{"product_id":"rihanna-music-of-the-sun-2-lps","title":"Music Of The Sun (2 Lp's)","description":"Given the proliferation of young and beautiful urban dance-pop divas dominating the radio and music video airwaves in 2005, it initially was tempting to discount Rihanna as yet another Beyonc?-Ciara-Ashanti cash-in. But like her Def Jam labelmate Teairra Mari -- another young and beautiful urban dance-pop diva who emerged out of nowhere in 2005 -- Rihanna is winsome rather than wannabe, thanks in no small part to her producers. Just as Teairra Mari benefited greatly from irresistibly shrewd beat-making on her debut album, Rihanna benefits from the knowing production work of Syndicated Rhythm Productions, aka Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, who together produced a laundry list of contemporary teen pop sensations during the prior decade. What these guys do that's so irresistibly shrewd is synthesize Caribbean rhythms and beats with standard-issue urban dance-pop: Caribbean-inflected urban, if you will. So while a song like \"Pon de Replay\" -- to pick the most obvious exhibit -- is driven by booming dancehall-lite beats and a reggae vocal cadence (and title spelling), it's a simple dance-pop song at its core, with standard English-language singing as well as a can't-miss singalong hook (and a glitzy, urban-style MTV video to boot). The best songs on Music of the Sun follow this appealing template, including the similarly catchy few songs that follow the aforementioned album-opening smash hit: \"Here I Go Again,\" \"If It's Lovin' That You Want,\" and \"You Don't Love Me (No, No, No).\" As with most albums of this ilk, Music of the Sun descends into faceless slow jams after a while, overall consistency not being among its attributes, but thankfully it picks up the pace toward the end of its 13-song run and concludes on a fun note, with a remix of \"Pon de Replay\" featuring Elephant Man. The result is one of the more engaging urban dance-pop albums of the year (and one of the most infectious summer jams, for sure), as well as a nice Caribbean primer for those not ready or willing to jump on the increasingly trendy dancehall and reggaeton bandwagons concurrently sweeping through America's more fashionable cities. [Music of the Sun was re-released on LP in 2017.] ~ Jason Birchmeier","brand":"Rihanna","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44584292221161,"sku":"WPNMFC-X5NN-00","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/files\/rihanna-music-of-the-sun-2-lps_mbXu6.jpg?v=1742430831","url":"https:\/\/www.vibinvinyl.com\/products\/rihanna-music-of-the-sun-2-lps","provider":"Vibin' Vinyl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}