By Odeisel

While the glare of the spotlight makes you more visible to the world at large, sometimes it also hides blemishes. The bright light obscures things that would be normally visible off the stage.  With Rihanna, that fame and stardom hid the real scars from her tumultuous relationship with Chris Brown.  The story has been written and bitten and we don’t elaborate here on the Planet on post-adolescent drama, but suffice to say, it derailed a rather smooth climb to the top.

After months away from the spotlight, naked pictures, assault pictures, court cases, video eye candy and wailing away on “Run This Town,” Rihanna returned to the game with an edgy, slow simmering single ominously titled “Russian Roulette” to begin her return to the stage. A well-timed “20/20″ interview later and the world is on pins and needles waiting for her  album to drop.

There have been many comments on her foray to the darkside, morphing from the bright-eyed teenager of “Pon De Replay” to the dark and edgy faux pop-rock of “Umbrella.” These cries will get louder as she goes further left, wrapped in little more than barbed-wire on the promo pics for Rated R. Cries of exploitation fill the air. But in this entertainment world, even in light of her recent destructive dalliances with sex and violence, those cries will fall on death ears.  What won’t is her album, Rated R.  Here is the sampler for your enjoyment(or voyeuristic inspection).

There isn’t really enough of each song to review, but upon first listen, it’s a very dark turn musically with none of the pop panache that has pushed her to the stratosphere.  With so much edge and a declining level of sheathe, you have to ask: will her career fall on the edge of the sword she so brazenly wields, or does her newly melancholy music become the sound track for depressed adolescents and pill poppers? You listen and decide.  You know we’ll have that album review.  Peace.

Rihanna-Rated R Sampler 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Follow Odeisel on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/odeisel

Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill

Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion

Check out Planet Ill’s page on Essence.com

Follow us on Networked Blogs