Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 A | Page 70

Girl Gone Bad, continued her success while signaling a change of
direction. Good Girl Gone Bad was a first-rate dance-pop album,
stacked with several chart-topping singles and boasting
collaborations with Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Timbaland, and StarGate. The
lead single, "Umbrella," shot to number one, as did "Take a Bow"
and "Disturbia." Its success turned Rihanna into one of the planet's
biggest pop stars. Rated R was released in 2009 during the wake of
a physical altercation with romantic interest Chris Brown, who
pleaded guilty to felony assault. The album's lead single, "Russian
Roulette" -- written with Ne-Yo -- was one of the year's most
controversial singles, and it set the tone for the singer's new, dark
direction. Rated R peaked within the Top Five of the Billboard 200,
while another one of its singles, "Rude Boy," topped the Hot 100.
Rated R: Remixed was released in the spring of 2010 and featured
ten tracks from the album revamped for the dancefloor by Chew
Fu. Loud, Rihanna's fifth studio album, followed in November and
was led by the StarGate-produced "Only Girl (In the World)." That
song, as well as the follow-up singles "What's My Name?" and
"S&M," all topped the Billboard Hot 100. In November 2011,
shortly after Loud's "Cheers (Drink to That)" entered the Top Ten,
the sing er released Talk That Talk. The single "We Found Love"
with Calvin Harris earned the top spot in the Hot 100, and the
album peaked at number three. Unapologetic, Rihanna's seventh
studio album, featured some of her brashest material and was led
by "Diamonds" -- her 18th Top Ten single. Unapologetic became
her first number one album, and eventually produced further Top
Ten hits in "Stay" and "Jump." By the fall of 2013, another record
had fallen: her feature on Eminem's "The Monster" helped it hit
number one on the pop charts, tying her with Michael Jackson for
the most chart-toppers in Billboard chart history. The song won a
Grammy Award in the category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In
early 2015, Rihanna released "FourFiveSeconds," a stripped-down
single featuring the unlikely duo of Kanye West and Paul
McCartney. It topped the Hot 100 and was followed by the cruder
"Bitch Better Have My Money," which led the way to Anti the
following January.