The track is "meh". It doesn't grab you, but I can see myself liking it more once radio starts to spin it. Her vocals just aren't up to scratch though, she's like a Bajan robot. She sings with NO feeling or charisma. But she sounds nice on the bridge section.
Part of me would like to hear Beyonce on this, because her crazy knack for crafting tight harmonies, ad-libs and riffs would make this song sound hot. Especially on the chorus where it just feels empty.
The whole "Ella...ella...ella" reminds me of Nelly Furtado. She has that swagger and that style that would carry this song off also.
Jay-Z wasn't really neccessary on this track, but seeing as he chose to grace it with his prescence, you would've thought he'd dropped a 2nd verse before or after the bridge section.
The sound look good! congratulation to you Rihanna! but it's still to commercial for me! anyway
Well, I like it!!! Also, I think she can sing (don't forget she has an accent). I believe because she has an accent she brings something different to the song that no other artist can bring. This song was written for her!!!
I hate this chick with a passion; Famous for no reason.
WTF,sorry this chick needs vocal coach ASAP,accent or no accent, she sounds really bad.what a waste of beat. y'all know this really bad
I'm with ya Hollabackgurl; Having a accent doesn't mean jack. There's a difference between having a shitty voice and having an accent.
She has enough of a voice to work with, but she just sounds standard on this track. They could've at least layered her vocals and produced them better - got soem hot harmonies going or something. I'd love to know in between her last "A girl like me" single that dropped 10 minutes ago and "Umbrella" where the bitch found time to do lessons with a vocal coach.
In the hands of another artist this sond actually would've been hot I think - because I like the beat.
It's hard to showcase growth when you're dropping albums so fast. WAY too fast. In between Mariah's last record and her next one, Rihanna would've dropped 3 ALBUMS. One per year with little space in between. It's a joke. Nothing personal against her, I blame her label and management. They should've held off album #3 for next year. But I guess they wanted to capitalize on how popular and in demand Rihanna is right now.
Random J you couldn't have said it any better.
I'm with Random J. This is not good. I had to turn it off after the first "ella ella ella" or whatever. And I haven't laughed so hard today at the "Bajan robot" comment. The vocal arrangement is lacking as well as the emotion. I bet they did this song in one take and then flew back overseas to do like 430 concerts in a row. I don't think she has the experience in the studio to flip albums so quickly like some artists. And isn't this song moving away from her "target audience" anyhow? It's a little urban for her. I'm just sayin'.
I CAN NOT STAND RIHANNA and her last two albums..
BUT THIS SONG IS HOOOTTT! lol I love the beat and I think it fits her. It is def Nelly furtado-ish and Beyonce-ish at the same time because of the arrangement and the hard beat. As well, I think her voice is better because she opens up more creating a more clear sound. If Ciara has grown vocally [which i think a lil], so has she!
But Rihanna also said the producers she worked with this time made her sing a certain way, which is good.
Jay-Z? huh? I'm just at a loss for words
P.S. This song was supposedly shopped around to Britney Spears AND Mary J. Blige, among others... I think It woulda fit Mary's voice, but the song is just too simple. Mary on some grown woman ish now! lol
I can't believe you people are hating on how she pronounces umbrella - it's just a style. Her singing talent is not GREAT/OUTSTANDING, but it's by no means one of the worst. She can actually sing, and from this track..her voice has gotten a bit better, there seems to be more control. I don't think this girl should be hated on so much, and not by you either Toya..she's just trying to do her thing.
I'm not a stan at all, but I'm slowly starting to respect her for what she does do, because honestly, she tries. Not in the overbearing way either, she's just honestly trying to do her thing. That's just my opinion.
^^ YEAH!! Of course anybody who knows anything about music should know that the producers and/or songwriters TELL you how to sing the song and the pronunciation of the word fits here.
I am a singer and you DON'T SING WORDS LIKE YOU SAY THEM!! duh... plus, if you sing alound and really think about it, UMBRELLA is an awkward word to sing, and it wouldn't sound right in this song without the extra syllable.
