Talk That Talk

This article is about the album. For the single from the album, see Talk That Talk (song).

Untitled

Talk That Talk is the sixth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, released on November 18, 2011 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was recorded from February 2011 to November 2011. As the executive producer of the album, Rihanna enlisted a variety of producers to collaborate with including Alex da Kid, Mr. Bangladesh, Calvin Harris, Dr. Luke, Stargate and The-Dream. Sonically, the album is rooted in pop, dance-pop and R&B, but also incorporates a variety of other genres such as hip hop, and electro house. The album is also noted for its use of dubstep in tracks such as "You da One" and "Red Lipstick".

Upon its release, Talk That Talk received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended its musical direction and dance tracks, but were ambivalent towards its composition and lyrics. The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 198,000 copies in the United States. As of May 2012, the album has sold 878,200 copies in the United States. The album peaked at number one in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling more than 163,000 copies in its first week. As of December 2011, the album has been certified two-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 600,000 copies.

Five singles have been released from the album. The debut single, "We Found Love" premiered on September 22, 2011, and quickly became Rihanna's eleventh number one hit in the US, placing her in third place alongside Whitney Houston for the female artist with the most number-one singles on the chart, behind only Madonna and Mariah Carey. The song remained atop the chart for ten non-consecutive weeks, surpassing "Umbrella" as Rihanna's most successful run on the Hot 100 to date. The track also topped the charts in 26 additional countries. The second single, "You Da One" was moderately successful both in the United States and internationally, peaking at numbers 14 and 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, respectively. The eponymous "Talk That Talk", featuring rapper Jay-Z, and a remix of "Birthday Cake" featuring rapper, Chris Brown, were released as the album's third and fourth US singles, to moderate success. Despite no official release of the remix or a music video, the latter managed a peak of 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number two on the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. "Where Have You Been" was released as the fifth US and third international single from the album, currently reaching the top ten of ten countries around the world, including at number six on the UK Singles Chart, and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background and development

Rihanna performing during the Loud Tour in Florida

Following the release and success of Rihanna's previous studio album, Loud, the singer revealed via Twitter that the album would be re-issued with new songs and released in fall 2011, writing that "[t]he [Loud era] continues with more new music to add to [your] collection". In September 2011, Rihanna took to Twitter to confirm that plans for a re-issue of Loud had been scrapped, with the singer tweeting "I [thought about] a [re-release], but LOUD is its own body of work! Plus [you] guys work so [fucking] hard that [you] deserve to act brand new."

In an interview with Mixtape Daily, producer Verse Simmonds, half of the duo The Jugganauts, who wrote and produced the reggae-infused song "Man Down" from Loud, revealed that the singer was nearing completion of her sixth studio album in August 2011. The duo also said that they had penned two tracks for possible inclusion on the album, saying "From what I understand, she is closing the album up now, and we did two records for her that she really, really loved and I'm really excited about them as well" and also expressed interest in writing a third song. On September 15, 2011, Rihanna confirmed via her official Twitter account that recording sessions for the album were indeed underway, tweeting "I can't wait to start filling u guys in on some details!" The tweet was soon followed up by another, where Rihanna tweeted "*Zips lips*," implying that she would no longer talk about the project's development. Although the tweet suggested that the singer would not give any more details about the album, a fan tweeted to Rihanna asking when the album would be released, to which she replied, "THIS FALL!!!!! [sic]."

Recording

Jay-Z co-wrote and featured on the title track.

Recording sessions for Talk That Talk began in February 2011 and ending in November 2011 lasting nine months coinciding with her tour. The album was recorded in various recording studios in different cites all over the world; Los Angeles, Brentwood, Hollywood and Newport Coast, California; Paris, France; Oslo, Norway; London, England; New York City, New York; Birmingham, Alabama; Copenhagen, Denmark; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Hamburg and Frankfurt, Germany; Stockholm and Sweden. Singer-songwriters and producers Jay-Z, Alex da Kid, Ester Dean, Calvin Harris, Sean Combs, Dr. Luke and The-Dream contributed to the album. Kuk Harrell one of the producers of Talk That Talk spoke on the recording of the album saying

In addition to touring, we are recording Rihanna's new album. We have a portable studio that we set up at the different hotels that we are staying at. We set up shop anywhere in the hotel. Before we went on the European leg of Rihanna's Loud tour, we started recording the album in Los Angeles. Rihanna likes to work late hours, so she would come into the studio at 9pm and work until 6am."

