Album Art Analysis 3: Rihanna

Rated r is a studio album by the American artist Rihanna. The first thing I had noticed was the contrasting colours of black and white. This suggests that the album is darker and less commercial than her other albums such as, 'A girl like me', 'Loud', etc. Black is usually associated with strength, power and authority, however the black and white colours can also suggest that the artist is living in a black and white world of her own.
The artist has her hand covering half of her face which could signify that she is hiding something that she does not want to show the audience, creating it dark and mysterious which is supported with the stern look, engaging with the audience. 

The font of the 'R' looks as if it has been carved in by a knife or some sort of sharp object. This creates a special effect and shows off the edginess of the album. This makes the audience think why Rihanna has released an album that is juxtaposed with her other albums. This could suggest that she is reassembling her strength to comeback after being affected negatively in her personal life which portrays power, and rather than evoking the image of being erotic, here she wants to show the audience that she is powerful and has the drive to succeed.    
Rihanna is usually an R&B artist, however she has challenged this as her genre crosses over into pop and rock and also into other sub genres such as grime and drum and base which is portrayed through the darkness of the cover of this album. She stated this in an interview and also said that she wanted to experiment with different types of music as this was her fourth album. Also she said that she felt like she was at a certain stage in her career were she had to make a serious album compared to her previous three albums which were fun, upbeat, not taking herself too seriously and full of catchy pop/R&B songs. 
The artist is wearing heavy jewellery which also adds to the darkness of this album as it looks heavy which reflects on the image as she looks powerful and controlling.
The album title is written extremely small and white which blends with the background colour which does not stand out from the cover itself which makes you think that there is no significance. 
This album cover is monochrome which could have an impact on the audience as it stands out from the typical bright album covers of her previous covers. Her previous work portrays her as a erotic and vibrant artist, however this album introduces something new as it portrays feelings of darkness.   

This cover exemplifies Rihanna as a strong dominant female with an attitude which is reflected in her music in this album. 


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