There’s been a lot of rumors floating around in a very short space of time regarding Rihanna’s new single. First it was “Only Girl”, then it was “Cheers”, then there was a release date, etc etc. Well, now we’ve got the official word from the reliable radio website All Access, who report that Rihanna’s song “Only Girl (In The World)” will impact radio on September 14. {via}

Rihanna even Tweeted radio host Ryan Seacrest about the song, after he asked her when he would be getting some “new music”.

“Soon! In less than 10 dayz ima send u sumn special, and ur gonna play it OVER and OVER, like I’m the only girl in the world!”

Just from the title alone, it already sounds super catchy.

It’s also been confirmed that The Runners produced another new Rihanna song called “Cheers”, which was recently rumored to be her first single.

Currently, Rihanna is over in Hawaii filming for her role in the upcoming $200 million dollar science-fiction epic, Battleship. She’ll be there for two weeks filming, which coincides with the September 14 release date of “Only Girl (In The World)”, meaning that as soon as she wraps up the movie, she’ll be straight on a plane to premiere the song and start promotion.

At this rate, Rihanna is gonna snatch the crown for the hardest working woman in pop!

Although unofficial reports have been floating around since last week claiming than Rihanna’s new single is set to be a song titled “Only Girl”, Piggy Perez is now exclusively reporting that Ri-Ri’s first single is officially titled “Cheers”.

According to Piggy, “The song is said to be way more dancey and upbeat than her last album.”

There’s no release date yet, and Rihanna’s label, SRP Records, have shot down rumors that the song will premiere on Tuesday.

By the way, that’s Rihanna’s new hairstyle in the picture above.

Are you excited?

If you were looking for a surefire sign that Rihanna was gearing up for her fifth album era, then look no further than Bajan babe’s Twitter account. The account has been run by Ri-Ri’s record label since she released Rated R, but after receiving threats of further domestic violence from L.A. Reid if she didn’t comply with all Def Jam promotional strategies, Rihanna is now doing the Tweeting herself to add that personal touch to her new album.

“So now that i finally took over my Twitter page no more corny label tweets……lol! whaaasssuupppp ppl!!!!!”

How poetic!

It actually sounds like it is Rihanna doing the Tweeting herself, too, as opposed to ‘Britney’ (quote, unquote), whose Tweets often go a little something like this: “I love my life and my children. I have the best father in the world. I’m so happy. –Britney Jean Spears.”

In other news, the date of November 2 is floating around as the official release date for Rihanna’s next album, which is less than a year since she released her last record, Rated R. The album artwork has already been shot, and the official lead single, “Only Girl”, should be premiering any day now.

And finally, it looks like this blazing red hair (pictured above) is going to be the official new ‘look’ for Rihanna’s fifth album. Remember, she had that Victoria Beckham cut for Good Girl Gone Bad, then she went blonde for Rated R, and now she’s settled on a fiery red for the fifth record. She’ll probably be bald by the time her sixth album drops in two months.

Pharrell Williams is pretty busy trying to finish that long-awaited fourth N.E.R.D. album, but he still hasn’t quit his other job as a producer, and has several interesting pop collaborations in the works. Besides working on new music for rappers like Nicki Minaj and Gucci Mane, Pharrell has also been in the studio working on the respective new albums of Ciara, Rihanna, and even Avril Lavigne.

“I just went in with T.I., just went in with Gucci Mane, Nicky Minaj, uh, Shay’s stuff, Avril Lavigne – all people who wanted to try different things. Ciara, Rihanna…” {source}

Rihanna and Ciara aren’t much of a surprise, but Avril? The pop-rock superstar’s been working on her fourth studio album all year now, which according to her, will be “acoustic, raw” and “stripped back”. Since making those statements, the album has been pushed back multiple times, and the last time we saw Avril she was in the studio with Hip-Hop producer Alex Da Kid. Now she’s working with Pharrell. I said this in my last Avril post, and I’ll say it again now: My bet is that Avril’s new direction wasn’t commercial enough, especially in today’s dance-driven marketplace, so now her label have stuck her in the studio with urban producers to try and cook up a few hit singles. Anyway, it should be interesting, regardless.

As for Rihanna, The Neptunes worked with her on Rated R, but their tracks didn’t make the final cut. Ciara has also clocked in studio time with the pair, which resulted in one of the best non-singles of her whole career, “I Proceed”, from her sophomore album, The Evolution. I can’t wait to see what they’ve done this time around.

The first bit of information regarding Rihanna’s brand new single has arrived, courtesy of the reliable Def Pen Radio. According to their reports, the lead single from RiRi’s new album is titled “Only Girl”, and will be a dance track.

“Looks like no more dark music, back to Umbrella Rihanna” from our source who heard the dance track. There is no set date for when Only Girl will be released… [source]

It shouldn’t be too long now, since Rihanna’s label, SRP, recently tweeted that the single was on it’s way, while warning us to “get ready to dance”. I’m just curious to know if it’s dancey in the “Rude Boy” way, or dancey in the “Guetta/RedOne” type of way. Regardless, Rihanna always brings the hits so this should be one to watch out for.

