Rihanna

Music of the Sun is the debut album of Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna, released August 26, 2005 on Def Jam Recordings. Rihanna worked with several producers for the album, mainly Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers who produced and penned most of the tracks on the album. It features guest contributions by Kardinal Offishall, J-Status, and Vybz Kartel. Primarily an R&B album, Music of the Sun incorporates musical elements of dance-pop and caribbean music genres such as dancehall and reggae-pop, which reflect on Rihanna's background.

The album debuted at number 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 69,000 copies in its first week. It produced two singles that achieved international chart success, including "Pon de Replay" and "If It's Lovin' that You Want". Upon its release, Music of the Sun received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. It was certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), after sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States. To date, the album has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Background
Rihanna was fifteen years old when she formed a girl group with two other classmates. She met record producer Evan Rogers in 2003, when one of her friends introduced her to him while he was vacationing in Barbados. After auditioning for Rogers, she shuttled back and forth between Barbados and his home in Stamford, Connecticut. When Rihanna turned sixteen, she relocated in the United States and moved in with Rogers and his wife. She spent the next year recording a four-song demo, which included her first hit "Pon de Replay", with the help of Rogers and his partner Carl Sturken. In January 2005, Rihanna moved to New York along with Rogers to begin sending her four-song demo to various record labels. Within weeks she inked an audition with Def Jam and was invited to audition for rapper turned Def Jam president Jay-Z. Rihanna, who sang The Isley Brothers's "For the Love of You," was eventually signed in one day.

Recording
After signing with Def Jam in February 2005, she began working on her debut album with several producers including Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate and Poke & Tone. Though, the album was primarily produced by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, whom she previously worked with on her demo. The album completed within a three month period; from February 2005–May 2005. When recording the album's future lead single for her demo recordings, she revealed that when she first heard the song she didn't want to record it. She stated; "when I first heard that song, I didn't want to do it, because it was very sing-songy and very... whatever [...] But after I started recording it, I went along with it and started liking it." While working on the album she recorded the song "The One" with label-mate Memphis Bleek for his fourth studio album 534. After coming up with the album's title, Rihanna recorded the song "Music of the Sun," which was written by Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, and co-written her. She developed her writing skills with the help of Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers and also co-wrote three other songs on the album including the song of the same title. In a 2005 interview, she stated:

"Luckily I met two producers who discovered me in the first place and signed me to their production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions. They work with a lot of pop artists like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard. They are great guys and I really enjoyed working with them. They are excellent song writers so they really helped me develop my writing skills."

- Rihanna

The album features twelve songs and a remix of "Pon de Replay" with Elephant Man. For her debut album, Rihanna stuck with her Caribbean background style. Her music at the time featured soca and reggae genres due to her Caribbean descent. Music of the Sun includes the singles "Pon de Replay" and "If It's Lovin' That You Want." The album features guest appearances by Elephant Man, J-Status, Vybz Kartel and Kardinal Offishall.

Music
Music of the Sun was musically inspired by the variety of caribbean music genres, which includes soca, dancehall, and reggae, although the album incorporates some American genres, using a mixture of dance-pop and contemporary R&B. The music on the album showcases her musical roots and also reflects on the album's title. Rihanna explained that the word "sun" represents her culture where she's from, the Caribbean. "It represents me. So the album consists of Music of the Sun." The songs in the album are varied with the first half of the album containing a reggae sound. With songs about the effect of love, the album falls into the contemporary R&B influence. The second half of the album starts off with dancehall up-tempo songs, however, the album's closing tracks contain ballads-oriented songs.

"Pon de Replay", which features production from Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, is the opening track of Music of the Sun. Set as the album's lead single, the song helped introduced the tradition of mixing reggae and dance-pop. The album starts off with an aptly breezy start with reggae oriented songs like "Here I Go Again," "If It's Lovin' that You Want" and "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)." In the song "Here I Go Again," the second track, Rihanna sings being in love and having the same feeling towards the guy—not being able to get over the guy. The album's second single, "If It's Lovin' That You Want", is a mid-tempo song and samples the beat of "The Bridge Is Over" by Boogie Down Productions." Following the album's fourth track, the middle stretch of the album contains a contemporary R&B sound, which includes songs like "That La, La, La," "The Last Time" and "Willing to Wait." The song of the same title of the album—"Music of the Sun"— talks about the focal point of the album's title. With the following songs, "Rush" and "Let Me," dancehall is introduced to the album. Music of the Sun ends with the slow and moody songs, "There's a Thug In My Life" and the ballad-oriented "Now I Know." Although the slower ballad, "Now I Know," was panned by critics calling it too-mature for a young hip artist. The album's closing track is a remix to the album's lead single which features Jamaican artist Elephant Man.

