Music of the Sun
Music of the Sun is the debut studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on August 29, 2005, by Def Jam Recordings. Prior to signing with Def Jam, Rihanna was discovered by record producer Evan Rogers in Barbados, who helped Rihanna record demo tapes to send out to several record labels. Jay-Z, the former chief executive officer (CEO) and president of Def Jam, was given Rihanna's demo by Jay Brown, his A&R at Def Jam, and invited her to audition for the label after hearing the song that would become her first single, "Pon de Replay". She auditioned for Jay-Z and L.A. Reid, the former CEO and president of record label group The Island Def Jam Music Group, and was signed on the spot to prevent her from signing with another record label.
Music of the Sun
August 29, 2005
2004–2005
- Bassmint Studios
- The Loft Recording Studios
(Bronxville, New York) - Avatar Studios
- Forceful Boondog Studios
(New York City, New York) - RMP Studios
(Orlando, Florida)
52:20
- Def Jam
- SRP
After Rihanna was signed by Jay-Z, she continued to work with Rogers and his production partner Carl Sturken, as well as other music producers such as Poke and Tone, D. "Supa Dups" Chin-quee, and Stargate. Music of the Sun features vocals from Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, music group J-Status, and Jamaican singer Vybz Kartel. Music of the Sun is a dance-pop,[1] dancehall,[2] and R&B[2] album; it also incorporates elements of pop,[3] hip hop,[4] Latin-pop[5] and other Caribbean music genres such as reggae and soca music.[5]
Music of the Sun received generally mixed reviews from music critics, some of whom complimented its dancehall and Caribbean-inspired songs, while others criticized some of the production. Commercially, the album was a modest success, debuting at number ten on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In addition, it peaked within the top 40 of album charts in Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It produced two singles – "Pon de Replay" and "If It's Lovin' that You Want" – the former of which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the US Dance Club Songs. Music of the Sun was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Rihanna promoted the album along with her next release with her debut concert tour, Rihanna: Live in Concert.
Recording[edit]
Rihanna worked with various producers for Music of the Sun and continued to work with Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, who had previously written and produced "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time" for Rihanna's demo tape. Although Rihanna stated that when she first heard "Pon de Replay", she did not want to record it, expressing that she felt the song was "sing-songy", but grew to like the song at the end of the recording process.[11] In an interview with Kidzworld, Rihanna learned how the pair helped her develop her song-writing abilities, talking about Rogers and Sturken, who had worked with recording artists including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson.[10]
Music and lyrics[edit]
Music of the Sun is a Caribbean-influenced, "urban" dance-pop album.[1] Its dance-pop songs are complemented by contentional R&B ballads.[14] The lead single "Pon de Replay" was written by Rogers, Sturken and Vada Nobles, and was produced by the first two. "Pon de Replay" is a simple dance-pop song with dancehall beats and reggae vocal cadence.[1] Lyrically, the song has its protagonist asking the DJ to play her favorite song, as well as the fulfillment of dancing in a club.[12] "The Last Time", written and produced by Rogers and Sturken, is an acoustic guitar driven ballad, while "Now I Know" is a stripped down string driven song.[10] In addition to working with Rogers and Sturken for the majority of the album, Rihanna worked with production teams Poke and Tone of Trackmasters and Stargate.[10] The former wrote and produced the second single released from the album, "If It's Lovin' that You Want", which Rihanna described as a "fun song".[10] A R&B song,[15] "If It's Lovin' that You Want" is a song about a girl telling a boy that he should make her his girl, because she has what the boy wants.[16] A remix of the song, entitled "If It's Lovin' That You Want – Part 2", which features rap by Cory Gunz, was included as a bonus track on Rihanna's sophomore studio album, A Girl like Me (2006).[15] Alongside Rogers and Sturken, Stargate co-wrote and co-produced "Let Me", which appears as the ninth song on the album. Music of the Sun also contains a remake of Jamaican singer Dawn Penn's "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", and features dancehall recording artist Vybz Kartel.[10]
Singles[edit]
"Pon de Replay" was released as the album's lead single on May 24, 2005.[17] The song peaked at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart[18] and at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.[19][20] An accompanying music video was directed by Little X and features Rihanna in a nightclub setting.[21]
Rihanna performed "Pon de Replay" complete with Barbados flags and colorful carnival attire at the MTV Video Music Awards pre-show in Miami, Florida on August 28, 2005.[22] Rihanna also performed the song at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November 2005.
"If It's Lovin' that You Want" was released as the second and final single from Music of the Sun on December 2, 2005.[23] The song failed to replicate the chart success that "Pon de Replay" experienced, though managed to peak at number 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100[24] and inside the top 40 of multiple other record charts. An accompanying music video was directed by Marcus Raboy and features Rihanna in an island setting.[16]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United States, Music of the Sun sold 69,000 copies in its first week and debuted and peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 in the chart issue dated September 17, 2005.[33] The album spent a total of thirty-five weeks on the chart. Music of the Sun debuted on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at number six in the same chart issue, and spent a total of forty-four weeks on the chart.[34] After five months of release, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 1, 2006, denoting shipments of over 500,000 copies.[35] By the time Rihanna released her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), the album had sold 539,000 copies,[36] making it a slower-selling album than the others in her repertoire.[36][37] As of June 2015, the album had sold 623,000 copies in the United States.[38] On August 28, 2020, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album Platinum.[39] In Canada, Music of the Sun debuted and peaked at number seven on the Canadian Albums Chart in the chart issue dated September 17, 2005, but dropped out of the top ten the following week.[40] After four months of release, the album was certified Platinum by Music Canada for shipments of over 100,000 copies.[41]
Internationally, Music of the Sun failed to achieve a comparable level of chart success. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted and peaked at number 35 on the UK Albums Chart in the chart issue dated October 10, 2005.[42] In its second week charting, Music of the Sun fell by three positions to number 38 and dropped out of the official UK Top 40 the following week.[43] On May 12, 2006, the album was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of over 100,000 copies.[44] Elsewhere in Europe, the album debuted on the Swiss Albums Chart at number 46 in the chart issue dated September 11, 2005, and peaked at number 38 four weeks later.[45] In Austria, Music of the Sun debuted on the Austrian Albums Chart at number 61 in the chart issue dated September 18, 2005, and peaked at number 45 the following week.[46] The album debuted and peaked at number 93 on the French Albums Chart in the chart issue dated September 24, 2005.[47] In the Netherlands, Music of the Sun debuted and peaked at number 98 on the Mega Album Top 100 in the chart issue dated April 29, 2006, and spent one week on the chart.[48] In New Zealand, the album debuted on the New Zealand Albums Chart at number 40 in the chart issue dated September 26, 2005. Between September 29 and October 10, 2005, Music of the Sun dropped out of the album chart's top 40, but made a re-entry at number 40 on October 10, 2005. In its fourth week charting, the album peaked at number 26.[49]