Next page plz....

Sticking with my original guess of Diamonds.

Find light in the beautiful sea

4. Diamonds | 9.096 Highest Scores: 11: (Nina West, Jord, Mike Sugafan, George.keh, Bjork), 10: (ready for it, jakewild, Cameron, Mack, Chapman, Nick F1, JSG, Riser, vibe, JackTheeStallion), Lowest Scores: 0: (Tawdry Hepburn)


At the #4 spot is Diamonds, released in September 2012 as the lead single from Rihanna's 7th studio album Unapologetic. It was written by Sia together with its producers, Benny Blanco and StarGate. The song's lyrics serve as a departure from the themes of unhealthy relationships that were on Rihanna's previous singles and contain a prominent concept of love. The writers & producers wanted to deviate from Rihanna's usual sound and produce as though the song would be for a rapper such as Kanye West: Then during the mixing Sia later joined them & wrote the lyrics in 14 minutes. Upon release the track recieved positive critical reviews & became yet another huge commercial success by topping the charts in over 20 countries worldwide, including in the USA where it became her 12th #1 hit there, tying her with Madonna & The Supremes for the 5th most #1's in the chart's history & the UK, making this her 7th #1 & it was certified double platinum there. By May 2013, it had sold over 7.5 Million copies worldwide and became one of the best selling singles of all-time. The song has been covered by various artists, including Josef Salvat who released his version as a single in 2014.

This was a very different sound for Rihanna at the time with this Sia penned power ballad that shows a more softer direction with this mid-tempo & sombre sounding number that builds up without reaching that expected climax. But thankfully Rihanna's passionate vocals soars above the synths & stunning production. Rihanna took a huge risk with this, which could have easily ended her almighty winning streak, however this showed that she can adapt to any sound thrown at her & its her delivery that saves it from being another cliched ballad. The song added a much needed touch of versatility under her belt, as an artist who was at the risk of overexposure at the time, however stunning tracks like this helped her feel like a whole new artist.

Diamonds is excellent! What songs are still in? Wish I could of participated in this! What's My Name and Umbrella her two best songs! I'm rooting for em

We are now down to our final 3

 

Umbrella VS What's My Name VS We Found Love

 

Who will come out on top, stay tuned to find out....

Two from two in my top five predators so far.

I truly hate 'Diamonds' so much, that accent she puts on for it really grates on me.

Would be happy with either We Found Love or What's My Name to win. Umbrella is great but not top 3 worthy, doesn't sound as good as it used to imo

What it takes to come alive

3. We Found Love (ft Calvin Harris) | 9.25 Highest Scores: 11: (Mack, Chapman, dan::G, Riser, kath), 10: (Nina West, jakewild, Tafty, Nick F1, JSG, Cremey, Bjork, vibe, HausofWillow, blacksquare), Lowest Scores: 5: (Dobbo)


At the #3 spot is We Found Love, released in September 2011 as the lead single from Rihanna's 6th studio album Talk That Talk & features Scottish DJ Calvin Harris who also wrote & produced the track; it also featured on his 3rd album 18 Months the following year. Following the success of her previous album 'Loud', Rihanna originally revealed via Twitter that the album would be re-issued with new songs and released in Fall 2011. But Rihanna later revealed that those plans were scrapped & had more than enough songs for a new album. Originally the song was meant for other artists before Rihanna; the first being Leona Lewis who lost it due to Calvin Harris touring with Rihanna & Nicole Scherzinger who claimed she was the first to reject it due to being sent so many dance tracks that she didn't have time to record it. Upon release the song recieved polarized reviews from music critics & became a huge commercial success by topping the charts in over 25 countries worldwide including Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, UK & USA where in the latter it stayed there for 10 non-consecutive weeks, becoming the longest running number-one single of 2011. The song's music video generated controversy for its depiction of violence and drug use, as well as for Rihanna's removal of her clothes during filming. However despite this it would go onto win a Grammy for 'Best Short Form Music Video'. The single sold over 10.5 Million copies worldwide, thus becoming one of the biggest sellers of all-time.

I bet that both Leona Lewis & Nicole Scherzinger are kicking themselves for turning down this monster hit, as neither of their careers really lasted that long beyond this (successfully at least). However would this have done half as well if either of them recorded this, NO-WAY IN HELL, Rihanna totally owned this. By this point Rihanna had already poured her heart out a great deal through her music, but upon this song's release that vulnerability catapulted her career to new heights. She somehow managed to transform painful memories into a world shaking, utterly inescapable club ready anthem. The formula is simple yet effective with an exhilarating chorus, shimmering synths & relentless yet classy euphoric production thanks to Calvin Harris whose dramatic beat build ups & breakdowns turned this into an almighty event. This was the song of 2011 & yes it did get overplayed to death, but after 10 years I'd say its safe to enjoy it all over again.

