ohhh poor Stay, it's my #1 Rihanna song by miles

it's an amazing song to sing and play and even played it a couple years ago at a friend's wedding

the lyrics are incredible especially the bridge when she sings

"funny you're the broken one, but I'm the only one who needed saving" <3

Can't believe people like Wild Thoughts so much, I think it's the typical awful DJ Khaled dross only saved by Rihanna's presence

but overall it's a cheap song with. cheap sample

 

very disappointed Wild Thoughts is above Stay :/

'Don't Stop The Music' wasn't a chart topper in the UK or US, it reached #4 & #3 respectively.

 

Ah I should’ve checked first.

 

I knew it topped the charts here in Australia.

I mean who am I to hold your past against you?

16. Work (ft Drake) | 8.153 Highest Scores: 11: (jakewild, Dobbo, Cremey), 10: (Mack, Adelita, vibe, HausofWillow, blacksquare), Lowest Scores: 0: (Tawdry Hepburn)


#16 is Work, released in January 2016 as the lead single from Rihanna's 8th studio album Anti & features Canadian rapper Drake (making this their 3rd collaboration together). The song was written by PartyNextDoor, Rihanna, Drake, Monte Moir, Rupert "Sevn" Thomas, Allen Ritter and Matthew Samuels, and produced by Boi-1da, Kuk Harrell and Noah "40" Shebib. It also features an interpolation of "If You Were Here Tonight" by Alexander O'Neal. Following the release of her 7th album & accompanying tour, Rihanna took a step back from music, which would only last week before she went back into the recording studio. During 2015 Rihanna released 3 stand-alone singles, before she ended up recording "Work" a month before it was offcially released, but was written in the summer of that year while at Drake's house in L.A. Upon release the critical responce was very mixed, although critical opinion has improved over time & would end up getting nominated for two awards at the 59th Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The song became a massive comeback success for Rihanna by topping the US Billboard charts for 9 weeks, becoming her 14th #1 hit and making her the act with the fourth-most number-one songs on the chart (after The Beatles, Mariah Carey and Elvis Presley). It also managed to top the charts in 9 other countries such as Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Portugal, Slovakia & South Africa. As well as hitting top 5 peaks in 12 other countries & has since sold over 32.5 Million units worldwide, making it one of the best selling digital singles of all-time.

This was another one of those tracks that had a very slow start at the beginning of this rate, then it started slowly climbing & managed to land a respectible top 20 placing, making this a darkhorse in this competition. I remember opinion on this at the time was very polarizing & many fans (including myself) wasn't fully sold. But overtime I've grown to accpreciate its sheer brilliance, as she could have easily come back with a dance/pop banger & scored another smash hit. However on this she takes a risk with something that Rihanna has been feeling her way towards throughout her career. Hell even her debut single way back in 2005, rode heavily on Afro-Caribbean trends, this leans towards the more Jamaican Dancehall sounds & even uses the Jamaican dialect patois that manages to be both catchy & emotionally subtle. That one-word chorus not only manages to be infectious, it also channels the bittersweet joy of surrendering to the moment, while being very much Rihanna at the same time. The layered production is fantastic, as it moves from quietly intimate to deep and resonant. Although Drake's addition here is very much outmatched by Rihanna, he still adds a decent flavour on here. Overall to some this slow-burning yet hypnotic number may need more time to grow on some, but for true fans this is not only a firm highlight in her discography, but shows how brilliantly diverse of an artist Rihanna is.

Excellent track, guaranteed floor filler.

A classic

How is work only 16 🤔

HORRIFIC song :puke2:

Now the pain is my pleasure 'cause nothing could measure

15. S&M | 8.173 Highest Scores: 11: (Nina West), 10: (Jord, PAJ, George.keh, Nick F1, dan::G, JSG, kath), Lowest Scores: 0: (Dobbo)


At #15 is S&M, which only scored 0.5 points more than the previous entry. Released in January 2011 as the 3rd single from Rihanna's 5th studio album Loud. The song was written by American songwriter Ester Dean in collaboration with the producers Stargate and Sandy Vee. Rihanna recorded it during her 'Last Girl On Earth Tour' & its conception and the sexually suggestive lyrics came out after Ester came up with the "Sticks and Stones" line & it just went on from there. To further promote the song Rihanna recorded a remixed version with Britney Spears in which they both performed at 2011 Billboard Music Awards & performed the solo version at the UK Brit Awards in that same year. The music video caused controversay due to its portrayls of softcore sadomasochist acts and fetishes, which in turn led it to being banned in many countries & restricted to nighttime viewings only. Photographer David LaChapelle filed a lawsuit alleging that the video incorporates ideas from his photographs. Rihanna and LaChapelle settled the case for an undisclosed sum of money. Upon release it had a mixed critical responce, but became a huge success by topping the charts in 10 countries worldwide, including the USA where after it reached #2, the remix featuring Britney Spears got released & with the combined sales of both versions it became Rihanna's 10th & Britney's 5th chart topper in that country. In addition to this it also managed top 5 peaks in several countries such as France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the UK.

One of my firm all-time faves tracks by Rihanna with this glorious bouncy electro pop banger which supplys a combination of catchy hooks with frantic synths & fast-paced pounding beats on this dominatrix anthem. As she sings with such playful glee & makes makes kinkiness adorably playful,while being assertive with a hint of tongue in cheek & along with the garish & colourful production is very pristine & handled fantastically. Not every song has to have a deep meaning & sometimes just letting loose & having a good time is really all you need for a pop song. Upon the album's release, this was my absolute firm favourite that only acted as a fantastic opener, but quickly became one of my all-time fave Rihanna tracks.

