Maps of Music

Talk That Talk (2011)

Where the lyrics of Talk That Talk take you, and where it was really made.

The album began as a planned reissue of Loud, but Rihanna dropped that plan and recorded a new sixth album while touring.

Key places

Westlake Recording Studios, Hollywood (2011)

Recording site Westlake Recording Studios — Westlake Recording Studios in Hollywood, California is listed among the studios in the album's recording credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Grand Hotel room in Stockholm (2011)

Recording site Grand Hotel — A hotel room at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden is listed among the recording locations in the album's credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Jungle City Studios, New York (2011)

Recording site Jungle City Studios — Jungle City Studios in New York, New York is listed among the studios in the album's recording credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording start in Los Angeles (2011)

Recording site Los Angeles — The album's recording began in Los Angeles before the European leg of the Loud Tour. The point marks the city, not a specific building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Talk That Talk: sixth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna
• Released November 18, 2011 by Def Jam Recordings, SRP Records, and Roc Nation
• Originally planned as a reissue of Loud (2010), but the plan was scrapped in September 2011
• Dance-oriented pop/R&B crossover with hip-hop, dubstep, electronic, and house elements
• Subtle dancehall influences; lyrics center on a nihilistic, romantic, and lascivious lover
• Rihanna enlisted a wide range of producers, including Alex da Kid, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, No I.D., and Stargate

Background

• Followed Loud (2010), which the singer had earlier said would be re-issued with new songs in fall 2011
• In September 2011 Rihanna confirmed the re-issue plans were scrapped, saying Loud was its own body of work
• Recording sessions were confirmed underway on September 15, 2011
• Rihanna ran a Facebook campaign page, 'Rihanna: UNLOCKED', where fans completed game-style missions to unlock album information
• Recording took place during the Loud Tour, between February and November 2011
• Vocal producer Kurk Harrell estimated the album was cut in more than 25 cities
• Rihanna recorded a total of sixteen to seventeen songs

Recording

• Sessions were held in France, United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and Germany
• The singer often recorded late into the morning, sometimes until noon, before riding her bus to the next city
• Harrell said a portable studio was set up in the hotels where the team stayed

Cover

• Standard edition artwork drew comments from MTV's James Dinh and an NME reviewer, both of whom said Rihanna looks seductive in the image

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career beginnings

• Robyn Rihanna Fenty, born February 20, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados
• Signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2005 after an audition for Jay-Z and Antonio "L.A." Reid
• Debut album Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006) both reached the US Billboard 200 top ten
• "SOS" became her first US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single

Peak pop era

• Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) marked a shift to dance-pop and R&B and is her best-selling album, with about nine million copies sold
• "Umbrella", "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia" each topped the Billboard Hot 100
• Rated R (2009), Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011) and Unapologetic (2012) followed
• Unapologetic was her first US Billboard 200 number-one album

Later career

• Moved from Def Jam to Roc Nation; Anti (2016) became her second US number-one album
• Headlined the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February 2023, the most-watched halftime show in history
• Has released sporadic singles since 2016 and acted in films including Battleship (2012), Ocean's 8 (2018) and Smurfs (2025)
• Sales estimated above 250 million records

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Talk That Talk received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the album's lyrics
• Others were less favorable of its themes
• Metacritic average of 64 from 27 mainstream reviews
• The Daily Telegraph's James Lachno called it Rihanna's most club-ready album to date
• Robert Christgau praised its hookiest, most dance-targeted sound and its carnal lyrics, saying he preferred it to her earlier albums
• The New York Times' Jon Caramanica said Rihanna's dance music on the album draws on the club music of the early 1990s
• The Los Angeles Times' Randall Roberts gave a mixed review, saying the sauciness sometimes borders on shtick
• The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot panned its double or single entendres
• Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole called it pretty easily the worst Rihanna album yet
• NME's Priya Elan found it annoyingly safe

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Andy Kellman dubbed it Rihanna's third best album to date, behind Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R
• Kellman said that, minus the fluff, it is close to the equal of Rated R

Records

• Debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 198,000 first-week copies
• Second week sales of 68,200 copies in the US, dropping to number 7, with a total of 266,400 units
• Peaked at number one in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
• Debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling more than 163,000 copies in its first week
• Certified Platinum by the BPI for 300,000 units after six days of sale
• Certified two-times Platinum by the BPI on December 9, 2011 for 600,000 copies
• Certified triple Platinum by the BPI as of April 2012 for 900,000 shipments
• Certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA on March 26, 2018, for over three million album-equivalent units
• Ninth global best-selling album of 2011 according to the IFPI
• Sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide as of March 2013

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was first planned as a reissue of Loud, with new songs; Rihanna later scrapped that plan in September 2011 and tweeted that Loud was its own body of work.
• Recording happened on the road: the singer rode her bus to the next city after late sessions, and the team set up a portable studio in hotels.
• Harrell said he chose which takes to capture based on where her voice was, starting with the lower-range material so as not to strain her voice after shows.
• The lead single We Found Love topped the charts of 27 countries and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it became Rihanna's eleventh number-one song.
• A two-part documentary, Road to Talk That Talk, was released online on February 17, 2012 and May 9, 2012.
• The album returned to number one on the UK Albums Chart on August 12, 2012, selling 9,578 copies, the lowest-selling UK number one since records began.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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