Its here! Since we first previewed the album, “You Da One” has been one of my favorite songs from Rihanna’s upcoming Talk That Talk album. Produced by certified hit makers Dr.Luke and written by Ester Dean, Rihanna always seems to find tracks that expertly ride that fine line between pop and urban, while instinctively being both!

It may not be as catchy as “What’s My Name”, but without a doubt this track will be stuck in your head! Talk That Talk hits stores in the US on November 21st.

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Too often,duets aren’t on even playing ground. It often seems as if one person is guesting in the sonic world of another. “Take Care” embodies the musical chameleon nature of both artists with moody piano chords and even an African inspired drum break. This particular track samples the Jamie xx version of “I’ll Take Care of You” but the chemistry between Drake and Rihanna adds additional flavor to the track. There’s something about knowing the song could very well be about their own relationship that makes it that much more interesting!

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Not my first choice for a title, but it does fit Ms. Fenty’s confident personality. Furthermore, anytime some says something shady, all she has to do is reply with “Talk That Talk” and its a response and a shameless promotion.

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Ahhhh Fall is here! School is back is session, the leaves are falling and the most anticipated albums of the calendar tend to descend our way during this season as well! Peep below to find out what our ear buds are anticipating to take us through winter.

Take Care- Drake (Oct.): The crown jewel in Lil Wayne’s Young Money/Cash Money court returns for his sophomore effort, Take Care. If the proliferation of the moody ass, minimalistic sucker ballad “Marvin’s Room” was any hint, we’re expecting Drake to continue to tap into his emo side with simple melodies and catchy punch lines over Noah”40″ Shebib’s signature productions that’ve become synonymous with Drake’s sound. Also, Stevie Wonder is said to make multiple appearances throughout the LP…Interesting.

TBD – Rihanna (Nov): Rihanna’s 6th album makes the list simply because no one knows how this era is going to work out for her or what to expect, literally coming off the heels of 2010′s LOUD. Expect more hits from the pens of Fenty’s  go to songwriters at the moment, Ester Dean and Pricilla Renea and of course longtime collaborators Stargate.  LOUD was the sunshine filled response to 2009′s dark and moody Rated R, which remains Rihanna’s most cohesive work to date. Will she eclipse that with this upcoming title? Time will tell…

My Life II…The Story Continues- Mary J. Blige (Nov.):  After a relatively spotless career in the 90′s and early 00′s, Mary hit us with the dud that was Love & Live and then had a Emancipation esque revival alongside Mariah Carey  in 2005 with the mega hit “Be Without You”.  Respectable urban hits like “Just Fine” helped push Growing Pains  but its follow up Stronger With Each Tear, failed to provide similar results. Thus, Blige is back to the drawing board and placed in that weird dynamic of being old (by foolish industry standards) while trying to appeal to the youthful music buyers of today.Will she succeed? Things aren’t looking so good thus far with “25/8″.

New Life- Monica (OCT): 2010′s Still Standing took forever to come and when it did it was chock full of filler with some really good tracks. “Everything To Me” brought Ms. Arnold a lot of traction with its familiar Denise Williams sample and the Jermaine Dupri assisted “Love All Over Me” was a hit on Urban Radio as well. The question is now whether Monica can translate urban success back into mainstream success they way she did at the peak of her career in the 90′s.

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After notching another 3 #1 singles on her belt with her last album LOUD, Rihanna, in a race against herself it seems, released “We Found Love”, the first single from her upcoming 6th album via Radio and Itunes.

Giving The-Dream and Stargate a break from first single production duties, Rihanna tapped Scottish DJ, Record producer and artist in his own right, Calvin Harris, to deliver the goods. “We Found Love” features heavy snyths, pulsating drums and strong vocal delivery from Ms. Fenty. “Love” isn’t terribly innovative, as the US market is already flooded with dance songs of this nature, but you can’t fault Rihanna for leading with the expected when that’s what radio plays. In addition, Rihanna generally sells close to twice of what she sells in the U.S, in the U.K and abroad. Nonetheless, I’ll venture to say the sound of her upcoming album is radio friendly but a bit more adventurous than this.   Grade: B

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P.S: Peep Cameo from Avril Lavigne… all she needed was Tyra Banks!

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Rihanna premiered her new video for her single, “Man Down” on 106 & Park today. The video was filmed on the beautiful island of Jamaica. About the video, Rihanna tweeted that it had a “Very strong underlying message 4 girls like me!” Check out the vid below and let us know if the message was strong for you.

The video was definitely more interesting than the previous “California King Bed” or even “What’s My Name” videos and it was good that it had a story line even though it got kind of lost midway through and then picked up again at the end. The backdrop of Jamaica definitely helped because as Rihanna said herself, “‘Man Down’ is just a song that can’t be done anywhere else. It needs to be authentic and you can’t get any realer than Jamaica.” Get it!

Justin Says: Barbados is a bit too pristine for a video shoot like this… no shade. Anyhoo. “Man Down” is one of Rihanna’s best videos. Strong storyline, great cinematography and Rihanna is stunning as usually!
P.S Get into that VitaCoco product placement LOL

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Still think she should’ve filmed it in Barbados, but I guess Barbados isn’t gritty enough for “Man Down”.

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