Shontelle recently rushed her Bajan behind into the studio with producer Darkchild to push out a quick follow-up to her hugely-successful power ballad “Impossible”. The result is “Perfect Nightmare”, which will serve as the official second single from her upcoming sophomore album No Gravity.

“Perfect Nightmare” starts off in the same way as her smash “Impossible”, and is almost so similar that it sounds like a blatant repeat of the past, but then the hook steers into unexpected dance-pop territory, dramatically picking up the pace of the song. It’s radio friendly to the very core, and Shontelle makes a good move by combining the ballad side of herself that we all love, with a very current dance sound. “Perfect Nightmare” isn’t exactly the greatest song ever made, but it suits Shontelle and could turn into another unexpected hit for her.

In other news, Shontelle has recently been in the studio with fellow Bajan Rihanna, working on some “fun stuff”. There’s no release date yet or confirmation on who’s album exactly their collaboration will appear on, but you can get a few more details over on Toyaz-World.

For now, check out “Perfect Nightmare”, below.

Eminem and Rihanna are burning down the house in the fiery new video for their #1 smash “Love the Way You Lie”. Directed by the brilliant Joseph Kahn and starring Transformers hottie Megan Fox and that random guy from Lost, “Love the Way You Lie” follows the story of a couple caught in an abusive relationship, and… well, that’s about it.

The couple, of course, are portrayed by Fox and the Lost dude, with their scenes being interspersed with footage of Rihanna standing around and looking beautiful (as usual), and Eminem standing around and looking angry (as usual).

It’s not the best video ever made, but it’s very appropriate for the song, and Kahn deserves a pat on the back for the beautiful style and visual effects used. He’s a fantastic director, and whenever you see his name attached to something, you at least know that it’s not gonna suck.

This week, “Love the Way You Lie” spends it’s third consecutive week at the top of the Hot 100 singles chart. It’s already sold just under 2 million copies in the US alone, and is predicted to hit #1 on the top forty airplay chart next week. It’s Rihanna’s seventh #1 single on the Hot 100, and Eminem’s fourth.

Over the weekend, Billboard.com wrote a small piece on Rihanna’s record sales in response to a question sent in by an inquisitive reader. Rihanna may be one of the biggest female pop artists in the game, but her US album sales leave a lot to be desired. Not only are the numbers significantly less than you would think, but Rihanna is also tied with Frankie Valli as the only artist with at least seven No. 1 singles but no chart topping albums.

Take a look at Rihanna’s sales below, complete with their Billboard peak position.

No. 10, “Music of the Sun,” 593,000, 2005

No. 5, “A Girl Like Me,” 1,330,000, 2006

No. 2, “Good Girl Gone Bad,” 2,616,000, 2007

No. 106, “Good Girl Gone Bad: the Remixes,” 49,000, 2009

No. 4, “Rated R,” 943,000, 2009

No. 158, “Rated R: Remixed,” 13,000, 2010

All albums combined, Rihanna has sold 5,563,000 units in the U.S., according to SoundScan.

Rihanna’s total US sales don’t even come close to the 7-million copies that Carrie Underwood’s 2005 debut Some Hearts sold in the country alone. Taylor Swift’s last album sold more than Rih’s combined sales too, as did Mariah Carey’s 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi. Hell, you can even add together the sales of Beyonce’s last two albums and they exceed Rihanna’s total.

As you can see, 2007′s Good Girl Gone Bad is Rihanna’s best seller with a very impressive 2.6 million, but keep in mind that she released 8 singles (including 3 number ones) and re-released the album as GGGB: Reloaded with extra songs.

Her album sales may be less-than-stellar, but on the other hand, Rihanna is the undisputed singles queen. She’s had 7 No.1s in just five years, and holds the record for the most top ten singles of the 2000s with a whopping fifteen. She’s also just trailing behind Mariah Carey for the record of the most top ten hits in the history of the Billboard Pop charts.

So, what is it exactly is stopping Rihanna’s album sales from reflecting the success of her singles? Pre-Rated R, it would’ve been easy to blame the disappointing numbers on Rihanna being two-dimensional and not connecting with the public, but her violent altercation with Chris Brown helped change that, and dare I say it — gave her a personality. Her last two albums were generally well received by critics, and had large world tours to support them. On paper it sounds like everything should be perfect, but it’s clearly not.

Why do you think that Rihanna’s album sales aren’t meeting their full potential?

Eminem and Rihanna’s new collaboration “Love the Way You Lie” (pictured above on the set of the music video) has managed to end Katy Perry’s six-week run at the top the Hot 100 with “California Gurls”,  claiming the #1 spot in its fourth week on the chart, while also being the biggest digital & airplay gainer of the week.