Edited September 12, 20213 yr by Nina West

We are now almost at the finishing point now with just 2 songs left =

 

Umbrella VS What's My Name

 

 

Which will come out on top, stay tuned to find out.....

'What's My Name' has been a bit of a dark horse here hasn't it?

 

I don't think WFL would have done anything for Leona or Nicole, it was the right song for the right artist at the right time.

oh surprised at #3 & 4, really thought they'd battle for #1

I hope Umbrella wins!

Very glad Diamonds & What's My Name are both out as that leaves a really excellent top 2!

Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end

2. Umbrella (ft Jay Z) | 9.384 Highest Scores: 11: (Nina West, Jord, Cameron, PAJ, Tawdry Hepburn, Mack, JSG, JackTheeStallion), 10: (ready for it, Tafty, Nick F1, elgornino), Lowest Scores: 5: (jakewild)


At the runner-up spot is Umbrella, which means, well we all know what the #1 song is & that will be revealed in the next post. This was the winner for the majority of rate up until the last 2 rates where this lost by just 1.5 points. Released in March 2007 as the lead single from Rihanna's 3rd studio album Good Girl Gone Bad & features American rapper Jay Z, who co-wrote the song with its producers Tricky Stewart and Kuk Harrell, with additional writing from The-Dream. The song was originally written with Britney Spears in mind, but her label rejected it. It was also given to British singer-songwriter Taio Cruz, who failed to convince his record company to release it. By early 2007 the demo finally landed in Rihanna's hands, after L.A. Reid gotten a hold of it. Mary J Blige was also in mind for the song, but she also turned it down. Upon release the song recieved critical acclaim & became her biggest commercial success (at the time) by topping the charts in several countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the UK the song's chart performance coincided with the prolonged rain and flooding, It managed to stay there for 10 weeks, the longest run of any single in that decade. "Umbrella" is widely acknowledged as the song that propelled Rihanna from rising pop act into superstardom and transformed her into a "fully fledged sex symbol" and a pop icon, with some music journalists considering it to be her signature song.

This song was Rihanna's reintroduction to the world & brushed off any thoughts that she would be just another flash in the pan artist, as this officially propelled Rihanna into the big leagues, where she would stay to this very day. Despite this song being offered to other artists first - Rihanna is the one who actually took it & made it her own with her electric-cool interpretation of the melody not only gives extra power to the moments where she lets the warm grain of her voice show through. The sound of this track is pop perfection as it blends booming bass-lines, distorted guitars, live drums & glistening synths into a sublime & earworm inducing masterpiece, set against Jay Z's stellar production that makes this an almighty event. His rap introduction builds the perfect set up as Rihanna comes in & totally steals the show. Even though Rihanna had already released 2 albums at this point, but it was this is where she found her musical identity & of course her stunning new look with that short black bob cut was almost as iconic as the song itself. It was one of those moments in pop history where everything just came together at the right time & while for many this would be their crowning moment, but for Rihanna she would continue to flourish as the years pass.

Oh yay What's My Name is the winner, didn't expect that but very happy about it :D

Buzzjack's #1 Rihanna song is........

You took the time to figure me out

1. What's My Name (ft Drake) | 9.442 Highest Scores: 11: (Chapman, Riser, JackTheeStallion), 10: (Nina West, Jord, jakewild, Tawdry Hepburn, Tafty, Dobbo, Mack, dan::G, JSG, Cremey, vibe, HausofWillow, blacksquare, kath), Lowest Scores: 7.5/7: (PAJ, Nick F1, elgornio)


Well Buzzjack there you have it, after 65 songs we finally have our #1 Rihanna song which is....What's My Name, which after a very close battle this managed to edge out in front by just 1.5 points & I would like thank everybody whose taken part in the rate & results & made this a huge success.

