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“Only Girl (In the World)” represents the pinnacle of bright red-haired, Loud-era Rihanna—brassy, carefree, sexual, and maybe just a little bit selfish—complete with club-thumping production from hitmakers Stargate and a pitch-perfect extended selfie of a video (which, for what it’s worth, premiered one week after the initial release of Instagram). Coming from someone like Katy Perry or Beyoncé, the demand to “make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world” would have felt coy, maybe even inappropriate. But from Rihanna, whose career at the time was plagued with accusations of raunchiness and exhibitionism, it sounds like an honest request. As a career-defining single for a pop starlet, “Only Girl” is perfect because it’s grounded in the idea that egomania can be orgasmic. The video’s wish-fulfillment quality only adds thrust to the rush of empowerment: If the song demands
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