Rihanna on the Radio

RIHANNA ON THE RADIO: With the ascension of “Only Girl (in the World)” to #1 at Pop and Top 40 radio, Def Jam/IDJ diva Rihanna enters some rarified territory. Just two weeks after hitting #1 at Pop with “What’s My Name,” the superstar is back with a follow-up smash, helping her new album, Loud, to first-week sales of 205k, good enough for a #3 debut on this week’s HITS Top 50. She is now the first artist to ever have a lead single, “Only Girl (in the World)” go #1 after the second single, “What’s My Name,” topped the Hot 100. Executive producer L.A. Reid previously experienced the feat as head of Arista Records, when OutKast took the top two spots on the Pop airplay charts in 2004 with “Hey Ya!” and “The Way You Move,” from the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album, like Loud, also executive produced by Reid. Nice work by Steve Bartels' IDJ promo/marketing team. (11/24p)