The song is hott, the end.. And Toya is not hating 
The style of singing is like the song zombie by the cranberries. The song is actually good, but very true how it would be better if someone else sang it.
hot
This is just .....w/e the umbrella-ella-ella-a a a is ridiculous and she can't sing that great I'm sorry. She is apart of the new genre of pretty girls who get record deals with no talent and get labeled as a artist which is BS to me coming from a person who admires Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Alicia, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James, Christina, Mary, real artists who write their own music. But More power to Rihanna, she's getting money but in the process msking people believe this is true talents when clearly it isn't. Love the beat on a plus side!
I'm feeling the song especially since maintaining the HQ. I put that shit on my zen and I've been jamming to it since. It's a fun track and it's mad catchy. And the video could make the song even hotter because it's the video that makes or breaks the song sometimes. I DO agree that the song would sound much better if it was somebody else singing it. But being Rihanna, it does add uniquess to the track.
Miss April. Joy...if you don't take Beyonce booty poppin ass off of that list of real artist who write their own material....lol some of you kill me.
None of these r&b chicks can hold their own on a track these dayz...nothing but exccessive collabos with whose hot. Well then again there are a small few...Alicia Keys, Tamia, Amerie, Brandy, Fantasia...and to think not even Jay could save this track smh.
this song is an UPGRADE U-WANNABE but its no better compared to beyonce's song. hmmm i think she could have done much better for a 1st single, cuz the lyrics are kinda childish so is it tha name of the album, i think this song will NOT work here in europe, perhaps in US this song will hit the top 10 but i dont see this song as number 1, thats for sure
oh and i dont know why jay-z had to be in this song, cuz his mini verse is not worth it, he put his name on this song just to "make it more appealing" but really jay-z is kinda overrated like his girlfriend beyonce
Don't say anyone is hating because any mixed light skinned girl could dress like a whore get on stage and move like a inexpereinced stripper and sing a wack ass song like this. Rihanna is the worst singer out right now. She's really follin yall into thinking she can sing. Mike I really do hope this song doesn't do good in Europe because her music is mostly liked internationally. I really can't stand this chick. If she got run over by a car I would laugh my ass off. She's a disgrace to music and young females. What a ho.
Foolin*
so why all of a sudden everybody have to compare EVERY female into the business to that head full of weave known as beyonce...now i am not saying that beyonce hasn't got talent...she does...but if you want to call somebody a whore and a stripper beyonce would be a first pick...who releases a bikini video for a supposedly deep track? now THAT'S selling sex...and for the record rihanna can sing...she did a remix of bob marley's "redemption" song in they yahoo studio...no back-up singers just a guy on a guitar...and she rocked it AND sounded like beyonce too...just go on yahoo video to see it...
its catchy. im not giong to hate on her for doin her thing. i'm pretty sure once the radio spins this. its going to be a hit. i find myself even singing it. it stuck on me.
That's my opinion about the accent. If that what I believe than that's what I believe. For somebody who can't sing, she show is getting paid!!!
The break beat and synthesizer makes this track very "European". And it's important that Rihanna keeps her "accent", because she is not an American artist, but an artist whose label just happens to be in the States. Atleast her accent is real and not learned (Beyonce in her Spanish phase, lol). I can hear the "ella ella eh" being chanted in Africa, Russia, or Japan. The message is positive and universal, and frankly, to good for "Black Radio".
LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR US TO BE HATING ON ONE ANOTHER. SHE'S DOING HER THING, LET US DO OURS. NO SHE ISN'T THE BEST SINGER BUT SHE IS NOT BAD.
After Toya mentioned she couldn't sing, no everybody says she can't sing!!! This reminds me of American Idol
If she can't sing, then Chris Brown, Ciara, Omarion and a lot of other artists can't sing, but they are not getting all of this hate!!!
Commenting by HaloScan