In May 2012, Rihanna revealed that whilst she was recording the album she suffered from exhaustion, "It was the best s**t ever, it was some rock star s**t. This is the craziest schedule I've ever been on in my entire life. One morning I woke up and started crying so hard. I finally just got to my bed from the IV [drip] and I was just like, 'Good I can actually get to sleep tonight', because we stayed up [all night' and I finished [the album] at 5pm the day before. So now, I'm like, 'One good night of rest.' I get in bed, and it must have been two hours in before my phone started going off. I was so frustrated I kept ignoring the phone. Every time it would go off, but every time I would ignore it. But it would be another burden on my shoulders, 'cause I know it has to get done. I know [I was] sick, but I'm the only person who can get it done, so it was so frustrating, so I was angry. I was so angry, I was so overwhelmed that I was sick. It felt crazy."I started crying. I cried for 10 minutes really, really hard in my pillow. It was aggressive. I don't cry loads. If I cry it's because I'm very angry and I can't do anything about it, because I've run into a dead end. That's when the tears would come down. But this time I needed to hear it, I almost wanted to punch somebody. When I got the copies in my hand, it was so worth it. I would never take it back. At times I wished things could have been different and easier, but then I didn't really care when I got the album. The fact it was so difficult, the album feels so much better."

Title and artwork

Rihanna created a Facebook campaign page entitled "Rihanna: UNLOCKED" [sic], whereby her fans on Facebook are given missions to complete, in the form of games, in order to "unlock" new information about the album. On October 4, 2011, fans unlocked "Mission:5", which meant that fans had unlocked another piece of information from the album, with number five revealing the title of the album. The title, Talk That Talk, was announced via her official Facebook page. On October 10, 2011, after the Loud Tour concert in Glasgow, Scotland, Rihanna gave a copy of the album's artwork to a fan. The singer later tweeted to explain that the fan she gave the copy to was the only person outside of the singer's management to have seen the artwork up until that point, writing "One very lucky fan outside my concert just got the 1st album cover! She's the 1st to see it! Only 1 person in the world has it". The following day, fans unlocked "Mission:6" via the singer's official Facebook page, which resulted in Rihanna officially unveiling two artwork covers for the standard and deluxe editions of the album. The standard edition artwork features Rihanna "[licking] her coral red hued lips, posing in a camouflage sleeveless shirt with the album title tattoed on her right arm".

Upon on unveiling of the standard edition's artwork, both James Dinh of MTV and a reviewer for NME commented that Rihanna looks "seductive" in the image. Gordon Smart of The Sun humorously criticized the standard edition artwork by saying that it looks as though the singer is trying to cover up a cold sore with her tongue, writing "It's easy to pick them up at this time of year – especially as she's constantly naked or attached to her new boyfriend Dudley O'Shaughnessy by the lips." Smart continued, writing "Let's hope they had some decent soap on set to remove the album title Talk That Talk from her wrist as well". The deluxe edition artwork shows the singer "[blowing] out a puff of smoke" and is shot in black and white. Rap-Up commented that the deluxe edition artwork features Rihanna blowing smoke out of her mouth whilst staring into the camera with "piercing eyes". Amanda Hensel of Popcrush noted that Rihanna is French inhaling the cigarette smoke, which involves expelling smoke from the mouth and inhaling it through the nostrils. Hensel also commented that the singer looks "fierce" in both the standard and deluxe edition covers.

Composition

Talk That Talk combines a variety of musical genres such as hip hop, R&B, electro house, electro, dancehall and dubstep, a genre first incorporated on Rihanna's fourth studio album, Rated R (2009). The album differed from Rihanna's previous release, Loud (2010), which featured a prominently up-tempo and pop genres, ranging from dance-pop to electro-R&B, and marked her return to her dancehall roots. Talk That Talk foreboding and angry tone with dark themes and incorporated elements of hip hop, rock, and dubstep music genres, which was prominent on her 2009 release Rated R. Talk That Talk did incorporate dancehall themes as seen in her earlier albums Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006).

Music and lyrics

Calvin Harris produced two of the albums single's

The opening track, "You Da One", which was produced by Dr. Luke, is a bouncy mid-tempo song with a Caribbean flavor, and features a dubstep influenced breakdown towards the middle of the song. According to Bradley Stern of MTV, the song's musical structure bares resemblances to Britney Spears' "Inside Out", writing that Rihanna "gets squeezed between a killer dubstep-to-death breakdown, not unlike the ex-sexin' jam Dr. Luke crafted for Britney's 'Femme Fatale' cut." "Where Have You Been", produced by Dr. Luke and Ester Dean, runs through an acoustic beat and incorporates elements of trance. The song has garnered generally positive reviews from music critics. As part of their album reviews for Talk That Talk, numerous music critics noted the similarities between "Where Have You Been" and the lead single "We Found Love". Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote that "Where Have You Been", along with "We Found Love", feature as Talk That Talk's most prominent dance songs, and aside from noting the inclusion of Mack's "I've Been Everywhere" in the composition, Kellman compared the chorus of "Where Have You Been" to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep".