“Love the Way You Lie” is Eminem’s fourth #1 single, and Rihanna’s seventh. Since first appearing on the Hot 100 in 2005, Rihanna has logged the most number ones out of any artist in that particular time span. Not only that, but the song has moved into the top ten of the Billboard Pop Chart this week, giving Rihanna her fifteenth top ten pop single. She’s now surpassed Madonna for the most top ten pop hits, and is only behind Mariah Carey (who has 17) for the record.

Moving on, Shontelle continues to impress with her hit “Impossible” rebounding on the Hot 100 to #13 – a new peak. Who would’ve thought?

Usher shows no signs of slowing down, as his latest single “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” debuts at a lofty #19. It’s Usher’s second top twenty hit from his Raymond Vs. Raymond album, following the gigantic success of his dance-pop anthem “OMG”.

Paramore’s gorgeous ballad “The Only Exception” is turning into quite the sleeper hit, steadily climbing the Hot 100 to reach a new peak of #36 this week. This makes it the most successful single from their chart topping third album Brand New Eyes, as well as the third-highest-charting single of their career.

Meanwhile, the most amazing girl in the world Selena Gomez rebounds with her single “Round & Round”, which moves up fourteen places to #39 (after peaking at #24 in its debut week).

Ciara’s luck continues as “Ride” inches up a few places to a new peak of #42, while remaining at #5 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Kanye West’s “Power” isn’t doing as well though, dropping to #60 in its third week after originally debuting at #20.

Moving over to the Billboard Club charts now, Wynter Gordon’s “Dirty Talk” drops a huge eleven places to #11, losing the top spot out to Goldfrapp’s “Alive”. Kylie Minogue’s “All the Lovers” cracks the top five at #4, while Rihanna’s “Rockstar 101″ climbs to #2 (yes, it actually charted somewhere).

That’s it for this weeks chart. Lovin’ you long time!

Guess where Rihanna is going?

The recording studio. Yay!

RiRi was being a too cool for school superstar at some restaurant in West Hollywood, before strutting outside to her limo to head to the Record Plant Recording Studio, where she spent two hours – presumably laying down tracks for her fifth album.

Meanwhile, her label SRP Records have confirmed that there will be no more singles from Rated R released. Instead, they are focusing on Rihanna’s next album era, and are hoping to have her first single out by “the end of Summer”. According to my calculations (that I copied from Wikipedia), that would mean her new single could drop around August-September.

Rihanna always brings the hits, so I can’t wait for the new record. I’m still sore that neither “Te Amo” or “Rockstar 101″ didn’t chart in the US though. What’s that about?

The Queen of over-hyping his own music, Sean Garrett, has let his mouth run wild yet again in a new interview with MTV, gushing yet again about his work on Rihanna’s upcoming fifth LP.

“I can definitely say that her album is definitely gonna be way more exciting, happy,” Garrett told MTV News. “I hope she doesn’t mind me saying this. I love Rihanna. She’s fun, she’s like a sister, and I tend to think she doesn’t really take herself too seriously. And I think that’s what this album is gonna be about.

“Remember when Rihanna was just the little girl from the island and she was just having fun with ‘Pon de Replay’ and enjoying life?” Garrett continued. “It always seemed like, ‘Dag, she has that thing.’ And it wasn’t so serious until the incident happened. And everything became so serious. That’s just life. But I’m just happy to see her back. And I can definitely say the records that we’ve been working on are very positive and very explosive. Heavy in the club.”

Fun music is back in a big way. There was a slightly dark period in pop for a short while, but now it’s all smiles and sunshine thanks to artists like Ke$ha and Katy Perry.

Are you ready for carefree RiRi to put on her happy face and unleash Thriller 2.0 onto the world?

In a new interview with VIBE.com, Def Jam’s Vice President Bu Thiam seems to have been struck with a severe case of the over-hyping fever and has compared Rihanna’s upcoming fifth studio album to the highest selling and most iconic album of all time; Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.

“Rihanna is coming along incredibly. I’m trying to push her to where every song will be a hit from 1 to 12. I’m talking about NO album fillers. Our bar for this album is Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. We got smashes from Stargate, Ester Dean, Mel & Mus and Rock City. We’re definitely going in with Ne-Yo, The-Dream and other writers and producers that have always been a part of her creative process since day one. She’s great to work with and very hands on with every song that’s being written and produced. She has visual concepts for just about every song. It’s already giving me the feel of a timeless album, and right now is her time”. [Via Toyaz-World]

If you remember correctly, Rihanna also said that she wanted ‘Rated R‘ to be her ‘Thriller‘ to.

In an indication that the album will not be as good as Thriller, DJ/Producer Afrojack –who has heard some of the new material that David Guetta has produced for Rihanna — has compared it to RedOne.

“I think, pop-wise, it’s a fatter sound. Musically, it’s as high a level as RedOne, Lady Gaga’s producer.”

Besides the ridiculous hype, I’m sure it will still be a great album. Just because an album isn’t on the virtually impossible level of ‘Thriller’ doesn’t mean it still can’t be good.