Talk That Talk

A dance-oriented pop/R&B crossover recorded on tour, featuring hits like 'We Found Love' and exploring themes of love and lust.

Talk That Talk is the sixth studio album by the Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on November 18, 2011 by Def Jam Recordings, SRP Records, and Roc Nation. Recorded during the Loud Tour between February and November 2011, it was originally planned to be a reissue of her previous studio album Loud (2010). As executive producer, Rihanna enlisted a wide range of producers including Alex da Kid, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, No I.D., and Stargate. The album is a dance-oriented pop/R&B crossover that incorporates elements of hip-hop, dubstep, electronic and house music, with subtle dancehall influences. Its lyrical content and themes revolve around a nihilistic, romantic, and lascivious lover.

Quick Facts

Artist

Rihanna

Released

18 November 2011

Recorded

February–November 2011

Genre

Pop
dance
R&B

Label

Roc Nation
SRP
Def Jam

Lore & Background

The album's lyrics posit Rihanna as a nihilist romantic and lascivious lover. Music journalist Greg Kot observes that, along with droning electronic sounds, 'Caribbean and Eastern touches from past Rihanna albums get recycled into bombastic dance tunes.' Apart from its sexual innuendo, Talk That Talk features odes to dysfunctional love and universal love. Robert Christgau calls it 'pop without shame—her hookiest and most dance-targeted album, decorated with a thoughtful assortment of suitably titillating blats, noodles, dubs, groans, hiccups, boom-booms, cut-ups, speed-ups, xx samples, and spoken-word bits.'

Reader's Guide

Released in late 2011, this record marked a pivotal shift toward electronic dance music influences within the pop sphere. While maintaining her signature R&B roots, the production leaned heavily into synthesized beats and club-ready rhythms. Critics noted the bold experimentation, though commercial success was undeniable thanks to global anthems dominating radio waves worldwide. The lead single became one of the best-selling digital singles in history, cementing a high-profile partnership with Scottish producer Calvin Harris. Tracks explored themes of nightlife, romance, and independence, resonating deeply with fans during a time of rapid musical evolution. Ultimately, the project solidified her position as a dominant force in mainstream music. It bridged the gap between her earlier work and future ventures into more experimental territory. The album achieved multi-platinum status across several territories, proving that artistic risk could coexist with massive chart performance during this specific chapter of her career journey.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	You da One	Ester Dean, Lukasz Gottwald, Robyn Fenty, John Hill, Henry Walter	3:18
2	Where Have You Been	Dean, Gottwald, Calvin Harris, Walter, Geoff Mack	4:02
3	We Found Love (featuring Calvin Harris)	Harris	3:35
4	Talk That Talk (featuring Jay-Z)	Dean, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Shawn Carter, Anthony Best, Sean Combs, Carl Thompson, Christopher Wallace	3:30
5	Cockiness (Love It)	Candice Pillay, Dwayne Abernathy, Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford, Fenty	2:58
6	Birthday Cake	Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Fenty, Marcos Palacios, Earnest Clark	1:18
7	We All Want Love	Dean, Ernest Wilson, Steve Wyreman, Kevin Randolph	3:57
8	Drunk on Love	Dean, Eriksen, Hermansen, Baria Qureshi, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith	3:31
9	Roc Me Out	Dean, Eriksen, Hermansen, Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen	3:29
10	Watch n' Learn	Chauncey Hollis, Priscilla Renea, Alja Jackson, Fenty	3:31
11	Farewell	Dean, Alexander Grant	4:16
Total length			37:29

Did You Know?

Talk That Talk was originally planned to be a reissue of Rihanna's previous studio album Loud (2010) before she decided to make it a standalone project.
Recording took place in more than 25 cities during the Loud Tour, with Rihanna often recording until noon before riding her bus to the next city.
The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 198,000 copies and sold 1.15 million copies in the United States by June 2015.
Lead single 'We Found Love' topped the charts of 27 countries and spent 10 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna's longest-running chart-topper.
As of March 2013, Talk That Talk had sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide.