Rihanna

That Rihanna is one talented cookie. After the fun (though not terribly deep) club-banger "Pon De Replay," it's great to hear her stretch her wings on the wonderful "Here I Go Again," reminding us how much American soul and Jamaican reggae have in common. She gives in to the irresistible draw of slow jams later on.

Barbados-born seventeen-year-old Rihanna moved to America only two years ago, but
she's already scored one of the biggest hits of the summer, "Pon De Replay," a poppy piece
of dancehall reggae with slapping, syncopated beats recalling big-band jazz. Produced
mostly by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, the songwriting-production duo behind the worst
boy-band hit of all time, 'NSync's "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You,... More >