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
Beyonce
-
Ciara
Ashanti
cash-in. But like her
Def Jam
labelmate
Teairra Mari
-- another young and beautiful
diva who emerged out of nowhere in 2005 --
is winsome rather than wannabe, thanks in no small part to her producers. Just as
benefited greatly from irresistibly shrewd beat-making on her debut album,
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
: Caribbean-inflected
, 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
song at its core, with standard English-language singing as well as a can't-miss singalong hook (and a glitzy,
-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,"
"You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)."
As with most albums of this ilk,
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
featuring
Elephant Man
. The result is one of the more engaging
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
reggaeton
bandwagons concurrently sweeping through America's more fashionable cities. ~ Jason Birchmeier