Loud is the fifth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. It was released on November 12, 2010, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded between February and August 2010, during the singer's Last Girl on Earth Tour and the filming of her first feature film Battleship. Rihanna was the executive producer of Loud and worked with various record producers, including StarGate, Sandy Vee, The Runners, Tricky Stewart and Alex da Kid. The record features several guest vocalists, including rappers Drake, Nicki Minaj and Eminem, who is featured on the sequel to "Love the Way You Lie", titled "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)".
The album differs from Rihanna's 2009 album, Rated R, which incorporates a prominently foreboding and angry tone and dark themes. Loud features up-tempo and pop genres, ranging from R&B and dance-pop to electro music, and marks the return to dancehall; a genre prominent on Rihanna's first two albums Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl like Me (2006). It also incorporates rock in "California King Bed" and reggae in the Caribbean inspired "Man Down".
Loud received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its upbeat material and Rihanna's vocal performances, while others stated that although the songs were solid, they were unfocused to each other. The album was a commercial success internationally; it debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first week sales of 207,000 copies, the highest first week sales of her career at the time. The album entered the Canadian, Swiss and UK album charts at number one. As of November 2011, it had sold over 8 million copies worldwide.
The album produced seven singles, including the international hits "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?", and "S&M". All three singles reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. "S&M" was Rihanna's tenth number one song in the US, making Rihanna the youngest recording artist to accumulate the plateau in the shortest time, surpassing Mariah Carey. "Only Girl (In the World)" won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in February 2011; additionally, the album was nominated for three more Grammy Awards, including for Album of the Year. To support the album, Rihanna embarked on her third worldwide concert tour, entitled the Loud Tour.
