Review : Rihanna S &M remix featuring Britney Spears

It was only yesterday that news of Rihanna's remix of latest single S and M would feature Britney Spears. Though the interweb seemed to be a buzz with excitement about the impending release, I was a little more reserved in my reaction to the news. In truth, I was more worried, and had a feeling the resulting release wouldn't be anything of merit- especially when considered how strong of a single the original was/is.


Well today the song leaked and as feared it sounds a mess. Not only do Britney's vocals add nothing of value to the song but worse, her vocals sound bunged up and incredibly even MORE nasal than normal.

The only reason I can think of this travesty being released- because it surely isn't for the sake of the song- is that both singers hope to gain something commercially from this hasty collaboration.

In Rihanna 's case a new version of the song should give her those extra sales needed to push her single from number 2 to the top of the Billboard charts.

For Britney  associating with Rihanna- who is one of the biggest female singers at the moment- could do three things for her. Firstly it could gain her some new fans  from Rihanna's fan-base. Secondly it could give Britney an edge and with it some needed- albeit shallow- credibility with the more image concious listener. Finally, and most importantly, it should help her appear relevant to today's youth who don't remember her glory days.

This collaboration could have been a brilliant idea if it had been an entirely new song, or failing that, for the song to have had a total musical remix with new vocals by Rihanna. As it is, this cut and paste attempt at a remix should NEVER have been released.

Listen below:

Review : Rihanna's S &M Video

Rihanna isn't helping with the claims of her being associated with Illumanti
when at 3.20 "Rihanna Princesss of the Illumanti" is flashed on screen.

Rihanna's video for S and M, her third release from Loud, bypasses what could have been a risqué and provocative look at the underworld scene of S and M by approaching the subject matter in a playful, light-hearted and toothless manner.

The video does manage to include some imagery that is synonymous with the S and M scene- such as whips, bondage and PVC- but they are rendered ineffectual when contrasted with the "suggestive" way Rihanna "eats" a selection of fruit towards the end of the video.



Unfortunately the treatment of the video, and the sets it was filmed on, let the whole production down and give the video for S and M a cheap, low-budget feel that is at odds and unfitting of Rihanna's superstar status. Perhaps Mariah Carey started a new trend for; the low budget look with her Auld langs syne video from last year!

Overall the video fits in nicely with the bubblegum, sugary, 90's visuals that the Loud era has brought and is as such nothing special. Songs still good though ;)

Watch the video For S and M below.

Rihanna's Rudeboy vs Usher's OMG

Another random find on Youtube. Three talented teens- credited as Joelle,Sophia and Kris- and a piano manage to seamlessly and cleverly merge Usher's OMG and Rihanna's Rudeboy. The result is something a little special.



Take a little time to listen and visit Kris' Youtube channel here

Listen to Ellie Goulding cover Rihannah's "Only Girl (in the world)"

An organic makeover is given to Rihanna's Only girl (in the world) as folk-pop singer Ellie Goulding swaps the processed productions for a string quartet and piano.

As much as I love Ellie and acoustic versions of songs, I just don't think it works with Only girl as the original song gets so much of its clout from the music and not the vocal or lyrics. Therefore with the driving force behind the song removed the song falls apart.




Watch Ellie Goulding's acoustic version of Rihanna's Only girl in the world below. For anyone interested the highest note hit by Ellie Goulding here is a G5 in head voice at 3.41.

Review: Matt Cardel and Rihanna perform Unfaithful (X-Facor Final 2010)

Rihanna And Matt perform Unfaithful on the x-factor 2010

RIhanna also performed
whats my name

Rihanna took to the stage this weekend to duet with X-factor finalist Matt Cardle on her song Unfaithful. It was a shaky performance from Matt, and as I feared, he seemed totally uncomfortable with the song choice and the setting. Rihanna on the other hand looked in her element, and despite the terrible hair, managed to stay vocally on point while trying her best to create some chemistry with Matt. Bad Pairing. Nuff said.

Disagree? comment below or by clicking here. I'd Love to read your thoughts.

Watch Rihanna and Matt's performance of Unfaithful below

Christina Aguilera and Rebbeca's performance here

Diva's Christina Aguilera and Rihanna To duet with Rebecca and Matt on the 2010 X-factor Finale:

Update:

• View Matt and Rihanna's performance here
• View Christina and Rebecca's performance here

Exciting news from the X-factor camp about which celebrities will duet with which contestants in the X-factor finale this weekend.

