Rihanna - Music of the Sun

Genre r & b Publisher Def Jam Records External Links Def Jam Syndicated Rhythm

Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, who worked on the bulk of Rihanna's debut album for Def Jam, Music of the Sun, would have been wiser to let Vada Nobles handle production duties. Rogers and Sturken suck any semblance of originality completely out of the Barbados-born ingénue. Rihanna's Nobles-produced smash-hit "Pon De Replay" left an indelible mark, and it will no doubt be soldered into people's minds as one of the songs of this past summer.

But the eleven songs that sit between "Pon De Replay" and the remix of the same song featuring the talents of Elephant Man do little to justify purchase of Music of the Sun. Each one is more generic than the next, fast de-evolving into formulaic Top 40 pablum.

The island vibe on "Here I Go Again" is below even those cheesy resort hotel bands that inhabit the Bahamian isles. J-Status elevates the song a bit with some playful rhymes, but the drop-off in quality from "Pon" to this saccharine shuffle is disturbingly obvious.

And then the next track shows that Def Jam CEO Jay-Z just wanted to mold Rihanna into a (slightly) younger version of his squeeze Beyonce. Not that the cover isn't evidence enough of this fact. It doesn't help that the Destiny's Child member is listed as an influence on Rihanna, either. She falls into the trap willingly.

More Beyonce/Destiny's Child-lite follows, as do more embarrassing attempts at island "flavor." By the time you get to that remix with Elephant Man, should you make it that far, you will be reminded of why you're even giving Rihanna a chance to begin with. Better to avoid such disappointment that the album brings and nab the two versions of "Pon De Replay" on iTunes instead.