Rihanna: Good to Cool
SEVERAL DAYS BACK POST "ANTI" - Rihanna's eighth album, which has been waiting for several years. Looking back in 2016, it is even strange to realize that this Rihanna is the same girl who made the whole planet sing a song about an umbrella. In fact, of course, in ten years, Rihanna has changed. Her stormy life, which became the property of unprincipled tabloids more than once, also left its mark: the singer grew up and was changing before her eyes at the same time as her career was gaining momentum. For so much time in sight, she repeatedly mercilessly changed herself, continuing to earn titles and becoming one of the most successful musicians in history. However, behind all the hype, it seems that Rihanna managed the most important thing - not to forget that in this world is really important.
"Let's welcome the latest sensation, a seventeen-year-old singer from Barbados, her name is Rihanna!" - presents his ward Jay Z in the 2005 video. Rihanna appears on the stage with her back to the hall, dancing. She plays her first international hit: a simple but fiery R'n'B track "Pon de Replay". Rihanna has long golden hair, she is dressed like a teenager - in jeans and a pistachio top on the straps, her voice is trembling, but she confidently smiles at the hall. It would be sly to declare that the future megastar can be seen from this performance. But already then her voice was not like any other, and even then it was possible to hear the depth and pleasant Caribbean boom in it, which would make “e, e, e, e, e” in the word “umbrella” an unforgettable hook that will scatter on memes and make of a girl with ambitions a star.
The young singer was introduced to Jay Z by her agent, who once had a rest in Barbados - after that Jay Z flew in specially to listen to the girl. Legend has it that Rihanna, who was then sixteen, came to audition with two girlfriends. "Three girls came in, but I saw only one star," Jay Z states in a scrappy manner. And although then everything was just beginning for Rihanna, she had already made some fateful decisions: a child from a dysfunctional family with a drug addict, she turned to high school, and moved to New York, where, apart from her producer and his wife, she did not know a soul.
Back in 2005, Rihanna just released her first studio album, plainly titled "Music of the Sun". A young singer herself looked from the cover with feline green eyes: she had an intense “romantic” make-up, lush styling, a gold jacket and, of course, gold rings in her ears. 17-year-old Rihanna was the new princess of R'n'B zero, like Ashanti, Cassie or Nelly Furtado. But really then only her voice stood out in the album, although neither Rihanna herself nor her producers really understood how to use it.
The next album, released a year later, was not much different from the debut: the songs on it still remained club hits with a hint of Caribbean exotics. And only the third album - "Good Girl Gone Bad" - was in all respects turning for Rihanna. Under the release of a new record, Rihanna changed her image: she cut off her hair to a spectacular asymmetrical car, trying on the image of the "bad girl" from the title. The album was bundled with the single "Umbrella" - a hit of the level that appears every ten years.
At the same time, another epoch-making event occurred in the singer's life: Rihanna began to meet with the budding singer and dancer Chris Brown. A young couple appeared everywhere: on the VMA-2007, they even performed a duet, and Rihanna clearly turned to Brown, deducing: "Told you will be forever," But the way she openly confessed her love to her famous boyfriend, how she sincerely communicated with journalists, betrayed her kind and naive nature despite the image of a sharp girl.
Fader magazine reporter Mary Choi recalls interviewing the singer on the eve of the album. It turned out that the recorder erased Choi's several hours of recording, but Rihanna had no problems talking to her on the phone for another half. In an interview of that time, the singer did not hide her almost childlike spontaneity: for example, Rihanna loved to tell that before "Good Girl Gone Bad" she had never done vocals, and when she was sent as a teacher to Ne-Yo, she was asked to "make staccato". "replied:" Okay, only I have no idea what it is. "
February 8, 2009 Rihanna was supposed to speak at the Grammy ceremony, but her appearance was suddenly canceled the day before the show. In the media, rumors spread, and then someone poured TMZ police snapshots of the singer's face: with a broken lip, an eyebrow and a swollen cheek. It turned out that the day before the show, Chris Brown attacked her in the car and beat her.
