Rihanna: Fodder For Haters?
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As a blogger, you have to read other blogs. I like to know what others are saying about different artists and their music as well as their current status in the industry. But I can’t help but notice that one artist who constantly gets shitted on is Rihanna.
Rihanna entered the industry at age 16 in 2005, fresh off the Caribbean island of Barbados with her debut album Music of The Sun. It spawned the hit single “Pon De Replay” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year saw the release of her sophomore album A Girl Like Me, which saw continued chart success with the #1 single “S.O.S” and the top 10 hit “Unfaithful” which clocked in at 6. A transition was beginning and the her marketing moved away from her Caribbean roots and further into mainstream pop. In the space of 5 years, Rihanna released 4 albums 15 singles and literally became a pop phenomenon with the release of the 2007 hit “Umbrella”, a song that would escape no one in the summer of 2007. The album Good Girl Gone Bad, became a commercial success and again saw Rihanna change her image from the pretty teen pop star to a more edgy rock influenced demeanor. As Rihanna’s commercial success grew, so did her detractors.
There is a very thin line between telling the truth and being a hater, and the line is tripping up a lot of bloggers and many are finding themselves on the wrong side. Now we can’t sit here with a clear conscience and say that Rihanna is the next Aretha Franklin, but she does what she does well. Is there room for improvement? Sure. Rihanna is a performing phenomenon, because as little as she does on stage, she is still captivating. Think about it, her vocals don’t necessarily warrant her a pass to stay stationary on stage and belt a song like Mariah Carey, yet she just stands there for the most part. Rihanna hasn’t truly performed a fully choreographed number on stage or in a music video since “If It’s Loving That You Want” or “Umbrella”. She broke the conventions of pop music 101, which maintains that the following be true, you’re either a great singer who can’t dance (Mariah Carey), or a competent singer, usually with good tone but not a vocal powerhouse, who is a great dancer (Ciara, Janet Jackson), and every once in a while we get an enigma who the public believes is adept at both singing and dancing (Beyonce). Rihanna doesn’t quite fit into either of those categories comfortably, yet we watch her, we comment and we critique and we will continue to do so and care. The girl has created a signature style in the amount of time it takes some artist to establish a footing as a respectable artist. Her somewhat nasal tone can be slightly annoying and yet it works. There is room for improvement for every artist.
The most baffling thing is the double standards that are created to discredit Rihanna as an artist but those same standards are ignored when it comes to other artists. Take for example this comment that recurs most often: “Rihanna isn’t a great artist but she has a great team”. You dead ass though? Doesn’t every artist have a team behind them? Every artist has a stylist, every artist has creative director who they collaborate with to conceive stage shows and various live performances. In fact, Lady GaGa blatantly mentions her ‘Haus of GaGa’ team all the time, yet no one says that she’s a product of her team, and if you think for one second that each of those crazy outfits were all her unique vision then you are sorely mistaken. Nonetheless, if Rihanna is so disliked as an artist, why do we pay her any mind? Why are people buying her music and caring about what she does? You don’t have to love her, but give Rihanna her credit where its due. She has the ability to make a pop song a hit much in the manner that Madonna use to in years before her, and just like the Material Girl, despite her shortcomings, she keeps the public talking, watching and waiting for her to give them more.
