Musically, the album represents a departure from her previous effort Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), which contained up-tempo and ballad-oriented songs. Conceived after Rihanna's assault by her then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, Rated R is primarily a pop, hip hop and R&B album; it features a foreboding and atmospheric tone in terms of musical and lyrical direction, and it incorporates elements of rock and dubstep. It also explores other genres, such as dancehall in "Rude Boy" and Latin-infusion in "Te Amo".