The album featured five top ten singles-three US number one songs-including the international breakthrough single ' Umbrella'. Rihanna's previous album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) was a commercial success and received generally positive reviews from most music critics. Justin Timberlake, one of the writers and producers of the album, stated that Rated R significantly differs from Rihanna's previous album and represents a different sound for her. Rated R is deemed as an important album in Rihanna's career and a groundwork inspiration for her follow-up releases. To further promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her third worldwide concert tour Last Girl on Earth (2010–2011). 'Te Amo' attained top-ten positions around Europe and reached number one in Brazil. 'Hard' became her thirteenth US top-ten single, while 'Rude Boy' topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks. 'Russian Roulette' was released as the album's lead single and managed to reach top-ten in over 25 countries. The album produced six singles, ' Russian Roulette', ' Wait Your Turn', ' Hard', 'Rude Boy', 'Rockstar 101', and 'Te Amo'. It also attained top ten positions in over twelve other countries. The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold 181,000 copies in its first week. Rated R received positive reviews from music critics, who commended Rihanna's mature performance and called the album her most layered and heartfelt effort. It also explores other genres, such as dancehall in ' Rude Boy' and Latin-infusion in ' Te Amo'. Conceived after Rihanna's assault by her then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, Rated R is primarily a pop, hip hop and R&B album it features a foreboding and atmospheric tone in terms of musical and lyrical direction, and it incorporates elements of rock and dubstep. Musically, the album represents a departure from her previous effort Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), which contained up-tempo and ballad-oriented songs. The record featured several vocalists and instrumentalists, including Young Jeezy, will.i.am, Justin Timberlake and Slash, who played the guitars in ' Rockstar 101'.

Rihanna, together with Antonio 'L.A.' Reid and The Carter Administration, was the executive producer of the album and worked with various record producers, including Chase & Status, Stargate, The-Dream, Ne-Yo, and Brian Kennedy. Recording sessions for the album began in March 2009 and took place at recording studios throughout United States and Europe. It was released on Novemby Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records.

Rated R is the fourth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna.

Rihanna umbrella album