The lead single, "We Found Love", is an electro house and dance-pop song. The title track, "Talk That Talk" features rapper Jay-Z and samples The Notorious B.I.G.'s "I Got a Story to Tell". "Talk That Talk" is a mid-tempo hip hop and R&B song that runs for 3 minutes and 29 seconds. It features "futuristic beat" compiled with "hard drums" and "dirty synths". The fifth track, "Cockiness (Love It)", was produced by Bangladesh features hip hop and dancehall influences. "Cockiness (Love It)" features dancehall stylised vocals and a rap bridge by Rihanna. Claire Suddath of Time Entertainment noted that the speed in which Rihanna delivers her vocal is so fast that it blends in with the composition, which she wrote "becomes the basis for the beat." The instrumentation of "Cockiness (Love It)" consists of vocal whoops, cracking drums and bawling horns. The sixth track, "Birthday Cake", produced by Da Internz and The-Dream, is an interlude lasting one minute and eighteen seconds. It runs through a distorted electro beat. "Birthday Cake" is an interlude which lasts for 1:18 (one minute, 18 seconds), appearing as the sixth track on the album. The instrumentation of "Birthday Cake" consists of a heavy bass, schoolbells, engine sounds, claps, and electro beats. The track also consists of hoover synths, synth handclaps, an Eastern-inspired tone and chants.

The seventh track, "We All Want Love", is an acoustic song with shaking drum beats. "We All Want Love" was written by Ester Dean, Ernest Wilson, Steve Wyreman and Kevin Randolph, with production helmed by Wilson under his production name Ernest Wilson. The songs lyrics revolve around Rihanna wanting to settle down and start a relationship with someone she loves. Instrumentation consists of a guitar and "booming drums." The eighth track, "Drunk On Love", is an indie, europop and trance power ballad. The song last for a duration of 3:32 (three minutes, 32 seconds). Instrumentation consists of "a storm of drums" and "clattering synths." Katherine St. Asaph for Popdust described the songs percussion as "huge." The song utilises a samples the melody of The xx's song "Intro", which was included on their debut album xx. The ninth track, Roc Me Out which is set in "chugging" tempo and features heavy synths. It contains the line "I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret, I just want to be loved" which was described by David Amidon of PopMatters as a non-dangerous sentiment. "Roc Me Out" is a synthpop song that runs for 3 minutes and 29 seconds. It is set in "chugging" tempo and features heavy synths, contagious hooks and West Indian nuances. The tenth track, "Watch n' Learn", features a flirtatious and playful hip hop melody with grinding synths. "Watch n' Learn" is a dancehall and pop song with prominent reggae characteristics that runs for 3 minutes and 31 seconds. It begins with a reggae drum fill that according to Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly originates from Bob Marley's 1983 single "Buffalo Soldier" (Confrontation, 1983). "Watch n' Learn" uses finger-snapping, percussions, background clicks, "swirling/swelling" synths and "island-flavored" drum beat. The final standard edition track of the album, "Farewell", is a ballad. The song was written by Ester Dean and Alexander Grant, with production helmed by Grant under his production name Alex da Kid. "Farewell" contains lyrics that revolve around saying goodbye to a lover who is not able to be physically present in the relationship for long periods of time. Instrumentation consists of a rolling piano.

"Red Lipstick", which is a deluxe edition bonus track, "Red Lipstick" was written by Terius Nash, Rihanna, Will Kennard and Saul Milton, with production helmed by Kennard and Milton under their stage name, Chase & Status. Originally, the song was not meant to be titled "Red Lipstick" and had been a demo Nicki Minaj recorded which leaked onto the Internet with the original name "Saxon". Before the release of the album credits, Andrew Unterberger of Popdust had compared "Red Lipstick" to Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" (Metallica, 1991) as Unterberger noted that the song's opening synths are reminiscent to the riffs at the start of "Wherever I May Roam". Musically, the song draws influence from dubstep. The second bonus track of the album, "Do Ya Thang", is an R&B song co-produced by The-Dream and Rihanna. "Do Ya Thang" is an R&B song with prominent influences of music from the 1980s. The song has a length of 3 minutes and 44 seconds. Shaun Kitchener of EntertainmentWise described the song as a "hip hop flavoured pop treat". "Do Ya Thang" uses "catchy" drum breaks, synths, "funky" and "subtle" hook that, according Gigwise's Edward Keeble, can be found on Rihanna's 2007 single "Umbrella" (Good Girl Gone Bad, 2007), which was also co-written by Nash. Keeble further called the song a "modern classic". Emily Exton of Popdust noted the song's resemblance with the album's second single "You da One", "recorded over a loud ’80s synth". The final bonus track of the deluxe edition album, "Fool in Love", is a midtempo song with acoustic guitars. "Fool in Love" was written by Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald and Henry Walter, with production helmed by Dr. Luke, Cirkut and Dean. As noted by Katherine St Asaph of Popdust and Amy Sciarretto of Popcrush, the opening lyrics of "Fool in Love" feature close similarities to that of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (A Night at the Opera, 1975), with regard to the opening lyric "Mama, I found a man." St Asaph also compared the song's composition to Britney Spears' "Criminal" (Femme Fatale, 2011), with regard to how "Fool in Love"'s instrumental begins with "panning synths" and acoustic guitar. "Fool in Love" also features a single and double guitar sequence toward the end of the song, which begins with one electric guitar being played and begins to incorporate a second, creating a "twinned" effect, before the song descends into a prolonged fade at the end.