Instead of appropriate sympathy, or at least indifference, streams of slops flowed onto Rihanna. Her swum face scattered around the sites, and commentators did not stint on speculation: "Yes, she herself with that yet character!", "I suppose I brought him!", "Yes, black bitches love such a relationship!". Despite the fact that Rihanna did everything according to her mind: she took the beatings, filed a lawsuit, appeared at all sessions and ensured that Chris Brown was forbidden to approach her - hundreds of thousands of people were accused of what happened to her. All life and the first great light love, which turned into a nightmare, were discussed in public. Moreover, it was as if everyone had forgotten that at that moment Rihanna herself was only nineteen.
Rihanna took a vacation for a year, and in 2009 released a disc called "Rated R", that is, "From 17 and older." If before the change of image remained exactly the change of image - and nothing more, then this album was a shocking record for the pop princess, whom Rihanna was used to seeing. Gloomy, slow, full of pain and harsh determination, Rihanna publicly stated that she was not singing about Chris Brown. "Rated R" was full of low bass, minor tones and guitars. Rihanna, who was listed as the co-author of all but one song, no longer sang about love - now she sang about power, fear and pain. "There's so much power in my name," she declared in a confident tone on the track "Wait Your Turn." And this album was the beginning of the Rihanna that we hear now: which "gives zero fucks", does what it wants and does not apologize to anyone. "I want it all" - was her new motto, which she proclaimed in the video on "Hard", driving around in a uniform riding a tank.
After that, the singer plunged into work with the head, releasing every November on the album, for which she received the nickname "the hit machine". In a hug to the world, the pop song “Only Girl” Rihanna danced under fireworks on the provocative track “What's My Name?” flirted with Drake, in the scandalous "S & M" played the role of dominatrix, and then for the first time made a social statement, shooting a video about rape in Caribbean culture on the reggae track "Man Down", for which thousands of island residents told her thanks. By the release of "Talk That Talk" Rihanna and her team have developed a recipe for a successful album: 2-3 hits plus a dozen more songs, and the single "We Found Love" almost repeated the success of "Umbrella".
Fans of Rihanna are generally respectful: her fan club "Rihanna Navy" is full of enthusiastic stories. For example, a woman from Barbados tells how she wrote to Rihanna after the concert that she and her daughter really wanted to see her, but they did not wait at the back door. “Damn!” Replied the singer. “Wait half an hour, ok?” Then she opened the limousine, returned, and chatted with them for several hours. In the photo with the meetings with the fans, Rihanna always smiles, fools around and communicates with the children. Native Barbados himself occupies a special place in the heart of the singer, which is easy to see in her instragram.
At the same time, Rihanna, as all members of her "Navy" believe, has not created an image for the press for a long time. She is one of the few stars of this level, which independently conducts its social networks. On Twitter, she curses a lot and complains about hangover; In Instagram puts his pictures of different degrees of eroticism. At the address "badgalriri" you can find her selfie with a jamb; in the topic with the image of marijuana; clogging tattoos, which she already has 21 pieces, and one in honor of her grandmother. When she once wrote: "You were such a sweet girl, what happened to you?" - Rihanna replied: "That girl died. Ten years passed, all these ten years I worked in show business and earned fame and millions. How can I still remain an innocent girl from the island?"
It would be worth adding that her traumatic relationship with Brown also left their mark. After the break, the singer took a kind of public celibacy. Finding out about her personal relationship is now impossible. The media constantly credits the singer with novels with Leonardo DiCaprio, sometimes with Drake, then with LeBron James, but she does not confirm anything and does not appear in public in the company of men. Jay Z and Drake, Eminem and Kanye West are all people with whom Rihanna works, and it is simply impossible to attribute her success to their work. When at the presentation of her first male scent, the reporter asked the singer what she was looking for in a man, Rihanna interrupted the question and replied: "I am not looking for a man. Let's start with that."
