Only Girl (In The World)
Rihanna
After the completely up-and-down response to her Rated R album, along comes “Only Girl (In The World),” the next in the urban-pop-gone-gay-dance genre. What will doubtlessly be as huge a hit as “Disturbia” follows a similar format. Produced by Stargate, responsible for “Don’t Stop the Music” and Ne-Yo’s recent (and similar sounding) “Beautiful Monster,” as well as a long list of other urban-to-dance radio hits, “Only Girl” sounds like every club track from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. It woke me up on the morning of its debut on Los Angeles’ KIIS FM with the thought of “what the hell is the sound of my college years doing coming out of my clock radio?” It’s completely addictive and essentially just fun Top 40. In comparison to the last lead single, “Russian Roulette,” this makes a clear statement that “we made a mistake trying to make Rihanna into an artist, and we’re never doing substance again.” Official remixes have yet to be released at press time, but rest assured, they’re coming.
