Rule of thumb is that if your song is a pop, upbeat, and non-experimental song that actually fits into radio then it's not risky. You have to be kidding if you think Hold It Against Me is anywhere near risky seeing it's a Max Martin production and it's very commercial. Dubstep is a ****ty excuse for it. Born This Way is an upbeat pop song that's far from generic but was also not risky. She is an open advocate of the LGBT community and she has so many fans there so singing to empower them was actually a very safe and logical route to run through; it is also very in line with current dance trends while still maintaining that essence of old disco/pop sound. We Found Love was also not risky. It's the definition of a typical mainstream dance song just with a (great) breakdown in it. There are a million other wrong answers in this thread.

This.

This thread

Fact is none of beyonce's, gaga's. Kesha's or katy's lead single were risky.

WRWWR was and no one can say it wasn't.

There was no risk in releasing If I Were A Boy AND Single Ladies at the same time. She was securing that if one flopped the other would hit. And that's exactly what it happened.

ALL OF THIS. Some people really have NO idea what "risky" mean

Hold it Against Me, Frozen, Russian Roulette, Deja Vu, Rolling in the Deep, Rehab

Why are people saying We Found Love or If I Were a Boy? Those songs werent risky at all. Russian Roulette and Deja Vu were much riskier & didnt sound like anything else out at the time

You just lost all credibility there

Why are people saying HIAM is risky? Since WHEN a catchy dance pop song is risky in freaking 2011?
And don't talk about the dubstep stuff, a bit of dubstep was NOT gonna make the song not commercial.

I agree with the rest of your list.

Yes I actually had..

"Bounce" was my jam for the LONGEST time!!

All 5 of Aguilera's 1st singles are a risk musically in 1 form or another, and they all paid off.

IIWAB was Beyoncé's 2nd biggest song WW, and Single Ladies was #3 WW iirc, which is still a big hit. If a song doesn't go #1, that in no where means it would flop.

But I do agree in the sense that the First 3 Lead singles Beyoncé released were not risky. No one can say RTW wasn't risky, because it sure to hell was. The thing is, it didn't work because it became a flop

And going with the topic, I'd say one of the riskiest lead singles that ended up working was Fantasy by Mariah Carey. Pop & Hip Hop weren't combined successfully before and when Mariah dropped Fantasy, it became one of the greatest examples of Hip Hop & Pop coming together. It's a fantastic song that became one of Mariah's most memorable songs.

Russian Roulette by Rihanna was also a huge risk. After Umbrella, people expected another club banger, but they got a ballad.

California Gurls was pretty risky. It was the first pop song to feature a rapper really.

I can name 80 songs before it to feature a rapper

Crazy in Love, Umbrella & Deja Vu all 3 of the most popular ones that come to mind

But where those even successful?

CG was the first one to do it and win. Case closed.

So much truth in this post, i agree!

I can't tell if you're being serious or trolling us. If it's the earlier, then gurl.

Name one pop song that even made the top ten with a rapper before CG

Beyonce and Rihanna don't count cause they're kind of rappers in their own right.

What?

Also California Gurls was NOT risky. It was a catchy pop song with a bit of rap on it, where's the risk?

Loverboy by Mariah Carey

Ain't It Funny and I'm Real by J.Lo...so are so ignorant if you think that was really the first

What? Rihanna and Beyonce appeal more to the urban crowd so of course they would have rappers on their tracks.

California Gurls had a chorus set up that had never been done before also. The rap is what made it really risky. Most pop fans aren't here for that. But it was successful and now everyone is doing it.

Edit: Yeah and JLO and Mariah are somewhat urban