rihanna / albums

17,587,130 plays
17,634 SHARES
23,573 FAVS
777 fans

- Music Of The Sun
- - 1,050,184 plays
  - 1,661 favs
  - 388 shares
Rihanna
Released 2005

That La, La, La
03:45
70,409 plays

Here I Go Again
04:10
47,464 plays

Let Me
03:55
41,084 plays

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songs

- 1
- Pon De Replay
- 04:06
- 302,604 plays

- 2
- Here I Go Again
- 04:10
- 47,464 plays

- 3
- If It's Lovin' That You Want
- 03:27
- 120,793 plays

- 4
- You Don't Love Me (No,No,No)
- 04:19
- 22,038 plays

- 5
- That La, La, La
- 03:45
- 70,409 plays

- 6
- The Last Time
- 04:52
- 33,208 plays

- 7
- Willing To Wait
- 04:37
- 18,479 plays

- 8
- Music Of The Sun
- 03:56
- 27,384 plays

- 9
- Let Me
- 03:55
- 41,084 plays

- 10
- Rush
- 03:08
- 33,179 plays

- 11
- There's A Thug In My Life
- 03:18
- 26,986 plays

- 12
- Now I Know
- 05:00
- 30,712 plays

- 13
- Pon De Replay (Remix)
- 03:36
- 275,850 plays

- play all

album review

Given the proliferation of young and beautiful urban dance-pop divas dominating the radio and music video airwaves in 2005, it initially was tempting to discount Rihanna as yet another Beyoncé-Ciara-Ashanti cash-in. But like her Def Jam labelmate Teairra Mari -- another young and beautiful urban dance-pop diva who emerged out of nowhere in 2005 -- Rihanna is winsome rather than wannabe, thanks in no small part to her producers. Just as Teairra Mari benefited greatly from irresistibly shrewd beat-making on her debut album, Rihanna benefits from the knowing production work of Syndicated Rhythm Productions, aka Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, who together produced a laundry list of contemporary teen pop sensations during the prior decade. What these guys do that's so irresistibly shrewd is synthesize Caribbean rhythms and beats with standard-issue urban dance-pop: Caribbean-inflected urban, if you will. So while a song like "Pon de Replay" -- to pick the most obvious exhibit -- is driven by booming dancehall-lite beats and a reggae vocal cadence (and title spelling), it's a simple dance-pop song at its core, with standard English-language singing as well as a can't-miss singalong hook (and a glitzy, urban-style MTV video to boot). The best songs on Music of the Sun follow this appealing template, including the similarly catchy few songs that follow the aforementioned album-opening smash hit: "Here I Go Again," "If It's Lovin' That You Want," and "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)." As with most albums of this ilk, Music of the Sun descends into faceless slow jams after a while, overall consistency not being among its attributes, but thankfully it picks up the pace toward the end of its 13-song run and concludes on a fun note, with a remix of "Pon de Replay" featuring Elephant Man. The result is one of the more engaging urban dance-pop albums of the year (and one of the most infectious summer jams, for sure), as well as a nice Caribbean primer for those not ready or willing to jump on the increasingly trendy dancehall and reggaeton bandwagons concurrently sweeping through America's more fashionable cities. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide