Unapologetic

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Unapologetic is the seventh studio album by Barbados singer Rihanna. The album was released on November 19, 2012, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded between June and November 2012, during the promotion of her sixth album, Talk That Talk (2011). As an executive producer, Rihanna enrolled previous collaborators, The-Dream, David Guetta, Chase & amp; Status, and StarGate to work with new collaborators like Parker Ighile, Mike Will Made-It, and Labrinth. Unapologetic mainly is pop, dubstep and R & amp; B which incorporates hip hop, EDM and reggae elements in production, similar to the previous sound album Talk That Talk and Rank R (2009).

Unapologetic received mixed general reviews of criticism, with some reviewers describing the music as something of interest, while others criticized its weak and hasty lyrical content. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the ceremony in 2014. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 238,000 copies, becoming Rihanna's number one album single and week his best selling debut in his career. The album also became the number one singer, fourth, and fifth consecutive number one album in England, Norway, and Switzerland, respectively. In December 2014, Unapologetic has sold over four million copies worldwide.

The album produced seven singles including the international hit "Diamonds" and "Stay". The former peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100 where he became Rihanna's number twelve, tying it up with Madonna and The Supremes for the fourth most number-one song in chart history. Prior to its release, Rihanna promoted the album with the 777 Tour which consisted of a seven-date promotional tour where she performed seven concerts each in different cities in North America and Europe in seven days. To further promote Unapologetic , Rihanna embarked on her fourth world tour titled Diamonds World Tour.

Video Unapologetic

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In November 2011, Rihanna released her sixth studio album Talk That Talk . This album is rooted in pop, dance and R & amp; B but also incorporated a variety of other music genres such as hip hop, electro house, dancehall, and dubstep, a prominent genre in his fourth studio album Rated R (2009). Talk That Talk generally received positive reviews from contemporary music critics upon release. It was a commercial success and reached the top ten on more than twenty national charts, including number one on UK Album Ladder and number three on the US Billboard 200. The album produced six singles including worldwide hits " We Find Love "and" Wherever You Been Been ". "We Found Love" topped the charts in over 25 countries and sold over 9 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. In March 2012, Rihanna revealed that although she has not started recording, she started "working on new sounds" for her seventh studio album.

Maps Unapologetic

Recording

On June 20, 2012, Rihanna began recording her seventh studio album, working with Nicky Romero and Burns. Rihanna and Burns booked three days in a studio in London while Rihanna appeared on Radio 1's Weekend Hackney. It also confirmed that Rihanna worked with Eric Bellinger, Sean Garrett, and Swedish House Mafia for her seventh album. On July 6, 2012, Def Jam executive No. I.D. revealed that he had started working with Rihanna on an album that said "I'll be coming in next week for about a week". On July 10, 2012, British singer and producer Labrinth revealed to Capital FM that he has worked with Rihanna on the album. On July 17, 2012, it was reported that Rihanna would be working with an R & B Ne-Yo and members of N-Dubz Fazer. In an interview with Capital FM Ne-Yo talked about working with Rihanna on an album that said: "I just went in to do a few things for Rihanna, you know She's the hardest working woman in showbiz world right now She's in the process of putting together new album as we speak, I joined StarGate and David Guetta and several others for the project.

Sean Garrett confirmed in July 2012 that he had been in the studio with French DJ David Guetta working on Rihanna's album saying: "I was in the studio with David doing some things for Rihanna recently.He found inspiration in things that did not I like, and I feel good about things he does not like, he wants to be more urban and I want to be more international, so we encourage each other I try to help Rihanna He works hard and it's cool to write for someone who is so open-minded. "On August 21, 2012, American songwriter Claude Kelly said that he had written a song for Rihanna when she appeared in London. Kelly speaks in the songs she wrote for Rihanna saying: "Rihanna is a superstar around the world at the moment and she's performing in stadiums and arenas now, so I want songs that reflect her audience, when I'm in London she performs at a front festival like 30,000 to 40,000 people.So I do not want little songs that only work on the radio, so I try to do songs with big anthemic stema. "

On August 16, 2012, singer and songwriter R & amp; B UK, Angel stated that he has written for Rihanna's album. He said: "I love to write songs and it's great to throw a song to another artist.Several weeks ago I was writing for Rihanna". In September 2012, Ne-Yo confirmed his involvement in the album that says "I did go to the studio with him, I know I have one or two on the album he must keep."

