Robyn Fenty, better known as Rihanna, is an international pop singer and songwriter from Barbados. Rihanna first entered the music industry by recording demo tapes under New York producer Evan Rodgers in 2003.
In January 2005, Rogers landed Rihanna an audition for Def Jam Records in front of the legendary rapper Jay-Z. Jay-Z was every bit as wowed by Rihanna’s commanding presence as Evan Rogers had been two years earlier, and Jay-Z signed her on the spot. Eight months later, in August 2005, she released her first single, “Pon de Replay”,a reggae-influenced club track that reached No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart and turned Rihanna into an up-and-coming pop star. It was at that time that the reggae sounding artist began the journey to creating original albums.
Her first album, Music of the Sun, was released later that month, and made it to No. 10 on the Billboard albums chart, but her next album was the one to capture audiences everywhere. Rihanna released her second album, A Girl Like Me, featuring major hits singles “Unfaithful” and “SOS”. Her next album that was released in 2007, Good Girl Gone Bad. This album is where audiences started seeing her change into her own form of artist with her smash hit single “Umbrella”, featuring Jay-Z. “Umbrella” topped the Billboard singles chart and earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Song Collaboration.
In 2010 she released her single “Man Down” which became my favorite song, because she explains how a man that she loved played with her mind and her heart. She thought he was the one for her until the man started to get physical with her, which makes her want to turn into a killer. I connect with this song because I once felt similar emotions. My favorite verse of that song is “What started out as a simple altercation turned into a real sticky situation me just thinking on the time that I’m facing makes me wanna cry.” This is my favorite verse because I could relate to it on an emotional level.
Now in 2016, the pop star released her popular song “Work” off her new album Anti. Many people complained that her Barbadian accent was too strong and that no one could understand what she was saying, because they think she mumbling. This song has become my favorite especially since the video was released. The song featured Canadian rapper Drake and audiences didn’t like his dance moves, which are the same moves he did in Hotline Bling. The video had so many graphic scenes, so her fans started commenting on YouTube about how she needs to dress and how the video needs to be able to be viewed by her younger fans, but to me she was perfectly dressed for the type of image she was trying to create for the song.
Over all I will always love Rihanna, because she has an apathetic attitude toward her “haters”. She will continue to shine and stand out from the rest of the superstars.