Singles

Rihanna performing "We Found Love" during her Loud Tour in November 2011.

"We Found Love", featuring Calvin Harris, was released as the lead single from the album, premiering on September 22, 2011 in the United Kingdom, and being released the same day. It was sent to US mainstream radios on October 11, 2011. Critics praised Harris's production of the song, but criticized the lack of lyrical content, with many citing the lyrics as second best to the song's production and composition. The music video, which premiered on October 19, 2011, depicts the singer as a drug abusing thrill seeker in a relationship that quickly spirals downward into addiction and violence. "We Found Love" debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, eventually reaching number one, giving Rihanna the record for a solo artist to have amassed twenty top ten singles in the shortest amount of time in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, Rihanna tied Whitney Houston for third place of the most number one singles on the chart by a female artist, behind only Madonna, and Mariah Carey. "We Found Love" remained atop the Hot 100 for ten non-consecutive weeks, becoming Rihanna's longest ever number one in the country, surpassing "Umbrella". The song also peaked at number one in Denmark, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom, for six weeks. In the UK, the single passed the one million mark in February 2012, becoming Rihanna's second solo track (third overall) to reach the million sales plateau since October 2011, following "Love the Way You Lie" and "Only Girl (In the World)". The track further attained top five positions in Australia, Finland and Italy.

"You Da One" was released as the second single from the album, having its radio premier on November 11 and being released digitally on November 13, 2011. You Da One was sent to US mainstream radios on November 29, 2011. Digital Spy noted that the song features elements of reggae. while the track also received comparisons to some of Rihanna's previous singles "What's My Name?" and "Man Down", which also prominently feature reggae and dancehall compositions. The single was a moderate success, reaching the top twenty of the US Billboard Hot 100 peaking at fourteen as well as reaching the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart peaking at sixteen, while also topping the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and attaining top twenty positions in eleven other countries.

Chris Brown was featured on the official remix of Birthday Cake.

The eponymous "Talk That Talk", was confirmed as the third single from the album by Rihanna on Twitter, following a vote from her fans. The song, which features a rap verse from Jay-Z, was released predmoninantly in the US on January 17, 2012. It later officially impacted Top 40/Mainstream and Rhythmic radio on February 14, 2012, and was released in France on March 26, 2012. No music video was produced for the single. It reached number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and 25 on the UK Singles Chart. It made top ten appearances in Israel, Norway, South Korea, and on the UK R&B Chart. Rihanna did live performances in which Jay-Z didn't appear and a video for the single was never released. On February 20, 2012, a full length remix version of the original interlude "Birthday Cake" included on the album, was released featuring former boyfriend Chris Brown, coinciding with Rihanna's 24th birthday. It officially impacted Urban radio in the US on March 6, 2012, serving as the fourth single in the country from the album. The official remix reached number two on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, subsequently managing a peak of number 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, despite no digital release of the remix or music video.

"Where Have You Been" was released as the fifth US and third international single from the album, impacting Top 40/Mainstream radio in the US on May 8, 2012. Following the release of the music video, it has currently reached number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart at number six.

Other notable songs

Upon the release of Talk That Talk, "Cockiness (Love It)" debuted on multiple world charts. The song debuted on the South Korea Gaon International Chart at number 62 on November 26, 2011, with sales of 6,918 digital downloads. In the United Kingdom, "Cockiness (Love It)" debuted at number 33 on the UK R&B Chart on November 27, 2011. It also debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 121 in the chart issue December 3, 2011. In the United States, the song debuted on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number 17 in the chart issue December 10, 2011.