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Music and lyrics

Rihanna explained her interest in developing new soundscapes, "I like to experiment and I like to work with different sounds and put them together so they are not one dimensional." He also added "Right now we are working to collect and create sound first before we even start working on lyrical or melody direction.I have some kind of idea, and that's very rough now, so I'm really excited to start it." Sean Garrett talks about the sound of an album that says it is a "huge puddle of genres". Rihanna revealed during an interview with GQ's "Men of the Year" that she wanted her music to be passionate about saying "I want to make music that is hopeful, exhilarating, nothing is tacky or supersentimental, I just want to have a feeling that takes you out. You want to trigger the fire, I want it to be real, authentic, and raw. "

The first round of the album consists of EDM and Southern minimalist hip hop songs "syrupy", featuring abrasive sound effects and eccentric beats. Like most albums, they generally draw on dubstep, a heavy-bass subgenre characterized by a wobbly synthetic sound and booming bass drops, and dance-pop and chopped and chaotic noises. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times characterized album music as "brutish and bruised" with "hard and plated" productions, citing David Gutta's "guttural" production of "Phresh Out the Runway" and "Right Now" as an example. Music journalist Jude Rogers characterizes the album's music as "R & amp; B-pop", while Time magazine Melissa Locker says she has "Urban R & D" sound. According to Alexis Petridis, different producers working at Unapologetic seem to be trying to get away from Rihanna's "pop-dance template" earlier... or at least to rearrange voguish sounds into less familiar shapes. Unapologetic ' s ballad-oriented second half combines disco, reggae, and rock style. According to music critic Greg Kot, Unapologetic is "as if" a pop album, while Vibe says that it is "on the surface" of various genres such as R & B, dubstep and pop.

High tempo songs like "Phresh Out the Runway", "Jump", and "Pour It Up" celebrate carpe diemic hedonism. Most of the album's lyrics may be related to Rihanna's relationship with Chris Brown, with the second half of a light song that has a reference to a dysfunctional love life. The subject of this album is reflected by an abundance of minor key sounds throughout his songs. James Reed of The Boston Globe is called Unapologetic "as a challenging middle finger for his critics, especially those who disagree with Brown." Kot observes the "ins and outs of celebrities" throughout the album and characterizes the songs' narrators as "hard, anxious, lost... the characters in these songs are in a mixed emotional limbo, emotionally attracted to lovers and yet uncomfortable about the step next." Spinning Magazine Caryn Ganz writes that "Rihanna sang about her unshakable love" money, love, and "live on time" on "Pour It Up", "Loveeeeeee Song" and "Right Now" songs, each.

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Songs

The album's opening song, "Phresh Out the Runway", is a "sandy banger club" featuring hip hop and EDM styles. The song is a "noisy and trapping catcher" reminiscent of Rihanna's 2012 "Birthday Cake", and contains "blazin 'beats, brags aplenty" and "unapologetic attitude". The lyrical content of this song is about Rihanna explaining how if there is a crew who does not respect her, then they should no longer live with her. "Diamonds" is a mid-tempo ballad that combines electronic and pop music genres. It features heavy synthesizers, orchestral sounds and electronic rhythms. The lyrical content of this song marks the departure of recurring themes of unhealthy relationships on other albums, and contains a prominent concept of love.

"Numb" is a "boring Middle Eastern scented party". Numb Instrumentation consists of Egyptian flute riffs and "exploding bombastic beats". "Numb" contains examples of Kanye West's "Can not Tell Me Nothing", written by West and Aldrin Davis. The contents of the song's lyrics are "controversial" because it is about feeling "numb after taking medicine" and "respect for being tall". "Pour It Up" is a club song, with a minimal hip hop beat. Lyrics, it finds Rihanna transforming club-strip songs into a declaration of independence, pulling out her dollar bills on strip clubs, getting drunk, and boasting loudly. "Loveeeeeee Song" is a duet with rapper and Future singer, with soft vocals by Rihanna and lyrics that put love as a game of hostility. "Jump" is a dubstep-influenced dance song that illustrates the 1996 Ginuwine song "Pony". Lyrics, on "Jump" Rihanna preaches to her ex-spouse that she will not pursue her. "Right Now" is "a fun song for clubs". This song contains electronic music and dance, with the duration of 3 : 01 . and this song features "bassline stirring".

"What Now", produced by Parker Ighile, is a "vulnerable ballad" that contains "hard chorus". This song is a tempo of pop piano tempo ballads and "builds up well from her soothing poem to an electrically powered hook." "Stay" is a ballad that has piano and guitar instrumentation. The lyrics revolve around "failing against true love", according to Dan Martin for NME "No Business Person" combines Chicago's springboard and style, featuring strings, pianos, and fourth floor floor kicking drums. Rihanna said that the song's lyrics showed "basically the way I see things about my personal life." Lyrics, the couple proclaim their eternal allegiance, see Lexus and recognize the world that the romantic relationship between them is just their business.

