind the reasons the singer became a household name in the first place. So while we get wink-wink taunts of “Can you get it up?” and “Is you big enough?” alerting us to the fact that we’re not dealing with the same Rihanna of years past, we also get nods to the singer’s bubblegummy rhythmic-pop roots, whether in the clubby, island-pop production (re-triggering memories of her early career output) or the track’s use of the same echoing syllable hook gimmick that stapled “Umbrella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay” to millions of listeners’ brains (The masses seem to agree, as, this week, “Rude Boy” became Rated R‘s first [and likely last] Hot 100 No. 1).
In record time, Rihanna’s underwhelming “comeback” single “Russian Roulette” has already spawned a remix. And to be honest, if we had heard this version, featuring a “killer” (heh) intro sixteen from Kardinal Offishall, first, we would have had better things to say about the record initially.
“Russian roulette/ My name’s written on your bullet/ Hollow points pointing at your heart/ Gwan, pull it!” the Canadian emcee opens, his voice adding an exciting new layer of menace to the track’s other ominous goings-on, and, like magic, instantly upgrading the track from so-so likable to a hot new favorite (which is quite a feat seeing as though we would have probably had the opposite reaction if Jay-Z’s portion on “Umbrella” hadn’t arrived until a few days after that record premiered, so bravo KO!!).
If radio attaches itself to this take, we definitely won’t mind having to hear it’s joy-sapping doom-and-gloom spew from our speakers over and over again.
After spending a large part of 2009 having to deal with the embarrassment of having everyone know (and freely share their opinions and concerns) about a certain Grammy night ordeal, you would think that Rihanna, one of the decade’s top singles artist, would deliver an upbeat fourth album lead-off single that was all shades of game-changing kick-ass to succinctly remind the masses of how she really became a household name in the first place.
Instead, as the first taste of the November-set Rated R, Ri-Ri has oddly chosen to give us a Ne-Yo co-penned ballad that utilizes the title “Russian Roulette” as a metaphor for taking a chance on love over a backing track that’s all intense and menacing, with rolled dice (or is that the crackle of a barrel turning?) and gun shot sound effects thrown in to add more oomph to it’s darkened moodiness.
We’ll give “Roulette” a few points for effectively illustrating the tense stand-off between the song’s two lovers, with a relentless heartbeat-like drum stomp and the occasionally haunting lyric (“…And then I get a scary thought/ That he’s here means he’s never lost”) doing enough to bring about a couple of arm goosebumps. But following the first few curious listens, it’s spooky intrigue fades, exposing it for the largely lackluster “comeback” it is.
Put simply, if we wanted noir-ish ambiance from Rihanna right now, we’d revisit her and Ne-Yo’s previous single collaboration “Unfaithful”; for goth-toned pop, we’d rather give “Disturbia” a re-spin (and if we wanted gun shot-accented R&B, Lloyd’s “Pusha” would be the ticket).
“Russian Roulette” is okay (in a third or fourth single kind of way), but as the first solo thing to emerge from the singer following all that Chris Brown drama, releasing an eardrum-rupturing club-pop confection (possibly about how much angry lil’ ex-boyfriends suck) would have been far more appreciated.
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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Following all that ’09 Grammy night/ Chris Brown mess, it was quite understandable why Rihanna would want to publicly present herself as this non-victim by giving people the dark, edgy and violence-obsessed tough girl-posturing that dominates Rated R. However, four months after it’s initial release, very little of Rated R really lingers in the brain on the same level as previous smashes “Pon De Replay”, “SOS”, “Umbrella” or “Don’t Stop The Music”, making us wish that Rihanna would’ve found a better way to marry her sudden stab at “maturity” with the sticky pop-craft that made her such an omnipresent Billboard chart force for so many years. 
Well damn, that was fast. 
After spending a large part of 2009 having to deal with the embarrassment of having everyone know (and freely share their opinions and concerns) about a certain Grammy night ordeal, you would think that Rihanna, one of the decade’s top singles artist, would deliver an upbeat fourth album lead-off single that was all shades of game-changing kick-ass to succinctly remind the masses of how she really became a household name in the first place.
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