Best Songs of 2009 – #2

I wonder what Rihanna’s follow-up to Good Girl Gone Bad would have been like had she not been beaten up by boyfriend Chris Brown last February. Clearly she was capable of the sort of darkness and edginess she displays on Rated R but apparently it took that ugly incident to inspire her to capture it on record. I hate to say her pain is our gain, but it’s true.

I suppose 2008’s ‘Disturbia,’ written by Brown, was a start down this path but the songs on Rated R that tackle the violent incident directly and indirectly are a whole new ball game.

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