"Love Without Tragedy/Virgin Mary" represents two songs integrated electronics and a new wave, which lasts for the duration of 6 : 58 with lyrics that are songs a very private, two part that opens with a grim atmosphere and shifts to a recognizable subject and vocals that lift Rihanna. "Get It Over With" is a down-tempo song, "chilled-out". "No Love Allowed" is a reggae song with "bubbly flow, dubbed". The last song "Lost in Paradise" is a "dreary-but-hope-please" mid-tempo ballad with a tempo that often goes down. The lyrics, it talks about a stronger love than a gunshot, "Half of Me" is a space pop song that lasts for three minutes and twelve seconds.

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Singles

"Diamonds" aired on September 26, 2012, and was released the following day as the lead single from Unapologetic . Criticism is shared on the track; some praised Rihanna's different musical direction, however, others criticized her production. The artwork cover for this song features Rihanna's rolling diamonds on a sheet of cannabis paper. The music video of the song depicts Rihanna in four environments that represent elements of earth, air, water and fire. "Diamonds" debuted at number 16 on the US Hot 100 Billboard Billboard, finally reaching number one, giving Rihanna the number twelve-one in the country and tying it with Madonna and The Supremes as the fifth artist-most number in the history of the graph. The song also topped the charts in eighteen other countries around the world including Austria, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.

"Stay", featuring guest vocals by American recording artist Mikky Ekko, was released as the second international single from the album on January 28, 2013. And Martin for NME thought that the lyrical content "Stay" put "spin vulnerable "in relation to Chris Brown. The music video that accompanies the song was released on February 11, 2013 via E! and then to VEVO the next day. The song reached five of the twenty-four countries worldwide including number four in the UK and number three on US Billbard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna's top twenty-four on the final chart, thus passing Whitney Houston's Calculation of 23 the top ten songs. Furthermore, it reached number one in Canada, the Czech Republic and Denmark, while also topping the US Pop Songs chart.

"Pour It Up" was requested for urban radio as the album's third single in the United States on January 8, 2013. The song debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 90, finally reaching the top twenty ranking of number 19. "Pour It Up" is also mapped on several sub-charts in countries including number one and six on Hot R & amp; B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Hot R & amp; B/Hip-Hop Song chart, and number 47 on the Hot Dance Club Songs charts. It also makes appearances in other countries such as Canada, France and the UK. A remix of "Pour It Up" is then distributed with rap-rap from American rapper Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Juicy J, and T.I. On October 2, 2013, the accompanying music video was released to Rihanna's official Vevo account after some delay.

"Loveeeeeee Song" was released as the fourth single on April 3, 2013 and has an impact on urban radio stations in the UK. The song peaked at number 55 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 in R & amp; B Chart in the UK. In addition to its chart performance, it also peaked at number 14 in the US Hot R & amp; B/Hip-Hop Songs for powerful digital downloads.

"Right Now" was released as the fifth single from the album and was sent to contemporary hit radio in the United States on May 28, 2013. After the release of Unapologetic , the song was mapped at number one on US Billboard > Hot Dance Club Songs Song and number seven on the UK Dance Chart.

"What Now" was released as the sixth single from the album in selected countries; has peaked at number 21 and 13 in Australia and New Zealand. The single also appeared on the French, British and Belgian singles charts. On August 29, 2013, a digital remix of EP promotions from "What Now" was released exclusively for Beatport. "What Now" officially impacts the US rhythmic radio on September 24, 2013 and then impacts the Top 40/Mainstream radio on October 1, 2013. The music video that accompanies the song was released to VEVO on November 15, 2013.

"Jump" was released to Australian radio on January 24, 2014 as the fifth single in Australia and seventh overall.

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Release and promotion

On September 12, 2012, Def Jam France announced via Twitter that Rihanna will be releasing a new single in the coming week while her seventh studio album is scheduled to be released in November 2012. However, the tweet was immediately removed and replaced with another clarification that "more information will be available tomorrow, Thursday, September 13 ". To further promote the announcement for his seventh studio album, Rihanna launched the promotional site rihanna7.com. Through his official Twitter account, Rihanna posted a series of "teasing" tweets announcing her seventh studio album. On October 11, 2012, he revealed cover art and the title of his new album, Unapologetic . VH1 rated the cover at number one on the list of The 30 Hottest Naked Album Covers Ever. Regarding the album title, Rihanna explained that she named it because she wanted to express how honest she was, "I named my album 'Unapologetic' because there is only one truth, and you can not apologize for it.It's honest.I'm always developing of course, I think the only motto I have is honestly â € <â €

