# Loud (Rihanna album)
**Loud** is the fifth studio album by the Barbadian singer Rihanna, released in November 2010 on Def Jam and marked as a return to bright, uptempo dance-pop after the darker, more introspective *[Rated R](https://www.edgepedia.org/rated-r-rihanna-album)* (2009).[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/) Released at age 22, she paired the album with a striking red hairdo that became the visual signature of the era, and the record produced a run of chart-topping singles including "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?", and "S&M".[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) • [3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / album | Fifth studio album by Rihanna, Pop/R&B, Def Jam / Roc Nation[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/) |
| Release | November 12, 2010 per Apple Music; her official site lists November 16, 2010[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) • [4](https://www.rihannanow.com/music/loud/) |
| Tracklist | 11 tracks, from "S&M" to "Love The Way You Lie (Part II) Feat. Eminem"[5](https://www.rihannanow.com/news/loud-official-track-list/) |
| Singles | Seven singles; three, "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?", and "S&M", topped charts both in the United States and overseas[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) |
| US chart | Debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200; 1.5 million US copies logged by Nielsen SoundScan[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2011-11-22/rihannas-vocal-producer-kuk-harrell-on-making-talk-that-talk) |
| UK chart | No. 1 peak on the Official Albums Chart, first chart date 27/11/2010[7](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/rihanna-loud/) |
| Grammy nominations | Three, including Album of the Year[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 67 from 22 critic reviews; Pitchfork 7.6[8](https://www.metacritic.com/music/loud/rihanna/critic-reviews) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/) |
## Background and intent
Rihanna recorded *Loud* within a year of *Rated R*, an album she made after what Apple Music's editorial summary calls a highly publicized dark period, and which Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal describes as her "spiked-out reaction to staggering emotional and physical trauma".[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/) For the new album she told the production team Stargate that she wanted to go back to having fun and making happy, uptempo records; Apple Music describes liberation as the album's unofficial theme.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) In an Interview Magazine conversation around the release, Rihanna said the record was "a really fun, expressive album, and loud was the perfect word to symbolize that".[9](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/rihanna)
The sound drew on dance-pop, R&B, dancehall and reggae influences, a blend Spanish-language coverage at LOS40 describes as more experimental without leaving the mainstream.[10](https://los40.com/2024/08/31/rihanna-es-ya-una-artista-classic-loud-el-punto-de-inflexion-que-trajo-fuego-pelo-rojo-y-una-artista-completa-a-la-industria/) Vocal production was handled by Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, who had begun working with Rihanna on "Umbrella" and produced all the vocals for *Loud* as well as its successor *Talk That Talk*.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2011-11-22/rihannas-vocal-producer-kuk-harrell-on-making-talk-that-talk) Unlike on *Rated R*, where she had a hand in writing most of the songs, Rihanna is not credited with writing anything on *Loud*.[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/)
## Singles and songs
**The single run.** The lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", arrived two days before Rihanna's 2010 MTV VMAs performance and brought a pulsating, EDM-inflected sound that uDiscover Music calls a new one for her, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/) The follow-up, "What's My Name?" with Drake, called back to the dancehall sound of her debut *Music of the Sun* over an electro-ska riddim.[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/) "S&M", the album opener, borrows a hook from [The Cure](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cure)'s "Let's Go to Bed" and, in the remix with [Britney Spears](https://www.edgepedia.org/britney-spears), became her tenth No. 1 single on the Hot 100.[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/) "Cheers (Drink to That)", the final single, samples [Avril Lavigne](https://www.edgepedia.org/avril-lavigne)'s 2002 single "I'm with You".[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/)
The album's quieter tracks balance the club material. "Fading" samples Enya's "One By One" in a kiss-off to an inconsistent lover; "California King Bed" is a power ballad about partners growing distant; and "Man Down", over a reggae beat, tells a revenge story in which the narrator kills her assailant after a sexual assault.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) • [3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/) The closer, "Love The Way You Lie (Part II)", extends the hit from Eminem's *Recovery*, this time with Rihanna's vocal in the lead.[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/)
## Reception and commercial performance
Critics generally received the album favorably. Its Metacritic Metascore stands at 67, from 22 reviews counted as 12 positive and 10 mixed, with no negative reviews.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/music/loud/rihanna/critic-reviews) [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) gave it a 91, writing that *Loud* showcases "a star undefeated by her worst circumstances"; the Boston Globe called it a record "all about Rihanna's fighting side".[8](https://www.metacritic.com/music/loud/rihanna/critic-reviews) Pitchfork scored it 7.6, framing it as a return to "effervescent pop" after the melodrama of *Rated R*, while noting that some moves were too safe.[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/)
Commercially, the album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and had sold 1.5 million copies in the United States per Nielsen SoundScan by late 2011; Rihanna considered and ultimately passed on a repackage of *Loud*, opting instead to assemble the new album *Talk That Talk*, completed in under two months during the European leg of her Loud Tour.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2011-11-22/rihannas-vocal-producer-kuk-harrell-on-making-talk-that-talk) In the United Kingdom it reached No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart in January 2011 and logged 102 weeks on the chart between November 2010 and November 2012.[7](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/rihanna-loud/) The album topped the charts in several international markets, though aCharts lists it peaking at No. 2 in Australia and Germany and No. 3 in France, and uDiscover reports three Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.[3](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/) • [12](https://acharts.co/album/58745)
## Legacy
The Loud Tour that followed the album included a London date at the O2 Arena on 5 October 2011, by which point reviewers observed that Rihanna had turned from an R&B star into a mainstream pop phenomenon drawing audiences who rarely attended concerts.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/06/rihanna-o2-arena-review) Apple Music's retrospective framing credits the album with setting off Rihanna's "pop explosion" and confirming how easily she could move across genres, while LOS40's anniversary piece calls the record a declaration of personal confidence and artistic renewal that helped define the sound of pop in the early 2010s.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224) • [10](https://los40.com/2024/08/31/rihanna-es-ya-una-artista-classic-loud-el-punto-de-inflexion-que-trajo-fuego-pelo-rojo-y-una-artista-completa-a-la-industria/)
## References
1. [Loud - Album by Rihanna, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/loud/1442286224)
2. [Rihanna: Loud Album Review, Pitchfork (Ryan Dombal, November 24, 2010)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14897-loud/)
3. ['Loud': How Rihanna Became Pop's Favorite Party Girl, uDiscover Music](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rihanna-loud-album/)
4. [LOUD - Rihanna, official site](https://www.rihannanow.com/music/loud/)
5. [Loud - Official Track List, Rihanna official site (October 25, 2010)](https://www.rihannanow.com/news/loud-official-track-list/)
6. [Rihanna's vocal producer Kuk Harrell on making 'Talk That Talk', Los Angeles Times (November 22, 2011)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2011-11-22/rihannas-vocal-producer-kuk-harrell-on-making-talk-that-talk)
7. [LOUD - RIHANNA, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/rihanna-loud/)
8. [Critic Reviews for Loud - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/loud/rihanna/critic-reviews)
9. [Rihanna - Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/rihanna)
10. [Rihanna es ya una artista 'Classic': 'LOUD', el punto de inflexión, LOS40 (August 31, 2024)](https://los40.com/2024/08/31/rihanna-es-ya-una-artista-classic-loud-el-punto-de-inflexion-que-trajo-fuego-pelo-rojo-y-una-artista-completa-a-la-industria/)
11. [Rihanna at the O2 Arena – review, The Guardian (October 6, 2011)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/06/rihanna-o2-arena-review)
12. [Bot Verification](https://acharts.co/album/58745)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Pop albums › 2010s albums › Fourth and later albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license