Edited September 6, 20213 yr by Nina West

Use to like it but it's really soured over the years. Annoying and really dislike the sticks and stones lyric.

I enjoy it if I hear it on a night out, but it's not one of my go-tos anymore and it's been a bit overdone.

 

I'm still to this day seeing people use lyrics from this in their Grindr profiles, which is cringe to the maximum. :lol:

I think this is about where I expected it to be.

Edited September 3, 20213 yr by PAJ

Babe, if I don't feel it I ain't faking, no, no (Oh No)

14. Rude Boy | 8.25 Highest Scores: 11: (ready for it, vibe), 10: (Nina West, jakewild, Nick F1, JSG), Lowest Scores: 0: (Dobbo)


At #14 is Rude Boy, released in January 2010 as the 4th single from Rihanna's 4th studio album Rated R. Rihanna co-wrote the song with Ester Dean, Makeba Riddick, and producers Rob Swire and Stargate. The song came about after Rihanna & the co-writers were freestyling ideas & jotting them down while in the recording booth. Orginally the main hook of it, was just gonna be used for the introduction, but because of the song's infectious beat, Rihanna decided to make it the hook instead. Upon release it recieved mixed to positive reviews, but quickly became the album's most successful single by topping the US Billboard charts for 5 weeks, making this her 6th #1 there, as well as topping the charts in several countries worldwide including Australia, Croatia & Israel and attained top five positions in Germany, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and the UK.

Rihanna allegedly had to fight for this track to become a single (not sure why), but I'm so glad that she did as this was not only the era's biggest smash hit, but it was most catchy moment on the album. While other songs in her discography showcases her ever improving vocal talents or lyrics better, but very few captures her essence like this song does with its dancehall inflected beats with elements of Ragga against the vibrant production & of course the infectious hooks, which makes a very strong & confident sounding number, where she just lets loose & shaking off any regard of other people's opinions. This was a prime example of Rihanna's ever evoling sound by being raunchiest she's ever been (at the time) & completely at ease with her sexuality.

Edited September 4, 20213 yr by Nina West

Rude Boy never gets old for me !!

Tune but overplayed (I'm noticing a recurring then here!)

Glad that missed the top 10 in this.

Yes, it's a lesson, it's unfair, you stole my vanity

13. SOS | 8.269 Highest Scores: 11: (Adelita), 10: (Nina West, ready for it, jakewild, PAJ, JackTheeStallion, kath), Lowest Scores: 5: (JSG)


At #13 is SOS, released in February 2006 as the lead single from Rihanna's 2nd studio album A Girl Like Me. It was written by J. R. Rotem and E. Kidd Bogart with credit also assigned to Ed Cobb since the song is built around a sample of Soft Cell's 1981 hit "Tainted Love". The song was originally intended for Christina Milian for her 3rd studio album "So Amazin", but she turned it down & former Def Jam CEO and chairman L.A. Reid offered the song to Rihanna instead. Upon release it gained generally positive reviews & became a commerical success by becoming her first chart topper in both the USA & Australia, as well as top 5 peaks in 12 other countries including Belgium, Germany, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland & Austria. After the single's release, Rihanna would release her 2nd album, which despite only being 8 months after her first, it proved to be far more successful.

After easing into the pop world with her previous singles, It would be this bop that not only break down the doors, but would set Rihanna on the right path for a llong & successful career with this explosive up-tempo jam with infectious beats, thanks mainly to the sample, which works incredibly well with the song, making it brimming with fast paced energy. However sampling a well-known hit wasn't a new thing (even back in 2006), but this is one of the better examples of that trend & by only using the synth riffs & machine beats, really makes the chrous pop. While this may not have been her first single, it was however her grand entrance into pop stardom & things would only go up from here.

Love S.O.S!

 

It was released when I was finishing high school so I have great memories attached to it.

Take the gun and count to three

12. Russian Roulette | 8.346 Highest Scores: 11: (PAJ, Tafty, Geogre.keh, elgornio), 10: (Nina West, Jord, Tawdry Hepburn, Mike Sugafan, Nick F1, Adelita, Cremey), Lowest Scores: 2: (Cameron)


At #12 we lose another era with Russian Roulette, released in October 2009 as the lead single from Rihanna's 4th studio album Rated R & was written and produced by Ne-Yo and Chuck Harmony. Lyrically, the single is about an abusive romantic relationship that ended abruptly. Music critics noted the lyrical theme to be a response to the domestic violence case between Rihanna and her former boyfriend, singer Chris Brown. In that same year while working on the track, its producers convened together to conceptualize a song that would take Rihanna's music to a further level. They wanted to give the fans something unexpected & unlike her previous up-tempo bops. Upon release the song recieved critical acclaim & it managed to reach top 10 peaks in over 20 countries worldwide including topping the charts in the Czech Republic, Israel, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, and Switzerland, as well as reaching a #2 peak in the UK & #9 in the USA. After the song was done, Rihanna stated that this was one of her favorites, she's ever recorded.

This was a prime example of Rihanna's growth as an artist as she not only comes back with something bold & daring, but something totally different to what she's done before as she gives into the darkness & far griiter in tone as the bass resembles a heartbeat, slow and steady despite the growing tension around it, heightened by melodramatic swirling synths, then kicks into life with a screaming guitar solo to its emotive final chorus with pulsating beats. Rihanna's vocals are of course on point here where her voice slightly quivers as she sings, before taking a final dramatic breath before the song's haunting conclusion. A stunning song & definiately one of her finest recordings.

Russian Roulette is my #1 Rihanna song.

 

Wish it placed a little higher.