Umbrella - Rihanna
It took only one listen to recognize that Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was destined to command chart heavens and become the red-hot ingenue’s second Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, following “SOS.” With mission accomplished, the second single from third album “Good Girl Gone Bad,” out June 5, further demonstrates why the 19-year-old continues to trailblaze as top 40’s most consistent hitmaker. “Shut Up and Drive” again sounds like nothing before it, opening with grimacing guitars, a cagey sing-songy verse and a layered chanting chorus (borrowing elements from New Order’s “Blue Monday”) that taunts, “Start me up and watch me go, 0 to 60 in 3.5/You got the keys, shut up and drive.” In short order, Rihanna and an able collaborative stable have catapulted a potential one-trick dancehall diva to the most dexterous singer of the decade’s second half. Billboard
