On Tuesday, Nov. 16, Miss Fenty will release Loud, her fifth studio album. Let's just get to it, shall we? We loved Rated R and thought it was an epic tour-du-force. On the other hand, many of her fans didn't appreciate the dark tone of the album. The truth is: Many of the songs on Loud, with some minor tweaking, could easily have been on Rated R.
The 11-track record starts off with S&M, a big up-tempo dance track on which she proclaims "sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me," but it's Man Down, a dancehall reggae banger that's by far (in our opinion) the album's stand-out track; it gets 10s across the board. On the tune, she sings: "Mama, mama, mama I just shot a man down/In Central Station/In front of a big ol' crowd....Why did I pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull the trigger, boom!/And end a nigga, end a nigga life so soon?.....Rum-pa-pa-pum-rum-pa-pa-pum-rum-pa-pa-pum, me say one man down....Now I am a criminal, criminal, criminal/Oh lawd o' mercy now I am a criminal, man down/Tell the judge please give me minimal." YESSSSS!!!
Cheers (I Drink to That), is note-worthy, too. What's My Name, which features Drake, is a sexually-charged track in the vein of Rude Boy in which she sings about needing a man to work her over in the bedroom (entering any and every "door") and scream her name while doing so. Yes! It's followed by Fading, a mid-tempo ballad. Then Only Girl (In The World). It took a while for us to like the album's first single, but it's firah and it's her umpteenth number one single so we can't hate. California King Bed is another big ballad that could have gone really really raunchy, but it isn't. Nicki Minaj drops her 16-bars on Raining Men. It's cute. Complicated truly showcases Miss Fenty's voice, 'cause girl went really big on this one. The song is amazing so it was easy to love. Skin, on the other hand, is a slow anthem ladies will appreciate: It's sexy but not vulgar. Then, the album closes with Love The Way You Lie (Part II). We must admit, we didn't pay much attention to part one (which appears on Eminem's latest album), but this version is pleasant and Miss Fenty's voice is killer.
If you get the deluxe edition, there are are several bonus tracks, like another version of What's My Name sans Drake and a big ol' dance remix of Only Girl (In The World). Plus, there's the previously leaked Who's That Chick? and Stick Up, from the skit with Shy Ronnie on Saturday Night Live.
Miss Fenty has said in previous interviews that "[Loud] is really sassy and flirty and it grabs your attention and that’s why I enjoy it. It takes you through a really really interesting ride." The album sure does. For that, we give Loud a B, but damn, now we're jonesing for a full-length reggae album from Miss Fenty. Jay-Z, can you make that happen? Please?
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