Release and promotion
The album's lead single, "Pon de Replay", was released on August 22, 2005. The song was a commercial success peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100, being held off the top spot by Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together". To promote the album, Rihanna performed at the pre-show of the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, two days before the album's release. The album was released on August 30, 2005 in the United States through Def Jam Records. After the album's release, she continued her promotion by performing at the NFL Opening Kickoff pre-game concert and also giving fans a free concert at City Place Mall in Silver Spring, Maryland. The album's second single, "If It's Lovin' that You Want", was released on November 28, 2005, peaking at number thirty-six on the Billboard Hot 100. "Let Me" was supposed to be the international third single (and was released exclusively in Japan, where it peaked at number 8 on the charts). "Pon de Replay" was licensed for the music video game "Samba de Amigo" when SEGA and Gearbox Software re-released the game on the Nintendo Wii.

Critical response
Upon its release, Music of the Sun received mixed reviews from most music critics. Some critics, who enjoyed the summer catchy hit single "Pon de Replay", gave the album a positive review, while others described Rihanna as yet another Beyoncé-Ciara-Ashanti cash-in. Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic commented on the album's lead single calling it a "booming dancehall-lite beats and a reggae vocal cadence [...] it's a simple dance-pop song at its core, with standard English-language singing as well as a can't-miss singalong hook." Birchmeier described most of the album by saying; "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 [...] The result is one of the more engaging urban dance-pop albums of the year."

Rolling Stone magazine rated it 2.5 out of 5 stars and described as lacking the replay value, ingenuity and rhythm of the single with "generic vocal hiccups and frills" of US R&B inflecting upon her "Caribbean charm". Walters found "Pon de Replay" to be "a poppy piece of dancehall reggae with slapping, syncopated beats recalling big-band jazz." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as a "glut of teen R&B chanteuses " and described her lead single "Pon de Replay" as "a dancehall-pop mixture that owes plenty of its sweat and shimmy to Beyoncé's "Baby Boy"." Cinquemani also commented that while most of the album coasts atop its lite Caribbean influence, the middle stretch of the record sinks like a Janet album and compared the track "Willing To Wait" to Jackson's "Let's Wait Awhile".

Commercial performance
Music of the Sun debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and at number two on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums, selling 69,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number ten. The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 1, 2006, selling in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States. As of July 23, 2010 the album has sold 593,000 copies in the U.S. In Canada, the album managed peak within the top ten debuting at number seven on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album was later certified platinum, with a total sales of 100,000 in the country alone. Internationally Music of the Sun failed to reach the top ten in other countries. However, the album peaked at number thirty-five in the United Kingdom on the UK Albums Chart and was awarded a Gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry. In Ireland, the album debuted at number twelve on the Irish Albums Chart and in New Zealand the album reached number twenty-six on the New Zealand Album Chart. Worldwide, Music of the Sun has sold over 2 million copies.

Musicians

 * Robyn Fenty (Rihanna) - Vocals
 * Rob Mounsey - Arranger/Conductor
 * Christyn Calderon
 * Avril Brown – Violin
 * Kenneth Burward-Hoy – Violin
 * Cenovia Cummins – Violin
 * Stephanie Cum – Cello
 * Lawrence Glazener – bass
 * Tristan Hart – Viola
 * Yana Goichman – Violin
 * Ann Leathers – Violin
 * Vince Lionti – Viola
 * Richard Locker – Cello


 * Jan Mullen – Violin
 * Elizabeth Nielson – Violin
 * Mark Orrin Shuman – Cello
 * Sue Pray – Viola
 * Evangeline Evelyn - Guitar
 * Debra Shufelt – Violin
 * Marti Sweet – Violin
 * Uri Vodoz – Violin
 * Carol Wener – Violin
 * Kez Chan - Beats
 * Meg Wong- Beats
 * Lian Truffle - Cello

Production

 * Executive producers: The Carter Administration
 * Co-executive producers: Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken
 * Vocal producer: Full Force, Evan Rogers
 * Vocal assistance: Full Force
 * Engineers: Al Hemberger, Matt Noble, Malcolm Pollack
 * Assistant engineers: Jason Agel, Roy Matthews, Alex Pinto


 * Mixing: Jason Goldstein, Jason Groucott, Al Hemberger
 * Mastering: Chris Gehringer
 * A&R: Jay Brown, Adrienne Muhammad, Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith
 * Design: Tai Linzie
 * Art Direction: Andy West
 * Photography: Tai Linzie, Mark Mann, Ivan Otis