Rihanna - Girl Like Me (CD)

All Music Guide

Versatile urban dancepop singer Rihanna gracefully avoids the sophomore slump with A Girl Like Me, a less tropicalflavored, more urban effort than her sunandfun debut. Then again, it's hard to be an effervescent island goddess 247 when your love life has suffered a crushing blow, something inferred by the numerous heartbreaking ballads included, all of them elegant, mature, and displaying artistic growth. Fans of her brilliant single "Pon de Replay" need not worry, though, as the album kicks off with its equal. Bursting out of the speakers, "SOS" is a sexy club tune that bites the bleepy riff from Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" in a very modern, very exciting mashup fashion. The crunchy reggae of "Kisses Don't Lie" offers a less revolutionary alternative to Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock." Then the album gets bolder and seamlessly bounces from genre to genre. Attempting things that would make lesser artists crumble, Rihanna goes from a film noir song that elegantly uses murder as a me...taphor for cheating ("Unfaithful") to an easyflowing weekend cruiser ("We Ride"). Even more stunning is the jump from the 2006 promsong candidate "Final Goodbye" to the totally juiced "Break It Off," where she gives guest star and dancehall king Sean Paul some serious competition. The good but not great redo of "If It's Lovin' That You Want" with Corey Gunz is the only track approaching filler, but it's clearly marked "bonus," so it's a wash. Executive produced by JayZ, A Girl Like Me is unsurprisingly polished, yet a richer experience than you'd expect from a singer responsible for the summer jam of 2005, arguably 2006. - David Jeffries, All Music Guide Read more Less