Released in October 2010 as the 2nd single from Rihanna's 5th studio album Loud & features guest vocals by Canadian rapper Drake. The electro-R&B song was produced by the Norwegian production duo Stargate, and was written by the duo along with Ester Dean, Traci Hale, and Drake. Both Rihanna & Drake collaborated on a track back in 2009 for her "Rated R" album, but it didn't make the final cut. During an event Rihanna met with Drake backstage and asked him to record a verse on her song, & the rest was history. The collaboration was originally intended to be a remix of the song, while the solo version would have been included on Rihanna's album. However, in the end it made the final cut on the album. Upon release the song recieved general praise by music critics & became a commercial success by topping the charts in UK, USA & Hungary. In the USA it was her 3rd #1 of 2010 & 8th overall. Elsewhere it also managed top 5 peaks in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Slovakia. The song received a nomination at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

A more than worthy winner as the beauty of Rihanna's music is that it taps into the better memories of nostalgic love, & this is the perfect emodiment of that feeling with it classy production, catchy mid-tempo, electro R&B melodies with a hint of Caribbean seasoning that gives this that warm summery feel (despite being released in the winter). The track draws upon the warm island pop of her earlier material by lacing a heavy reggae beat with synthesized organs. Then Drake's mellow tones adds a layer of sensuality that perfectly counterparts Rihanna's seductive tones, showing her true maturity as an artist. The song is a masterful dancehall-meets-pop fusion, that not only topped the charts with such ease, yet showed Rihanna was an unstoppable force during this period, at the absolute peak of her career.

A deserved winner . Never gets old for me.

Nothing lower than a 7, very impressive indeed! It really is a timeless song, got a lot of good personal memories from around its time in the chart.

 

This was really excellently hosted and presented Nina, very much enjoyed reading your commentaries and learned a thing or two about some of these songs :cheer:

The Results in Full:

1. What's My Name (ft Drake) - 9.442
2. Umbrella (ft Jay Z) - 9.384
3. We Found Love (ft Calvin Harris) - 9.25
4. Diamonds - 9.096
5. Don't Stop The Music - 8.884
6. Disturbia - 8.788
7. Only Girl (In The World) - 8.711
8. Kiss It Better - 8.692
9. Where Have You Been - 8.576
10. Take Care (ft Drake) - 8.538

11. Unfaithful - 8.461
12. Russian Roulette - 8.346
13. SOS - 8.269
14. Rude Boy - 8.25
15. S&M - 8.173
16. Work (ft Drake) - 8.153
17. Wild Thoughts (ft DJ Khaled & Bryson Tiller) - 8.0
18. Stay (ft Mikky Ekko) - 7.98
19. Man Down - 7.98
20. Rehab - 7.923

21. All of the Lights (ft Kanye West) - 7.903
22. Love on The Brain - 7.823
23. Hard (ft Jeezy) - 7.769
24. Pon De Replay - 7.711
25. This Is What You Came For (ft Calvin Harris) - 7.673
26. Needed Me - 7.557
27. Love the Way You Lie (ft Eminem) - 7.5
28. Shut Up and Drive - 7.461
29. Run This Town (ft Jay Z & Kanye West) - 7.288
30. Who’s That Chick (ft David Guetta) - 7.173

31. Take a Bow - 7.153
32. Can’t Remember to Forget You (ft Shakira) - 7.115
33. Talk That Talk (ft Jay Z) - 7.076
34. Princess of China (ft Coldplay) - 7.038
35. Too Good (ft Drake) - 6.942
36. Cheers (Drink to That) - 6.923
37. Te Amo - 6.923
38. Hate That I Love You (ft Ne-Yo) - 6.903
39. What Now - 6.884
40. Bitch Better Have My Money - 6.73

41. Pour It Up - 6.711
42. California King Bed - 6.634
43. The Monster (ft Eminem) - 6.615
44. Live Your Life (ft T.I.) - 6.576
45. Wait Your Turn - 6.211
46. Fly (ft Nicki Minaj) - 5.98
47. American Oxygen - 5.923
48. You Da One - 5.903
49. FourFiveSeconds (ft Kanye West & Paul McCartney) - 5.865
50. If It’s Lovin’ That You Want - 5.846

51. Right Now (ft David Guetta) - 5.807
52. Loyalty (ft Kendrick Lamar) - 5.711
53. Rockstar 101 (Ft Slash) - 5.48
54. Break It Off (ft Sean Paul) - 5.403
55. If I Never See Your Face Again (ft Maroon 5) - 5.384
56. Jump - 5.346
57. Believe It (ft PartyNextDoor) - 5.211
58. Sledgehammer - 5.134
59. We Ride - 5.115
60. Lemon (ft N.E.R.D.) - 5.019

61. Towards the Sun - 4.942
62. Loveeeeeee Song (ft Future) - 4.634
63. Selfish (ft Future) - 4.4
64. Birthday Cake (ft Chris Brown) - 4.211
65. Nothing is Promised (ft Mike Will Made It) - 4.06