There is a very fine line between art and entertainment. Usually, this relationship reflects negatively on art — if something is too artistic, deep, confusing or uncomfortable, then even the hippest hipsters won’t view it as entertainment.
Meanwhile, the other side of the dichotomy is that entertainment so soulless that it leaves art behind and blasts off into the stratosphere as a machine of big-business money-making. This doesn’t happen to all pop artists — many manage to continue making great music no matter how popular they get.
On her fifth album, Loud, Rihanna returns yet again with a brisk, 46-minute album of over-produced pop music that, while occasionally musically interesting, is lyrically incompetent and shows little in Rihanna as an artist.
Let’s clarify: Rihanna lies somewhere in between the above stated parallels. While a slim minority of her catalogue is interesting, she is for the most part just a major-label tool. Again, some artists on major labels really bring good music to listeners, but most are simply there to keep the record companies afloat for a few years while a trend passes.
Like too many of today’s so-called artists, Rihanna does little but sing on tracks written by others. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does strip Rihanna of any credit fans may think she deserves for being the creative mastermind on her albums.
In fact, as is made clear on this album, she uses copious amounts of Auto-Tune in her music, so she isn’t doing much of anything in the course of creating her music. She may have been present for most of the process, but her hands-on work is extremely suspect.
Regardless of her minuscule role in the creation process, no one these days really cares how the music gets made, so all her popularity comes down to is whether one or two singles from the album will bump in the club and whether or not one or two soft ballads will make listeners identify and feel emotional.
The compositions on Loud are mostly a bore, though a few rise above the general junk that pervades the album. There isn’t much here people haven’t heard before in excess, so there isn’t much of a reason to bother with the album.
The fact that Rihanna and Island Def Jam find it OK to regurgitate Eminem’s hit single “Love the Way You Lie” as the final track on an 11-track album not only shows the label’s shameless milking of a tired property, but it is insulting to listeners expecting new music.
While Alicia Keys may have pulled a similar trick on her last album, The Element of Freedom, with “Empire State of Mind Part II (Broken Down),” she at least expanded on the original track, and in many listeners’ ears, improved it in her own way.
Rihanna, on the other hand, is just banking on old cash crops.
As for the rest of the album, listeners can expect often bland instrumentals and stupefying lyrics. The perfect example is opening track “S&M,” which, needless to say, isn’t one for the kids to be listening to.
Aside from what is obviously revealed by the title, Rihanna misses a great chance at a metaphor and instead simply sings about fetish. In an odd, R. Kelly kind of way, the song is worth hearing purely because it is so unrelentingly silly.
Take the chorus, where Rihanna repeats, “Some may be bad/ But I’m perfectly good at it/ Sex in the air/ I don’t care, I love the smell of it/ Sticks and stones may break my bones/ But chains and whips excite me.”
The clear standout track on the album is “Cheers (Drink to That),” led by a an out-of-left-field, Cranberries-style yodeling part by Rihanna on the chorus. The song is slower but very upbeat and simply fun to vibe with.
However, the lyrics that rule the song are about partying at a bar. For such a joyous, pastoral excursion, the track can’t escape the major-label decree that every song needs to be club-ready.
There has been so much high-quality music released this year alone that there is simply no reason for audiences to waste their time giving this album more than a passing glance. With previous releases by Cee Lo Green, Big Boi and Janelle Monae, not to mention Kanye West’s upcoming release, there is pretty much no time for Rihanna.
She can be as loud as she wants, but really, Rihanna’s best option would be just to accept the fact that she isn’t on top — and never will be.
berman@umdbk.com