The only public relations was only a short reunion with Chris Brown, after which the singer released "Unapologetic", already responding to all the claims about Brown, grass and tattoos at once and bringing the criticism to the point of absurdity in the clip on "Pour It Up" . "Unapologetic" was absolutely commercial, but not devoid of symbolism: in it, Rihanna finally comprehends everything that happened to her. In the same album, the singer began her movement towards an alternate ass, recording the track "Diamonds" with Sia, as well as the touching duet "Stay" with Mikky Ekko. Mikky Ekko thought of simply selling Rihanna to the track, but she insisted that they record it together.
Adhering to her new credo and not looking for any excuses from anyone, the singer decided to put an end to it and took a creative break for four years. Rihanna explored her options: produced perfumes, collaborated with fashion brands, voiced her role in the cartoon, gradually becoming a fashion icon. Along the way, the singer had time to quarrel and make peace with instagram. Her bare-breasted snapshot from Lui magazine was blocked, to which Rihanna naturally responded: "Well, go and you in the ass with your policy!" - and deleted the account. When she returns, she still does not abandon the principle "my body is not ashamed."
Case “my body is my business” Rihanna completed with brilliance and grace when in 2014 she received the award “Style Icon” from CFDA. The singer appeared at the event in a radiant bandage on her head a la the 20s, with smoky makeup on her eyes, a fur boa around her shoulders and in a completely transparent dress, consisting entirely of sparkles. The singer's chest and body could see everything, while she posed for the cameras with dignity. Rihanna forced the press to play by her own rules: if you want a photo report, you will publish me in the form I want. I am Rihanna and you will respect me, even if I walk naked.
Watching Rihanna in recent years has been interesting even without music: with all her actions she seeks to show that being a woman does not mean being someone alone. She proves that just being with you is a guarantee of victory. She does not hesitate to send detractors obscenities or be aggressively sexual. She is gentle and vulnerable, as in the tracks "Stay" or "Take Care" with Drake. She is faithful and kind: every year the singer comes to her native Barbados to take part in the carnival with everyone. She bought mom a house. She works with her best childhood friend, Melissa. She donated $ 1.75 million to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados. The singer dictates her own conditions, and the love of the whole world does not diminish.
The first musical works after a three-year break appeared in 2014. The singer's return was powerful: she released the track "FourFiveSeconds" with Kanye West and Paul McCartney. It became clear from this deceptively simple song: Rihanna is tired of being "the hit machine", she wants to be an actress who has something to say. This was followed by the ambiguous "Bitch Better Have My Money" - a harsh, disharmonious cry-song with a provocative video in the set, which none of the pop princesses could afford. It became clear that Rihanna is aiming at the same territory that Kanye once occupied by releasing "Yeezus".
The provocative "Bitch Better Have My Money" did not appear from scratch. By the end of 2009, the singer was virtually bankrupt. Her accountant Peter Gunis, who, knowing that the singer was losing money, recommended her to spend $ 7.5 million on a mansion in Beverly Hills. Rihanna filed a lawsuit, which she won in 2014, having achieved compensation of $ 10 million. The BBHMM clip, in which Rihanna tortures a certain man performed by Mads Mikkelsen, is dedicated precisely to that unfortunate Peter Gunis, an accountant, also known as "The Bitch".
Unlike Taylor Swift, who removed her music from Spotify, because “you have to pay big money for art”, Rihanna laid out her new album “Anti” absolutely free of charge with the words “a gift to my fans”. He became platinum in two days, and most music critics admitted: Rihanna did it again. She sings reggae, she gives soul, she mentions whiskey and, of course, swears strong. The disc has more Caribbean accent than any previous work. She has more than Rihanna herself, and for the first time in her own history, she placed on the cover of the album not herself, but the image of a little girl in a golden crown. The message is crystal clear: Rihanna is tired of being a pop princess, she wants to be a queen. The queen of the priest, or, as she herself said, the "black Madonna."
PHOTO: Rihanna, Rogue, Balmain