Rihanna and Matt Cardle

Matt and Rihanna are Duetting on
the x-factor  finale

Painter and decorator Matt Cardle has been paired up with Bajan singer Rihanna; an odd choice considering their contrasting voices. Matt has a soft, delicate, emotive voice whereas Rhiannas' tends to be solid, nasal and a little harsh.

Listen to Matt's voice below as he sings The first time (I ever saw your face) 

Christina Aguilera and Rebecca Ferguson

Rebecca and Christina Aguilera  are duetting
on the x-factor  finale

Rebecca has a gorgeous voice that's stunning in a discreet, non showy, way. So who do they chose to compliment these qualities?A singer who is practically the opposite in every way! Enter Ms Christina Aguilera. Madness.

Listen to Rebecca's voice below as she sings Chris Isaac's Wicked Games.

The other duet partners:

• One direction and Robbie Williams
• Cher and Will.I.Am

Nicki Minaj & Rihanna Perform "Fly" Live

Rihanna has a little cheeky
squeeze of Niki Minaj's butt!

Rihanna and Nick Minaj
on the set of "Fly"

Rihanna was one of Nicki Minaj's guests at her concert to promote the release of her new album Pink Friday. The duo performed a speedy rendition of the track Fly, after which Rihanna gave Nicki's famous ass-et a cheeky squeeze before leaving the stage.

Watch the Official video for Rhianna's- "What's My Name?"

Rihanna's new video to accompany her American number 1 hit Whats my name? featuring Drake. Yeh or meh?

Rihanna and Drake

Should Mariah Carey be worried about Rihanna stealing her Crown?

Mariah Carey has had the most number one singles on the American Billboard charts of any solo act, but with Rihanna scoring her tenth Number one with the Britney Spears featured S and M , should Carey be worried about the young upstart stealing her crown in the near future? Perhaps more worrying for Carey is that it took her till the age of 25 to score her 9th Number 1 with Fantasy where as the Barbadian singer had already scored the equivalent at the tender age of 22.

Do you think Mariah Carey needs to be worried about Rihanna?
Comment here and let the world know.

Mariah Carey's Number 1s:

1. "Vision Of Love" 1990
2. "Love Takes Time" 1991
3. "Someday " 1991
4. "I Don't Wanna Cry" 1991
5. "Emotions" 1992
6. "I'll Be There" 1993
7. "Hero" 1993
8. "Dream Lover" 1995
9. "Fantasy" 1995
10. "One Sweet Day" 1996
11. "Always Be My Baby" 1996
12. "Honey" 1997
13. "My All" 1998
14. "Heart breaker" 1999
15. "Thank God I Found You"2005
16. "We Belong Together" 2005
17. "Don't Forget About Us" 2008
18. "Touch My Body" 2008

Rihanna's Number 1s:

1. "SoS" 2006
2. "Umbrella" 2007
3. "Take A Bow" 2008
4. "Disturbia" 2008
5. "Live Your Life" 2008
6. "Rude Boy" 2010
7. "Love The Way You Lie"2010
8. "What's My Name" 2010
9. "Only Girl (in the world)" 2010
10. "S and M" 2011

Rihanna album review: "Loud"

Rihanna Loud cove

Rihanna’s new album "Loud” is an eclectic mix of music; unfortunately its eclectic in a bad way. With so many competing styles going on it ends up being incredibly distracting . It swings from the extremes of the, intentionally drunk, unintentionality terrible, sounding "Cheers" to the piano driven, string laden, "Fading" so clumsily it painful. Not content with the "throw everything at the wall and seen what sticks" style of  album production a few of the songs even have Rihanna sounding like popular singers of the moment just in case that didn't work. The acoustic guitar, adult contemporary “California King Bed” is a song that you'd expect Taylor Swift to be singing, with the difference being she would have arranged and written it better. Where as "Raining Men" will have Beyonce stans going crazy as is it mimics "Diva" so unashamedly that I even blushed for Rihanna. Its not all bad and where Rihanna really shines is when she sticks to music that doesn't try to be someone else

 and follows the fresh dance direction that the first single "Only Girl" led the album.

