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Rihanna Finally Gives the People What They Want


“Friend of Mine” suggests a new approach for her music in the mom-ionaire era.

Last month’s “ Higher Love ” grafted DJ Khaled and Cardi B features onto a South Asian trap rework of Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” bubbling with sensual innuendos in honor of Smurfette, the lone woman in the Smurf clan. It’s more like remixes that whittle a vocal performance down to the tastiest bit and flood the mix with propulsive drums, like Adele edits of the 2010s or a Renaissance tour opening DJ slicing up a few choice pop-star vowels and turning the place out. “Friend of Mine” reaches that simplicity and repeated phrasing and melody that makes a cut like “Baby Shark” playroom-platinum-certified, but gets there peeling through American ballroom and European club music.

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