Rihanna A GIRL LIKE ME | CD

New package w/ sampler.
Personnel: Rihanna (vocals); Dwane Husbands, Corey Gunz, Sean Paul (vocals); Carl Sturken (guitar, piano, keyboards, programming); Luke McCaster, Andy Bassford (guitar); Abe Appleman, Maura Giannini, Jeanne Ingram, Yana Goichman, Marti Sweet, Cenovia Cummins , Richard Sortomme, Katherine LiVolsi Stern, Ann Leathers, Jan Mullen, Yuri Vodovoz (violin); Sue Pray, Crystal Garner, Jill Jaffe (viola); Eugene Briskin, Gene Moye, Richard Locker (cello); Kevin Batchelor (trumpet); Clark Gayton (trombone); Ted Hemberger (percussion); Evan Rogers (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Donovan "Vendetta" Bennett; Al Hemberger; Mike City; Patrick Viala; Phil Tan.
Recording information: 2 Hard Studios, Kingston, Jamaica; Avatar Studios, New York, NY; Barmitzvah Hall Studios, Century City, CA; Battery Studios, New York, NY; Blue Wave Studio, St. Philip, Barbados; Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Digital Insight Recording Studios, Las Vegas, NV; Hinge Studios, Chicago, IL; Record Plant Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; The Loft, Bronxville, NY; Unsung Studio, Sherman Oaks, CA.
Photographers: Nichell Delvaille; Tony Duran .
Rihanna's "Pon the Replay" was the jam of summer 2005, and with good reason: its Caribbean-flavored rhythms and infectious, singalong chorus made it nearly irresistible. The Barbados-born singer's full-length, MUSIC OF THE SUN, performed well on the strength of the single, and offered more of Rihanna's commercially tailored dancehall-pop.
A GIRL LIKE ME, Rihanna's sophomore release, is less overtly dancehall-influenced than its predecessor. Instead, the album makes a more straightforward play for mainstream R&B appeal. The album's lead-off single and video "SOS," for example, centers on a sample from Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" (including the immediately recognizable laser-gun sound), making for a bouncy, sexy pop confection. "Unfaithful" is an R&B ballad that finds Rihanna in torch mode, and sounds like a hit in the making. While there's nothing quite as striking as "Pon the Replay" here, there is plenty to power Rihanna's rise up the charts.

• Format: CD
• Released: 4/25/2006