This Is What You Came For vs. Cheap Thrills

Todd plays "This Is What You Came For" on the piano...

CALVIN HARRIS ft. RIHANNA - THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME FOR

Holds it...

AND

...and plays "Cheap Thrills".

SIA - CHEAP THRILLS A pop song(s) review

Todd: Let's talk about Rihanna.


 * Video for "Umbrella"
 * Jay-Z: Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah, Rihanna

Todd (VO): Rihanna is one of the biggest pop stars alive, no one disputes that. But I don't think it really sinks in just how successful she is. What pop star has the most buzz right now, at this moment in time?

Todd: Possibly Kanye, or Taylor Swift, or Drake, or Beyoncé?


 * Video for "We Found Love"

Todd (VO): I honestly wouldn't necessarily pick Rihanna because this is not really a peak year for her, the way that 2007 or 2012 were. But that's because Rihanna...

Todd: ...doesn't need peaks, she's always there.


 * Brief clips of various Rihanna songs, including "Kiss It Better", "What's My Name", "Stay", "S&M", and "Don't Stop the Music"

Todd (VO): It's hard to even comprehend the staggering, mind-destroyingly insane amount of hit songs Rihanna has gotten under the pop charts in her eleven-year career. The Now That's What I Call Music people could've just made compilations of Rihanna hits for the last decade...

Todd: ...and they wouldn't even have to slow down their output.


 * Clip of teaser for...

Todd (VO): In January of this year, with major fanfare, she released ANTI, her first album in four years.

Todd: Don't assume that means she was taking some time off though.


 * Video for "Bitch Better Have My Money"

Todd (VO): Except for a brief period in 2014, she has continued to pump out single after single after single.

Todd: Shouldn't seem like that, right? Well, there's a big reason for that. For the most part, those songs aren't very good.


 * Videos for "Where Have You Been"...

Todd (VO): Of her many, many hits, Rihanna has maybe released two songs in the past six years that I'd really wanna listen to a second time. They just seem to exist as a constant background noise, catchy enough to get into heavy rotation, but not memorable enough to make any lasting impact. [...and "Work"] So that's a big reason why, despite all the hype for the new album, I couldn't really be bothered to care. I mean, look, here's the big new single she has, "Work".


 * Rihanna: Work work work work work work
 * He say me have to work work work work work work
 * He see me do me dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt
 * So me put in work work work work work work

Todd (VO): Yes, thank you. That was a clip of Rihanna performing in the role of [Clip of...] Helen Keller in the climactic scene of The Miracle Worker. She is finally gonna get that Tony this year, I can feel it.

Todd: It's... yeah, it's a nothing of a song.

Todd (VO): Its only noteworthy aspect is that Rihanna seems to be singing it after having a root canal.

Todd: So if you excuse me, we're gonna review two Rihanna songs not from that album, because who cares?


 * Videos for "This Is What You Came For" and "Cheap Thrills"

Todd (VO): Instead we're gonna look at two other songs written for Rihanna by other artists. Because Rihanna is such a powerful force that [Single covers for Rihanna's featured appearances on Coldplay - "Princess of China" and Maroon 5 - "If I Never See Your Face Again", and a still from the SNL sketch "Rihanna and Shy Ronnie"] everyone eventually gradually winds up in her orbit. The two Rihanna songs we'll be looking at today are "This Is What You Came For" and "Cheap Thrills". And not one of the [Image of the Billboard charts, showing...] three other hit Rihanna songs I could be covering right now. Told you she was everywhere.

Transcript in progress