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	64/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	A–
Entertainment Weekly	B+
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times	positive
NME	5/10
Pitchfork Media	6.0/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	8/10

Talk That Talk received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 64 based on 27 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Andy Kellman from Allmusic was positive on the album and worte: "Behind Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R, this is Rihanna's third best album to date. Minus the fluff, it's close to the latter's equal." In his consumer guide for MSN Music, Robert Christgau called the album "pop without shame–her hookiest and most dance-targeted album" and commended the lyrics for "celebrat[ing] the relationship of sex to love rather than pain", stating "Associating carnality with love as I do, I prefer it to her earlier albums because I find its many porny moments titillating." Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a positive review, commenting that "it's a relief to find that on her blissed-out sixth album, ... [Rihanna's] stopped trying to play it so tough", while also noting, "...apparently love has never come so easily to RiRi, whose new song titles include 'We Found Love', 'We All Want Love' and (yes) 'Drunk On Love'. Is she finally admitting that being young and crushed-out on someone might feel, y'know, kind of fun?"

James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph echoed this sentiment, stating Rihanna's "sixth album in seven years [is] an adrenalised behemoth of a record which reasserts her position as one of pop's most compulsive pleasures" and "[t]he demons from her relationship with Chris Brown now sound fully exorcised – Rihanna sings as if she is in love with life, and wants to bring us along for the party." Jason Lipshutz of Billboard also gave the album a positive review, but commented on its feeling of having been "rushed". "After reclaiming her crown on Loud... Rihanna is not about to take any sort of break to let her pop princess competitors catch up" He also said, "[Talk That Talk is] an oddly rushed-out release to the objective music fan. Why not wait a bit and let the buzz of Loud set in?"

Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album a positive review saying, "[she] may talk dirty when she's trying to lure you into the bedroom or out on the dance floor ... when driven by the intoxicating rhythms ... [she] compels you to listen. So while she revels in satisfying her carnal desires, she also craves a little genuine affection ... but probably the most potent ingredient in the mix is the Barbadian singer's charisma." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times concluded that Talk That Talk places Rihanna "squarely at the center of the pop genre best suited for a singer of her fundamental evanescence — dance music, which conveniently is the mode du jour of contemporary R&B and pop." Caramanica also wrote that the album was the "blithest Rihanna album" and noted "It has none of the dark, wounded subtext of her more recent albums."

Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times expressed dissatisfaction with the themes of the album stating, "The singer works that NC-17 territory, but the sauciness sometimes borders on shtick. With an eye toward Middle America, it's mostly just insinuation. Matthew Cole from Slant Magazine gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, saying it is "pretty easily the worst Rihanna album yet, though I wouldn't be surprised to see her break that record next November". Mark Graham of VH1 called the album "the dirtiest 'pop' record we have ever heard". However, Graham praised the track "Where Have You Been," stating that it "will almost certainly be Rihanna’s biggest club smash since "Don’t Stop the Music". Lindsay Zoladz from Pitchfork gave the album a mixed review and commented: "2011 found plenty of pop artists still breathing new life into the format: "Beyoncé Knowles's 4 and Lady Gaga's Born This Way were probably the most solid examples – two bombastic records that also explore the nuance of their respective artists' personas. Talk That Talk tries too hard to send a more one-dimensional message and ends up falling flat".

Danny Walker of RWD Magazine gave Rihanna a relatively good review stating, "This is a short and (very) sweet outing from the Bajan boss..." A negative review was given by David Amidon of the website PopMatters, who graded the album with 3 out of 10 stars and noted: "It's sure to sell on brand recognition alone, but I doubt a series of mannered and soulless hooks are going to find much life outside of the European remix circuit."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 198,000 copies in the United States, slightly below her last album, which also debuted at number three with 207,000 copies. In its second week, the album sold an additional 68,200 copies in the United States, dropping to number 7 on the charts and bringing its total sales to 266,400 units sold. As of May 20, 2012, the album had sold 878,200 copies in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 300,000 units after six days of sale. Talk That Talk debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling more than 163,000 copies in its first week. With the album and "We Found Love" both at number one, it made Rihanna the only female artist in the UK to simultaneously have a number one single and album twice in the same year with a different album and single. The other double chart topper being "What's My Name?" and Loud in January 2011. On December 9, 2011 the album was certified two-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 600,000 copies in the UK. It was the second biggest selling R&B / hip hop album of 2011 in the UK, only beaten by Rihanna's previous album, Loud (2010).

Promotion

Road to Talk That Talk

The first part of Road to Talk That Talk was released onto the internet on February 17, 2012. In the viral video Rihanna takes the camera's back stage on the last day of the LOUD Tour, to the studio whilst she talks about the track listing and to Barbados with her family. The second part of Road to Talk That Talk was released May 9, 2012 in which Rihanna video'd the rest of her trip to Barbados, to the hotel where she was with Katy Perry, behind the photo shoots and she spoke on her breakdown.