In August 2012, it was revealed that Unapologetic will be released in late November 2012. In early October, it was reported that the album will be released on November 19, 2012. On November 2, 2012, Rihanna released behind-the-scenes video of the trip to create Unapologetic . The first video included behind the scenes Rihanna backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards 2012, various shooting, rehearsing for iHeartRadio Music Festival and shooting in a studio. On November 14th, Rihanna embarked on a seven-date promotional tour for Unapologetic titled Tour 777. She performed seven concerts in seven days, each in different cities in North America and Europe. Fans and members of the international press (150 journalists representing 82 countries) are invited on the Boeing 777 chartered train to each place. Starting on November 14th in Mexico City, the tour visits Toronto (Canada), Stockholm (Sweden), Paris (France), Berlin (Germany), London (England) and ends on November 20 in New York City (United States). On May 6, 2013, Fox aired a documentary on the tour, with documentary DVD released the following day.

Rihanna performed "Diamonds" and "Phresh Out the Runway" at Victoria's Secret Fashion 2012 event on November 7, 2012, which aired on CBS on December 4, 2012. She performed "Diamonds" and a solo version of "Stay" on Saturday Night Live on November 10, 2012. On November 25, 2012, Rihanna performed "Diamonds" at The X Factor in the UK. On December 8th, he performed the song on Wetten, dass..? ( "Want to bet it..?" ) in Germany. On December 9, 2012, Rihanna performed "Stay" in the medley with the 2011 singles "We Found Love" in the nine final series of The X Factor UK. He also performed "Diamonds" on La Chanson de l'annà © e ( "Song of the Year" ) in France, on December 10, 2012, which aired on 29 December 2012. On December 18, 2012, the singer performed "Diamonds" in the season three of the final US Voice.

During the 55th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013, Rihanna performed "Could You Be Loved" with Bruno Mars, Sting, Damian Marley, and Ziggy Marley as a tribute to Bob Marley. Rihanna performed for the second time at the awards ceremony, where she performed her second single "Stay" together with Mikky Ekko. To further promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her fifth concert tour, Diamond World Tour in March 2013. The dates of North America, Africa and Europe were announced with ASAP Rocky serves as a support act for North America, while David Guetta performs for Morocco tour dates as well as some European dates selected including London and Paris. In September 2013, he also appeared on Channel 4's Alan Carr: Chatty Man to promote "What Now".

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Critical reception

Unapologetic received mixed criticisms to the positives of music critics. At Metacritic, which gives a normalized ranking of 100 to reviews of major criticism, the album holds an average score of 61, showing "favorable general reviews", based on 25 reviews. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian found it "much more interesting" sonic than Talk That Talk and stated, "there are many things here worth listening to, if you can decipher the music from the personal life of the artist. " The facts of Alex Macpherson magazine feel that he has some of Rihanna's most interesting songs since Rated R (2009) and that," even when Unapologetic fails, often doing it in an interesting way "in a musical manner. AllMusic's Andy Kellman argues that "the only way to enjoy most of it is to think of it as pure entertainment" and call it "contemporary pop music refreshment" on time.

And Martin from NME commented that, "the best, Unapologetic is trading in a bold pop up," and calls Rihanna "the most interesting pop phenomenon." Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone confirms that Stark's "Unapologetic ', the shadow of R & amp; B is confronta- tively honest and sung in an inch of his life ". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times feels that it "makes the most of [Rihanna's] talent" and states, "even on the most vulnerable songs, he maintains his composure, never once approaching the maudlin." Smokey Fontaine of The Huffington Post calls it "kinetic and varied music", and writes that it's "a global sound explosion, post-mod youth culture through every song".

In the diverse review, Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club criticized Rihanna for "extending [the] challenging tone of the album for her romantic life" and called it "a fiery pop album unfortunately lined with an indecent residue of rebellion redeemed which has marked Brown's latest release." Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times felt that his ad "lyrically altered the poison" of the album, "even during a musical, Rihanna has evolved into one of the forward-thinking pop divas." Simon Price from The Independent screened Rihanna's song as "flatter than Norfolk" and "dulled as dishwater" material, observing "a normally half-hearted person, who has a single sexual meaning".

Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "in the context of an album dominated by ballads and at least superficial introspective lyrics", dubstep songs "feels like a pause". Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine commented that the album sounded "united" and quipped, "Suppose the music is strong enough to support the main bad faith" of the lyrics. Pitchfork's Jessica Hopper dismissed her music as a "synth-pop slogan" and said that the songs "make labor boring, not worth our time and not in line with Rihanna's talent". In his consumer guide to MSN Music, Robert Christgau gently calls him "far more provocative as an android than as a human being". He cited "Phresh Out the Runway", "Diamonds", and "Numb" as highlights, and gave the album a distinguished three-star award, which shows "a pleasant endeavor harmonized by consumers for its aesthetic or individual vision precious ".

Accolades

Unapologetic received awards for Top R & amp; B at the Billboard Music Awards 2013. At the 2013 American Music Awards, he was nominated for Favorite Soul/R & amp; B but lost to Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience . At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, held on January 26, 2014, Unapologetic won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

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Commercial performance

In the United States, Unapologetic debuted at number one on Billboard 200 and sold 238,000 copies in its first week. This is Rihanna's first number one album in the US and her most successful debut week of her career. In the same week, the album's main single "Diamonds" remained on Hot 100's Billboard for the second week in a row. Therefore, Rihanna became the second artist of 2012 to occupy Billboard 200 and Hot 100 simultaneously. The following week, the album fell to number six and sold 72,000 copies. On the March 11, 2013 issue (fourteenth week of the chart), the album re-entered the top five Billboard 200 five at number five, selling 28,000 that week. On May 30th, in 27 consecutive weeks on Billboard 200, Unapologetic exceeded one million sales, sold faster than previous album, Talk of the Talk i>. With that achievement, the album became her sixth album to sell at least a million copies. On July 3, 2013, Billboard the mid-year sale reported that Unapologetic was the 16th best-selling album of 2013 so far, selling 494,000 copies from 1 January to 30 June, 2013. As of June 2015, Unapologetic has sold 1.2 million copies in the US. In February 2018 the album was certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which showed shipments of over 3 million equivalent album units in the US.

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with sales of more than 99,000 copies in its first week. With debut, it became Rihanna's fourth album to reach top spot in the UK as well as her third consecutive chart, binding Madonna, Eva Cassidy and Norah Jones to female artists with the UK's number one album in the row. In May 2013, the album sold 635,000 copies in the UK. It also reached number one in Switzerland and Norway. In Denmark, the album was certified gold by IFPI Denmark, which showed the delivery of 10,000 copies. According to the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), the album has sold over 2.3 million copies worldwide in February 2013, making it the best-selling album of 2012. In France, Unapologetic has sold 240,000 copies per May 2013. In March 2015, Unapologetic has sold over four million copies worldwide.

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Track list

Credits are adapted from Rihanna's official website.

Sample credit

• "Numb" combines the lyrics from "Can not Tell Me Nothing" (2007) by Kanye West, written by Kanye West and Aldrin Davis.
• The "jump" example of the "Pony" element (1996) by Ginuwine, written by Elgin "Ginuwine" Lumpkin, Stephen Garrett and Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley.
• "Nobody's Business" combines the lyrics of "The Way You Make Me Feel" (1987) written and performed by Michael Jackson.

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Format release

Standard version

• Gemstone box packaging Standard 14 tracks

Deluxe version

• Gemstone box packaging Standard 14 songs, 3 bonus tracks
• Bonus DVDs, including unreleased recordings, and First Look of Rihanna's Loud Tour recorded live at the O2 London Arena
• photo books and 28-page art

Luxury diamond edition box

• 17 deluxe version songs
• Bonus DVD
• T-shirt displays photos from an album shoot
• Diamond - inspired bracelets
• 7 laptop stickers
• photo books and 28-page art
• Mosaic fan poster

Diamonds executive platinum box

• 17 deluxe version songs
• Bonus DVD
• photo books and 28-page art
• Unapologetic USB Flash Memory Drive
• T-shirt displays photos from an album shoot
• 7 art print 12 x 15 lithograph, tied together with handmade R logo band
• 3 adhesive devices
• 7 laptop stickers
• 11 x 17 personal notes for fans, handwritten by Rihanna
• Diamond - Remix on vinyl
• See-Guru includes 3D scrolls
• a 40-page notebook with handwritten notes and lyrics
• Mosaic fan poster

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Personnel

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.

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Diagram

Certification

Releasing history

See also

• List of UK Albums The 2010 figures chart
• Album list number one year 2012 (Canada)
• Album list number one year 2012 (US)
• Album list & amp; R number 1 in 2012 (US)
• List of UK R & amp; B Album number-one album 2012
• List of UK R & amp; B Album number one from 2013

References

External links

• Promotional website for album

Source of the article : Wikipedia