Music of the Sun Songwriting Credits by Rihanna

Music of the Sun is the debut studio album by Rihanna, released in August 2005 on Def Jam/SRP Records and produced primarily by Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, the duo who had discovered Rihanna in Barbados and secured her a deal with Jay-Z's Def Jam imprint, and whose dancehall and Caribbean-influenced production framework gave the album its regional flavor. Rihanna wrote no original material on the album; the songs were provided by Rogers, Sturken, and other professional writers, with the dancehall and R&B content reflecting the sonic territory Rogers and Sturken had identified as matching her voice and origin. The lead single 'Pon de Replay' reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and demonstrated that a Caribbean-accented pop-dancehall single could compete at the top of the mainstream chart, an unusual commercial outcome for an R&B debut in 2005. Music of the Sun debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum in the United States, establishing Rihanna's commercial viability at Def Jam and precipitating the rapid follow-up release A Girl Like Me just eight months later. The album's significance is primarily retrospective: it is the starting point of a catalog that would expand dramatically in ambition and commercial scale across the following decade, rather than a statement of fully formed artistic identity.