Live performances

"We Found Love" was the first performed song from the album, it was performed for the first time on November 14, 2011 at Rihanna's Loud Tour (2011) in London. On November 17, 2011 Rihanna performed the song on first season of The X Factor USA. The performance featured Rihanna wearing torn jeans and a bomber jacket with neon signs also present on the stage. On November 20, 2011 Rihanna performed the song on eighth season of The X Factor UK, featuring Rihanna wearing a small tartan dress. On February 12, 2012, Rihanna performed "We Found Love" at the 54th Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, followed by her duet single "Princess of China" with Coldplay for first time. John Mitchell from MTV News said he thought Rihanna looked "gorgeous" and that she gave "off a Tina Turner vibe — Rihanna rocked the blond locks she introduced recently, wearing a tight, belly-baring ensemble." USA Today's writer Ed Masley, praised the performance, describing it as "shout in shout-out". The Huffington Post also noted that the performance had "a twinge of Tina Turner". Time magazine graded the performance with an A, saying that "Rihanna never disappoints. Her pop songs are always danceable, often catchy and consistently awesome — sometimes they even have some substance to them. Similarly, her Grammy performance wasn’t the flashiest or craziest, and she didn’t bust out dance moves the way other entertainers did, but it was one of the most enjoyable." Later that month, the singer performed the song at the 2012 BRIT Awards held on February 21, 2012 at The O2 Arena in London. The performance began with Rihanna, in only an old grandad-style jumper covering her body, in a clear cage as colourful paint began to be thrown inside with her, although none was thrown onto the singer herself. Dancers were also present as Rihanna emerged from the cage and began dancing along the broad stretch of stage. The performance concluded with big multi-coloured balloons pouring down red confetti from the ceiling as they burst, finalizing with Rihanna returning to the paint-covered cage and smearing it over herself ending with her silhouette being broadcast through the cage. At the ceremony, Rihanna also won the award for Best International Female Solo Artist. Whilst promoting her first feature film appearance in "Battleship", Rihanna made a rare visit to Japan, performing "We Found Love" on the Japanese music television program Music Station. She donned a traditional kimono and concluded the performance by crowd surfing into the audience.

Rihanna's first performance of "Talk That Talk" was made on The Jonathan Ross Show, in the United Kingdom, aired on March 3, 2012. The singer performed a solo version of the track, and was also interviewed. Rihanna performed "Where Have You Been" for the first time live at the 2012 Post-Grammy Charity Fundraiser, along with "We Found Love", on February 13, 2012. On April 15, 2012, Rihanna performed the Song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, along with "We Found Love". She wasn't an official performer at the festival but she joined Calvin Harris on his set. On May 5, 2012, Rihanna performed "Where Have You Been" and a Medley of "Birthday Cake" and "Talk That Talk" on Saturday Night Live in the United States. The performance of "Where Have You Been" featured an aesthetic similar to that of the music video; the SNL set was decorated in an One Thousand and One Nights fashion. Rihanna and her backup dancers performed a highly choreograph dance routine, the same as the music video, and they wore Arabian inspired outfits. The performance of the medley with the original interlude version of "Birthday Cake" and "Talk That Talk" started with the singer performing "Birthday Cake" and featured Rihanna in an all black outfit with a giant spiders web as the backdrop behind her. After she performed a short section of the song, it transitioned into "Talk That Talk", where she performed her part of the song in full, without the rap vocal by Jay-Z. Rihanna performed Where have you been at the 2012 Robin Hood Benefit in New York, she channeled Cleopatra in a gold outfit with snake-inspired accessories. Her dancers also had elaborate costumes to match the Egyptian theme. The performers donated their time for free, with $57 million raised to fight poverty in New York City.

Festival and Charity Tour 2012

Festival and Charity Tour 2012

Festival tour by Rihanna
Associated album	Talk That Talk
Start date	May 14, 2012 (2012-05-14)
End date	August 19, 2012 (2012-08-19)
Legs	3
No. of shows	1 in North America 5 in Europe 2 in Asia 8 Total
Rihanna concert chronology

Date	City	Country	Festival/Charity event
North America
May 14, 2012	New York City	United States	Robin Hood Foundation
Europe
June 24, 2012	London	England	Radio 1's Hackney Weekend
June 29, 2012	Oslo	Norway	Kollon Sommerfestival
June 30, 2012	Borlänge	Sweden	Peace & Love Festival
July 5, 2012	Madrid	Spain	Rock in Rio Madrid III
July 8, 2012	London	England	Wireless Festival
Asia
August 18, 2012	Osaka	Japan	Summer Sonic Festival
August 19, 2012	Tokyo

Track listing

The standard edition is packaged in a jewel case and contains 11 tracks. The deluxe edition is packaged in an 8-panel Digipak and contains the standard 11 tracks as well as three bonus tracks, a 16-page booklet, a poster, two album cover cards, and a perfume sample–the perfume sample is only packaged with the US deluxe edition.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"You Da One"	Ester Dean, Robyn Fenty, Lukasz Gottwald, John Hill, Henry Walter	Dr. Luke, Cirkut	3:18
2.	"Where Have You Been"	Dean, Gottwald, Calvin Harris, Walter, Geoff Mack	Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Calvin Harris	4:02
3.	"We Found Love" (featuring Calvin Harris)	Harris	Calvin Harris	3:35
4.	"Talk That Talk" (featuring Jay-Z)	Dean, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor E. Hermansen, Shawn Carter, Anthony Best, Sean Combs, Carl Thompson, Christopher Wallace	StarGate	3:30
5.	"Cockiness (Love It)"	Candice Pillay, D. Loernathy, Shondrae Crawford, Fenty	Mr. Bangladesh	2:58
6.	"Birthday Cake"	Terius Nash, Marcos Palacios, Earnest Clark, Robyn Fenty	Da Internz, The-Dream	1:18
7.	"We All Want Love"	Dean, Ernest Wilson, Steve Wyreman, Kevin Randolph	No I.D.	3:57
8.	"Drunk on Love"	Dean, Eriksen, Hermansen, Baria Qureshi, Romy Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith	StarGate	3:31
9.	"Roc Me Out"	Dean, Eriksen, Hermansen, Swire, McGrillen	StarGate, Knife Party	3:29
10.	"Watch n' Learn"	Priscilla Renea, Chauncey Hollis, Fenty, Alja Jackson	Hit-Boy	3:31
11.	"Farewell"	Dean, Alexander Grant	Alex da Kid	4:16
Total length:				37:27

Deluxe edition additional tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Red Lipstick"	Nash, Fenty, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Will Kennard, Saul Milton	Chase & Status	3:37
13.	"Do Ya Thang"	Nash, Fenty	The-Dream	3:43
14.	"Fool in Love"	Dean, Gottwald, Walter	Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Ester Dean	4:16
Total length:				49:02

iTunes Store bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"We Found Love" (featuring Calvin Harris) (Calvin Harris Extended Mix)	Calvin Harris	Calvin Harris (remix and additional production by Calvin Harris)	5:45
Total length:				54:47

Sample credits

• "Where Have You Been" contains elements from the composition "I've Been Everywhere" written by Geoff Mack.
• "Talk That Talk" contains samples from The Notorious B.I.G. recording "I Got a Story to Tell" written by Anthony Best, Sean Combs, Carl Thompson and Christopher Wallace.
• "Cockiness (Love It)" contains samples from Greg Kinnear's performance of "Summertime" in the 2003 film "Stuck On You", originally performed by Billy Stewart, written by DuBose Heyward.
• "Drunk on Love" contains samples from the recording "Intro" as performed by The xx and written by Baria Qureshi, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith.
• "Red Lipstick" contains interpolations from the composition "Wherever I May Roam" as performed by Metallica and written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Contains a sample from the sound recording "Saxon" performed by Chase & Status and written by William Kennard and Saul Milton.

Release formats

Talk That Talk (Standard edition)

• Standard 11 tracks

Talk That Talk (Deluxe edition)

• Standard 11 tracks along with 3 bonus tracks
• 16-page photobook
• Folded mini poster
• Two photo cards
• Perfume sample special card (for US deluxe packages only)
• Package 8-panel digipak

Talk That Talk (iTunes edition)

• Standard 11 tracks along with 3 bonus tracks
• We Found Love (Calvin Harris extended mix)
• Digital booklet

Personnel

Credits for Talk That Talk deluxe edition:

Musicians

• Robyn Rihanna Fenty – vocals, executive producer, songwriter, composer
• Shawn Carter – vocals
• Calvin Harris – vocals
• Steve Wyreman – bass, guitar
• Nuno Bettencourt – guitar

