Talk That Talk [LP]

by Rihanna

Overview

Despite sounding rushed to capitalize on fourth quarter sales, 2010's Loud proved that Rihanna's reign indeed would not let up. The album's first three singles topped the Hot 100. A fourth one merely went Top Ten. Just as Loud was losing its grip, during the fourth quarter of 2011, Rihanna fired again with another number one single, "We Found Love" -- its success more likely due to the singer's ecstatic vocal than Calvin Harris' shrill, plinky production. While Talk That Talk is built like another singles-chart-devouring machine, it's both more rounded and less random than Loud. "We Found Love" and "Where Have You Been" -- the latter with a quote from Geoff Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" and echoes of the chorus from Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" -- function as place-holding dance tracks, and there are a couple empty anthems and ballads in the drippy "We All Want Love" and the bombastic "Farewell." It's the darker and dirty-minded material that tends to be most effective -- where Rihanna is more alive and believable, where her collaborators provide the most adventurous productions. In the Bangladesh-produced "Cockiness (Love It)," one of the most hypnotic and wicked beats of the last decade, Rihanna absolutely relishes the chance to sing-taunt "Suck my cockiness, swallow my persuasion." Two of Stargate and Esther Dean's three contributions -- the desperate, xx-sampling "Drunk on Love" ("Nothing can sober me up") and the prowling "Roc Me Out" -- pack more sleek menace than Rated R's "G4L" and Loud's "S&M." The album's best track, however, is the wholly sweet and flirtatious "Watch n' Learn," featuring a dizzying Hit-Boy beat -- rat-a-tat snares, swirling/swelling synthesizers, irresistible plucked melodies -- that is even more unique in the context of 2011 pop radio than his work on Kanye West and Jay-Z's "Ni**as in Paris." Behind Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R, this is Rihanna's third best album to date. Minus the fluff, it's close to the latter's equal. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	04/07/2017
Label:	Def Jam / Mercury / Virgin Emi
UPC:	0602557079845

Tracks

1. You da One
2. Where Have You Been
3. We Found Love
4. Talk That Talk
5. Cockiness (Love It)
6. Birthday Cake
7. We All Want Love
8. Drunk on Love
9. Roc Me Out
10. Watch n' Learn
11. Farewell

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rihanna   Primary Artist
Jay-Z   Featured Artist
Nuno Bettencourt   Guitar
Kevin Randolph   Keyboards
Steve Wyreman   Bass,Guitar
Calvin Harris   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Damien Lewis   Mixing Assistant
Stargate   Producer
Chase & Status   Producer
Lars Ulrich   Composer
Carl Sturken   Executive Producer
James Hetfield   Composer
Pat Thrall   Engineer
John Hanes   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Sean Combs   Composer
Rihanna   Composer,Creative Director,Executive Producer
Mike Anderson   Engineer,Engineer
A. Jackson   Composer
Mikkel Storleer Eriksen   Composer,Engineer,Instrumentation
JP Robinson   Art Direction
Rob Kinelski   Engineer
Bu Thiam   A&R
Manny Marroquin   Mixing
Ester Dean   Composer,Producer
Kuk Harrell   Engineer,Vocal Engineer,Vocal Producer
Skylar   Engineer
Kevin Randolph   Composer
Evan Rogers   Executive Producer
Ernest Wilson   Composer
Phil Tan   Mixing
A. Grant   Composer
Steve Wyreman   Composer
Calvin Harris   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Fabian Marasciullo   Mixing
Gareth McGrillen   Composer
Rob Swire   Composer
Alex da Kid   Producer
Miles Walker   Engineer
Erik Madrid   Mixing Assistant
Scott Marcus   A&R
Chris Galland   Mixing Assistant
Ghazi Hourani   Mixing Assistant
Marcos Tovar   Mixing,Engineer,Vocal Engineer
T.T.   Assistant
Calvin Bailiff   Mixing Assistant
Marcos Palacios   Composer
Alejandro Barajas   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
S. Crawford   Composer
Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young   Vocal Engineer
Geoff Mack   Composer
Christopher Wallace   Composer
Dr. Luke   Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Carl Thompson   Composer
Ellen Von Unwerth   Photography
Shawn Carter   Composer
Ciarra Pardo   Art Direction,Creative Director
Da Internz   Producer
Carol Corless   Package Production
Tim Blacksmith   Executive Producer
Baria Qureshi   Composer
Priscilla Renea   Composer
Jamie Smith   Composer,Composer
Danny D.   Executive Producer
H. Walter   Composer
Sam Holland   Engineer
Gabriela Schwartz   Marketing
Deborah Mannis-Gardner   Sample Clearance
Chris Gheringer   Mastering
Phil Seaford   Assistant,Mixing Assistant
Terese Joseph   A&R
Hit-Boy   Producer
The xx   Instrumentation
Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine   Engineer
Irene Richter   Production Coordination
Romy Madley Croft   Composer
Oliver Sim   Composer
Jeff Edwards   Engineer
Jay Brown   A&R
Tor Erik Hermansen   Composer,Instrumentation
Eric Wong   Marketing
Dan Tobiason   Assistant
John Hill   Composer,Programming,Instrumentation
Dion Wilson   Composer
K. Randolph   Composer
Saul Milton   Composer
Shondrae Crawford   Composer,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Alex Barajas   Assistant
Ernest Clark   Composer
Alja Jackson   Composer
Alexander Grant   Composer
Clint Gibbs   Engineer
Lukasz Gottwald   Composer
Terius Nash   Composer,Producer
Will Kennard   Composer
Omar Loya   Assistant Engineer
Dwayne "Dem Jointz" Abernathy Jr.   Composer
No I.D.   Producer
Omar Grant   A&R
Anthony Best   Composer
Chauncey Hollis   Composer
Chris Sclafani   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Daniella Rivera   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Jennifer Rosales   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Jonathan Sher   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Katie Mitzell   Production Coordination
Mel Ottenberg   Wardrobe
Roc Ntion   Executive Producer
Tyron Machhausen   Make-Up
Ursula Stephens   Hair Stylist
Yusef Stephens   Hair Stylist
Cirkut   Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Ludovick Tartavelo   Assistant Engineer
Candice Pillay   Composer
Robyn Fenty   Composer
D. Loernathy   Composer
John Graham Hill   Composer
Kevin KD Davis   Mixing
Henry Walter   Composer