Yeesh. What is going on with new Rihanna’s new single?
“Russian Roulette,” written and produced by R&B smoothy Ne-Yo, starts with some wanky lead guitar lines before settling into a dirge-like tempo over which the Barbadian diva sings about suicidal gunplay as a metaphor for, uh, what exactly? (Hear the song below.)
“He says close your eyes / sometimes it helps.” The song ends with a gunshot. Ick!
Even weirder than the music — which admittedly has a sinuous, kinda catchy chorus — is the accompanying artwork. It shows Rihanna in a corset, her naked breasts covered by some strategically-placed barbed wire. To her left are a large switchblade and the words “Russian Roulette,” made to look as if they were written in blood. We’ve come a long way from “Umbrella.”
Thetrack arrives in advance of Rihanna’s November 23 full-length, Rated R. Will the song be a hit? Maybe. But did the world really need the Deer Hunter of slow jams? Not so much.
Click here to listen and decide for yourself. Should we give “Russian Roulette” another shot, or is this one D.O.A.?
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