Production

• Mike Anderson – engineer
• Ester Dean – producer
• Erik Madrid – mixing assistant
• Ciarra Pardo – art direction, creative director
• Marcos Tovar – engineer, mixer, vocal engineer
• Gabriela Schwartz – marketing
• Chris Galland – mixing assistant
• Da Internz – producer
• Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine – engineer
• Tor Erik Hermansen – instrumentation
• Maynard James Keenan – fluids and positive vibrations
• The xx – instrumentation
• Sean Combs – composer
• Sam Holland – engineer
• Hit-Boy – producer
• Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – vocal engineer
• Alejandra Barajas – assistant engineer, assistant
• Calvin Bailiff – mixing assistant
• T.E. Hermansen – composer
• Alex da Kid – producer
• Skylar – engineer
• JP Robinson – art direction
• John Hill – programming, engineering
• Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford – composer, programming, instrumentation, producer
• TT – assistant
• Alex Barajas – assistant
• Terius "The-Dream" Nash – composer, producer
• Cling Gibbs – engineer
• Mikkel S. Eriksen – composer, engineer, instrumentation
• Omar Loya – assistant engineer
• Omar Grant – A&R
• Abou Thiam – A&R
• Yusef Stephens – hair stylist
• Ursula Stephens – hair stylist
• Tyron Machhausen – makeup
• Mel Ottenberg – wardrobe
• Katie Mitzell – production coordination
• Jonathan Sher – assistant engineer, assistant
• Jennifer Rosales – assistant engineer, assistant

• Daniella Rivera – engineer, assistant engineer
• Chris Sclafani – assistant engineer, assistant
• Ludovick Tartavelo – assistant engineer
• Cirkut – programming, instrumentation, producer
• Manny Marroquin – mixing
• Carl Sturken – executive producer
• Phil Tan – mixing
• Pat Thrall – engineer
• Lars Ulrich – composer
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Scott Marcus – A&R
• No I.D. – producer
• Kuk Harrell – engineer, vocal producer, vocal engineer
• Deborah Mannis-Gardner – sample clearance
• Ellen von Unwerth – photography
• Stargate – producer
• Kevin Randolph – composer, keyboards
• Danny D. – executive producer
• Dr. Luke – programming, producer, instrumentation
• John Hanes – mixing, mixing engineer
• Fabian Marasciullo – mixing
• Chris Gheringer – mastering
• Phil Seaford – mixing assistant, assistant
• Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
• Terese Joseph – A&R
• Eric Wong – marketing
• Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald – composer
• Rob Kinelski – engineer
• Irene Richter – production coordination
• Miles Walker – engineer
• Carol Corless – package production
• Chase & Status – producer
• Jay Brown – A&R
• Dan Tobiason – assistant
• Calvin Harris – composer, programming, producer, engineer, mixing, instrumentation
• Tim Blacksmith – executive producer
• Damien Lewis – mixing assistant
• Ghazi Hourani – mixing assistant
• Evan Rogers – executive producer
• James Hetfield – composer

Charts and certifications

Yearly charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	5
Australian Urban Albums Chart	1
Austrian Albums Chart	1
Canadian Albums Chart	3
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)	3
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)	6
Danish Albums Chart	10
Dutch Albums Chart	6
Finnish Albums Chart	16
French Albums Chart	2
German Albums Chart	3
Greek Albums Chart	5
Hungarian Albums Chart	18
Irish Albums Chart	2
Italian Albums Chart	10
Mexican Albums Chart	26
Netherlands Albums Chart	6
New Zealand Albums Chart	1
Norwegian Albums Chart	1
Polish Albums Chart	2
Portuguese Albums Chart	14
Spanish Albums Chart	6
Swedish Albums Chart	26
Swiss Albums Chart	1
UK Albums Chart	1
UK R&B Albums Chart	1
US Billboard 200	3
US R&B/Hip Hop Albums	1

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	13
Austrian Albums Chart	29
French Albums Chart	15
Netherlands Albums Chart	22
Swiss Albums Chart	5
UK Albums Chart	7
UK R&B Albums Chart	1
US Billboard 200	5
US R&B/Hip Hop Albums	2

Year-end charts

Chart (2011)	Position
Danish Albums Chart	34
German Albums Chart	44
Hungarian Albums Chart	69
Polish Albums Chart	43
Swiss Albums Chart	36
UK Albums Chart	10

Certifications

Country (Provider)	Certification
Australia (ARIA)	Platinum
Belgium (BEA)	Gold
Brazil (ABPD)	Gold
Denmark (IFPI)	Gold
Europe (IFPI)	Platinum
France (SNEP)	Platinum
Germany (BVMI)	Gold
Ireland (IRMA)	3× Platinum
Italy (FIMI)	Gold
Japan (RIAJ)	Gold
New Zealand (RIANZ)	Platinum
Poland (ZPAV)	Platinum
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	Gold
Switzerland (IFPI)	Platinum
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum
United States (RIAA)	Platinum

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Edition(s)
Australia	November 18, 2011	CD, digital download	Universal Music	Standard, deluxe
Germany
Ireland				Standard
Poland				Standard, deluxe
Canada	November 21, 2011
France			Def Jam
Italy
United Kingdom			Mercury
United States			Def Jam
Japan	November 23, 2011		Universal Music
India
Colombia	December 1, 2011
Indonesia	December 2, 2011	CD
China	January 9, 2012	CD, digital download

External links

• Talk That Talk at Metacritic