A Girl Like Me is the second studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on April 10, 2006, by SRP Records and Def Jam Recordings. For the production of the album, Rihanna worked with Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate, J. R. Rotem, and label-mate Ne-Yo. A Girl Like Me is a pop, dancehall and R&B album influenced by Rihanna's Caribbean roots. The album also incorporates elements of rock music, as well as ballads, which music critics were ambivalent towards.
Some critics gave the album positive reviews, stating that Rihanna gracefully avoided the sophomore disappointment while others compared the album to her previous effort. A Girl Like Me was released less than eight months after Rihanna's debut album. It peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200 and on the UK Albums Chart. The album was successful in other countries as well, entering the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Japan, while topping the Canadian Albums Chart.
A Girl Like Me spawned four singles: "SOS", which became Rihanna's first single to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Unfaithful" and "Break It Off", both reaching the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the album's third single, "We Ride", failed to reprise the success of the album's other singles. The album was re-released as an expanded two-disc deluxe package in Germany, which includes remixes to both Rihanna's debut single, "Pon de Replay", and "If It's Lovin' That You Want". The album has been certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). To promote both A Girl Like Me and her debut record, Rihanna embarked on her debut headlining concert tour, entitled Rihanna: Live in Concert in 2006.
Background and title Rihanna released her debut album Music of the Sun in August 2005. An R&B album, Music of the Sun incorporated musical elements of dance-pop and Caribbean music genres such as dancehall and reggae. The album received mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented its dancehall and Caribbean-inspired songs, while others criticized some of the production. Music of the Sun debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200 and peaked in the top-forty of album charts in Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It produced two singles: "Pon de Replay" and "If It's Lovin' that You Want", the former of which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
When discussing the conception for her second studio album with L.A. Reid—Chairman and CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group—Rihanna talked about experimenting with different music by incorporating some rock on the album. In February 2006, Rihanna announced that she was going to release her second studio album in April 2006 under the name A Girl Like Me. When asked about the album in an interview with MTV News, Rihanna stated: "Vocally I've matured so much, and lyrically I'm speaking about stuff I would never sing about [before]. Now I'm singing about experiences that I've gone through and stuff that other 18-year-old girls go through, so it's all about progression." In regards to the title of the album, Rihanna explained: "It's called A Girl Like Me because it's a very personal album, it's my baby. It's all about what it's like to be a girl like me, speaking of personal experiences as well as things that girls like me have gone through."
Recording
For writing and production of A Girl Like Me Rihanna teamed up once again with record producers Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, who produced most of the tracks on her previous album, J. R. Rotem and Norwegian production duo Stargate. While recording the track "If It's Lovin' That You Want" for her debut album, Rihanna received a visit from American singer Ne-Yo, in which they met for the first time, although they never got the chance to collaborate on Music of the Sun. When production started, she came up with the idea of working with Ne-Yo. When asked about collaborating with Ne-Yo, Rihanna stated: "We never got around to it on the first album. So for the second album, I was like, 'You know what? I have to work with that guy Ne-Yo.' And it made it a lot easier because he's on the same label I am." For the album, Rihanna also worked with Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist Sean Paul on the track "Break It Off", which was recorded in Paul's hometown of Kingston, Jamaica.
While working on A Girl Like Me, Rihanna not only recorded songs but also promoted Music of the Sun. She commented: "We were so busy promoting the first album while trying to get this one done, working some crazy hours. That's why this album is so close to me, 'cause I really put my heart and soul into it." "SOS" was the first recorded track for the album, a song which was originally intended for Christina Milian's third studio album So Amazin'; however, she rejected it. L.A. Reid had Rihanna in mind as the next artist to record the song. The song was recorded within three days and eventually later released as the lead single from A Girl Like Me. "Kisses Don't Lie" was penned and produced by Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken and it was one of the three songs on the album on which Rihanna received writing credit. The song was written and recorded in her native Barbados, and was described by Rihanna as mixed with rock and reggae.
In the song "Unfaithful", penned by Ne-Yo, Rihanna wanted to speak about personal things that girls her age at the time were experiencing, which was inspired by the album's title and according to her it is one of her favorite songs on the album. "We Ride" was written and produced by StarGate, who also produced and co-wrote "Unfaithful".Parish; Pitts, p. 525 For the song "Break It Off", which features Jamaican artist Sean Paul, Rihanna flew down to Jamaica to record the song. The song was written by Donovan Bennet and it was co-written by Sean Paul and Rihanna herself. The album's closing tracks were written by Rogers, Sturken and Rihanna, who co-wrote the album's title track "A Girl Like Me". Rogers and Sturken produced and wrote eight of the album's 16 tracks.
