 " Hard " received acclaim from music critics . Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that Rihanna lashes out on the song , with " help from an even harder @-@ edged MC , Young Jeezy . " Monica Herrerra of Billboard magazine wrote : " Rihanna effectively assumes the hip @-@ hop posture and even recruits the ultimate street cred booster in rapper Young Jeezy , who provides the thrust needed to send a song with a somewhat inert chorus home " . Herrerra continued , " Though ' Hard ' doesn 't find Rihanna in her typical comfort zone , the atypical is precisely what she has aimed for with her new material — and it works " . Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called " Hard " and " Rude Boy " the highlights of Rated R , and wrote , " both of which exploit Rihanna 's most appealing vocal style , a sulky , icy , monotone " . Petridis also noted that the song " undercuts the standard braggathon of Hard — ' fan mail from 27 million ' " . Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly commented on Rihanna 's vocal style and the persona she adopts in the song . Greenblatt wrote , " Rihanna dons hip @-@ hop swagger like borrowed armor , leaning heavily on her Caribbean accent and unleashing a string of baddest @-@ bitch boasts via dancehall @-@ riddim 'd bangers like ' Hard , ' ' G4L , ' and ' Wait Your Turn ' " . Ryan Dombell of Pitchfork Media wrote , " the bulletproof guise is good for the record 's high point on ' Hard ' , a strutting statement of power bolstered by a roiling undertow of a beat from ' Umbrella ' producer Tricky Stewart . " 
