With "Rated R," Rihanna traded in her mainstream pop appeal to release a dark, explicit, and deeply therapeutic album about post-relationship issues in the wake of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown pleading guilty to physically assaulting her. The singer's grim fourth album completed her "good girl gone badass" transformation and only further proved just how uninterested she was in sticking to the status quo. Rihanna's goth coming-of-age manifesto was the most adventurous she'd been musically up until that point, and also the most vulnerable. The album made a bold statement about her independence, but most of all, it demonstrated how committed she was to cementing herself as a global icon.
Best Songs:
- "Hard" feat. Jeezy
- "Rockstar 101" feat. Slash
- "Russian Roulette"
- "Rude Boy"
- "Te Amo"
- "Cold Case Love"