Rihanna - Rihanna's Emotional Album

Rihanna didn't think about whether her new album would be a hit.

The singer has just released 'Rated R' - with the majority of the tracks penned in the aftermath of her assault at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown in February - and her friend and frequent collaborator Sean Garrett says she was more worried about channelling her emotions than thinking of how the songs would sound aired in public.

Sean told MTV news: "She was very, very picky with this album. She was going through a lot, so I think her emotions were leaning to things that were closer to her heart as opposed to closer to the radio, to be real honest. And that's the sign of a real, true artist."

Rihanna has previously said that the album imitates the "rollercoaster" of emotions she went through after being assaulted.

She said: "This album is an expression of all those feelings that I went through in the last eight months, just different emotions.

"All of it isn't angry, all of it isn't dark and sad, because I didn't go through that the whole time. That was part of it. It was really a roller-coaster, and you get that when you're listening to the album."