Last summer, it was virtually impossible to escape the infectious hit “Pon De Replay.” Now almost eight months after the release of her debut album, Rihanna is back with “A Girl Like Me.” With her sophomore disc the Barbados native shows that she won’t succumb to the sophomore slump.
“A Girl Like Me” quickly fixes the flaws of her debut album, “Music Of The Sun.” Better lyrics, better production and better collaborations are the immediate distinctions between the two albums.
The greatest improvement on “A Girl Like Me” is Rihanna delving into other genres. She doesn’t pigeon herself in reggaeton – a mixture of reggae, dancehall and hip-hop music – the way she did previously. She melds elements of pop, rock and R&B seamlessly into her Caribbean flavor.
Rihanna also seems to have become more aware of her image. She chooses to be edgy while remaining clothed – especially now that she is outfitted in the swoosh from her new Nike endorsement.
The album opens with a pulsating thump “S.O.S.” Sampling Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” breathed a bit of the ’80s into this dance track. The track is the lead single and has Rihanna singing “I’m obsessive when just one thought of you comes up, I’m aggressive just one thought of closing up.”
The lyrics are more forward – and that doesn’t pertain to just the lead single. Rihanna is more aggressive while remaining vulnerable, a characterization that helps this album prosper more than her debut.
Sean Paul assists the young singer on “Break It Off”, a saucy duet that seems more like an outtake from his last album.
Rihanna doesn’t stray too far from her first album, opting for some of the same collaborators; however, she is at her best with “Unfaithful,” penned by Island Def Jam label mate and rising star, Ne-Yo.
“Unfaithful” shows the best vocals from Rihanna. The song tells a woman’s story of being unfaithful to her partner, which offers a fresh spin on a overdone topic in R&B music. She sings, “I don’t wanna do this anymore, I don’t wanna be the reason why, every time I walk out the door, I see him die a little more inside.”
The track pushes Rihanna into adulthood and shows her appeal as an R&B artist the same way “Final Goodbye” does.
All in all, the album is a solid effort and yet there is still room for improvement for Rihanna. While she is still light years away from Beyonce’s powerhouse vocal, she strengthens her niche and offers a taste of the reggaeton music that is starting to see its mainstream rise.