Conclusion: Extremely dissapointed. "That Chick"-which is strangely ommited- and "Only girl" had me so excited about this album but the album didn't live up to that hype.

Skip: Cheers (Drink To That), California King Bed, Raining Men (feat. Nicki Minaj)

Download: S&M, Raining Men (just for Nicki Minaj's rap), Only Girl (In The World), Skin

Rating: 2.5/5

Listen to new Rihanna songs from the album "Loud" : "S & M", "Cheers (Drink To That)" and "Love the way you lie"

Another Rihanna song from her new album Loud has been released. It's called S and M - I'll leave the meaning of this song for you to deduce. Despite the catchy hook, I'm not feeling it as much as the last two songs from the album. Perhaps its a grower.

 (IF THE MUSIC LINKS GET REMOVED CLICKHERE TO PREVIEW THE WHOLE ALBUM AT AMAZON.COM)

Listen below and decide for yourself.

Update:More Rihanna songs have been released. At this rate the whole album is going to be revealed before the release date!

"Cheers (Drink To That)"samples Avril Lavigne's I'm with you. I just wish Ri hadn't used that strange vocal styling in the chorus, it's a little distracting. Also the delivery on the line "I'll drink to that" begins to grate by the end of the track.

Rihanna "Only Girl" X Factor 2010 (Full Version) Live Results Show 4

Rihanna Performing
Only girl on Xfactor

Rihanna performed a knock out version of Only girl on the British talent show the X-factor. The year spent touring has really done the singer good, improving both Rihanna's live voice as well as her stage presence.

I particularly liked the contrast created between the orchestral start and the fully electronic, single version that follows in the chorus.


Watch the video below:

Rihanna- Watch both video versions of "who's that chick" (Day and night)

Day version                                                   Night version

Not content with having a single out already (see Only girl in the world Rihanna has released not one but two videos for a David Guetta track named Who's that chick.The song itself is a campy, fun if throwaway, dance number that doesn't take itself too seriously.

The two video versions for the single have the corresponding names of Day and Night.The Day video is bright, fun, and incorporates the 80's vibe that is prevalent at the moment in popular culture. Its' also similar to that found in her other single Only Girl.  

The Night video is less saturated in colour and has an eerie, Gothic feel that brings to mind the Russian Roulette video and the Rated R Rihanna.

With her last album Rated R underselling, by her previous standards, this era's happier Rihanna could be in danger of looking like a reversion to that successful incarnation, rather than an artistic progression forward, potentially rubbing out any credibility garnered from the Rated R album. To counter this the Rihanna team seem to have created these two contrasting videos in an attempt to smooth that transition in a way that makes it appear less contrived and more natural a progression.

Single Review: Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World) & lyrics

Insipid lyrics, a terrible middle eight that harks back to one of Rihanna’s weaker singles, and an uninspired production could have killed Rihanna’s comeback but, boy oh boy is all forgiven when the euphoric chorus of Only Girl hits. The combination of the impassioned vocals with the 1990s rave inspired synths makes for a heady mix, that lifts this song from potential mediocrity to a club banger that is bound to be a world wide hit.

Rhianna’s voice melds perfectly with the song and is sounding better than ever as delivers strong, clear, weighty vocals, and long sustained notes (an a4 and c5) at the close of the song.

Only girl (in the world) builds the hype for her new album Loud brilliantly and puts to rest the fear that she would do a U-turn after the lukewarm reaction to her last album Rated R and go back to tried and tested RnB sound of Good girl gone bad.

OVERALL: Brilliant single, one of the best of 2010; bring on the new album!

Rihanna - Vocal Profile/ Range

Rihanna 

Vocal type: Contralto
Vocal Range: 3 octaves. A2- A5
Whistle Register: No
Longest note: 8 seconds - 'Hate That I Love You'
Vocal Pluses: Distinct sound that makes her easily identifiable. Voice sounds best in it's low to mid range- as done in the verses of Russian Roulette- where it finds a solid tone, that has a slightly smoky quality to it. It has also improved, in recent years, in the chest register, where previously her voice was once nasal and thin it now has strength and weight to it, sounding correctly placed.
Vocal Negatives: Her voice can still sound nasal at times.