3. 'Talk That Talk' (2011)
Following off the back of the erratic and joyous 'Loud', Rihanna turned a little more electronic to her next single, the dance-house-pop 'We Found Love' which had considerable production for Scottish producer Calvin Harris. The song went on to become Rihanna's biggest single, being performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games, and was voted on several websites as the best song of 2011. The song is, certainly, a joyous blast of EDM with Rihanna providing strong and emotional vocals that made it the must-play-tune for the fourth quarter of 2011. 'We Found Love' kickstarted the 'Talk That Talk' campaign which saw Rihanna shift to a largely electronic and dance sound as well as channeling some of the boisterous, irreverent attitude that has marked Rihanna's public persona. Songs like the anthemic dance tune 'Where Have You Been', the ballsy 'Roc Me Out' and the sassy, sexy interlude 'Birthday Cake' were all marked with a strong electronic sound production and an equally strong shift in Rihanna's persona. Gone was the sweet and cheeky girl of the 'Loud' campaign and in its place was a moody, aggressively confident woman who engaged openly in recreational drugs abuse and was as bad a typical 'role model' as any middle-class mother could have worried about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg This same sonic aggression and arrogance makes 'Talk That Talk' such a thrill ride at times - the back-to-back delight of 'Where Have You Been' and 'We Found Love' is a miniature story in itself of young love and longing set against a blistering electronic backdrop. Rihanna has never been a morally responsible popstar but 'Talk That Talk' finds her at her most carefree and disparaging - the title track is a swaggering ode with mentor Jay-Z behind her, while bonus tracks like 'Red Lipstick' and 'Do Ya Thing' are snarky and full of strong electronic production; the former's dubstep-heavy beats are of considerable note. That's not to say the whole album is full of fierce tunes - 'You da One' is a meandering reggae ballad that fails to live up to its full potential, although album closer 'Farewell' fares much better with its rock-tinged production and 'Fool In Love' is ultimately sweet beneath the surface. Fortunately, it's still a largely strong album that usually lives up to its confident premise and kept Rihanna poised as the world's biggest star.