Music and lyrics Musically, A Girl Like Me reveals new types of musical genres compared to Rihanna's light and uptempo debut effort, Music of the Sun. Her goal on the album was to find songs that express the many things young women want to say, but might not know how. In an interview, Rihanna said: "Now I'm singing about experiences that I've gone through and stuff that other 18-year-old girls go through, so it's all about progression." Reggae music, present in her debut album, subsequently continues into A Girl Like Me. For the album, Rihanna used influences of different music genres, including rock music, while keeping the reggae and dancehall roots of her previous album.McKeen, p. 233 The new effort also presents Rihanna's new side with some balladic elements. Although the album mostly follows the disco-ish mode of its predecessor, it was noted for its introduction of the rock genre to Rihanna's music, mostly represented by the rock and reggae mash-up "Kisses Don't Lie", though Rihanna herself stated that the album is not overall driven by rock influence."MP3.com: Exclusive Interview with Rihanna", , cited February 12, 2007 In an interview, Rihanna commented: "Growing up in Barbados, I wasn't exposed to a lot of rock music. We really love reggae and soca music and hip-hop. But when I moved to the United States last year, I was exposed to a lot of different types of music, rock being one of them, and I fell in love with it. [Now] I love rock music." Celia SanMiguel of Vibe magazine wrote that A Girl Like Me is "a pop album, one informed but not bounded by Rihanna's Caribbean roots", and that it "dispels any lingering notions of her as a dancehall-meets-R&B ambassador." Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine called the album "a record that almost identically" veered between "sunny dancehall/dub-pop", "hip-hop-infused club bangers", and "adult-oriented ballads".
Lyrically, the album's theme speaks of girls' experiences. The album was widely addressed a personal album, speaking about what it is like to be "a girl like me"—things that girls Rihanna's age at the time were going through—as well as every aspect of her life: people being cheated on, falling in and out of love, people hating on you, having feelings towards a guy and partying. "SOS" tells about a guy who gives the girl a feeling that is very overwhelming—he drives the girl crazy, and she needs someone to rescue her from it.Morton, p. 789 "Kisses Don't Lie" talks about a girl who's in love with a guy but is stuck between an ultimatum because she's afraid of getting hurt. "Unfaithful" documents the decay of a relationship when another person starts cheating. According to Rihanna, "I'm referred to as a murderer in that song, meaning I'm taking this guy's life by hurting him, cheating on him. He knows, and it makes him feel so bad. It's killing him to know that another guy is making me happy." "We Ride" talks about how a guy promises a girl that they will be together forever, while the girl describes moments which he did things that could tear them apart.Rooksby, p. 23-26 The lyrics of "Dem Haters" portray a message about how "haters" try to bring people down and recommends excluding them from your life. "Final Goodbye" talks about a woman who wants to spend the rest of her life with a manMetz; Benson, p. 48 but feels that she needs to reveal a secret before moving on. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" continues the theme of love in a similar vein to "SOS", however, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" portrays a message about being in love, whereas "SOS" talks about having an overwhelming feeling towards a guy.
Songs
The album's opening track "SOS" is an uptempo dance song incorporating the key section, bass line, and drum beat of the 1981 recording of "Tainted Love" as performed by Soft Cell, although "SOS" contains a more dance-oriented beat to create a soulful anthem of young love. The song received positive reviews by critics, who called it "a sexy club tune." The song also features three different music videos, including two promotional music videos for Agent Provocateur and Nike, and the official music video, which was directed by Chris Applebaum. "Kisses Don't Lie", the album's second song, uses a mixture of Caribbean elements and electric guitar together with a mesmerizing bassline. On the ballad song "Unfaithful", the background instrumentation features a piano and strings. The song is the third track and the second single from the album, and was written by labelmate and fellow R&B musician Ne-Yo. Despite its strong chart performance, the song was panned by critics, who stated that "Rihanna's voice [on the song was] not particularly strong."Lamb, Bill "Rihanna – Unfaithful" . About.com. Retrieved August 30, 2009. The fourth track, "We Ride", features gently strummed acoustic guitar, with production handled by Stargate. The song received mixed reviews from critics and was less successful than the other singles. In the song's music video, directed by Anthony Mandler, Rihanna was featured hanging with her friends and scenes of her at the beach. After the song failed to chart in the United States, the song became the last single from the album to feature a music video.