Music review: Unapologetic- Rihanna

Rihanna has a got a new album, it screams of her love for Chris Brown.

The songs are all in the album title. Unapologetic is Rihanna trying to explain her bizarre behaviour in the last year. Oh and yes, she also tries to explain her Chris Brown obsession. The tenth track on the album, Nobody’s Business, featuring Chris Brown, is the two giving their critics the lyrical equivalent of a middle finger.

It is a regular pop album with all the right techno beats in the right places. Each song easily runs into the other without any real art to it. It is obviously an album made for radio airplay and to climb the charts and not for smooth listening on your own. None is really unforgettable or inspiring music-wise. The theme of not apologising is in almost every song. It is so overdone that after the umpteenth song where she alludes to her bad-girlness and her unashamed faith in love, I screamed at my computer, “We get it!”

Still, my favourite song was the dance-hall/reggae-inspired No Love Allowed. She does those genres well, seeing as she comes from that background. I also liked Jump where she channels Aaliyah while sampling from Ginuwine’s Pony. Kanye West makes an uncredited appearance here. Love Song featuring Future is also a delight. The sound here is different from the other songs on the album The featured artiste more or less pleasantly took over the track with his gravelly voice, leaving Rihanna playing a supporting role that actually had her sounding better here than on any other song on the album.

Like I said, it is a poppy album so there are enough songs for even the casual listener and not-so-much a Rihanna fan to enjoy without paying much attention to the lyrics. So if you want a piece of mindless/easy listening music you can have in the background as you go through your day, “pop” this in your deck.