Star Project

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (or as known by her stage name, Rihanna) is a Barbadian R&B, Pop, Reggae, Hip hop and Dance sensation. February 20^th 1988, she was born in Saint Michael, Barbados, and began her career after being introduced to Evan Rogers through a mutual friend in late 2003. Being a record producer, Evan Rogers guided Rihanna through recording a demo tape which was then sent to numerous record labels. Luckily, the demo tape reached Jay Z, who just so happened to be the former president of Def Jam Records and is a successful musician himself. Soon after, she managed to record her Debut Album in 2005 called ‘Music of the Sun’.

From the title, to the album cover, everybody had an idea that this album was going to be infused with Caribbean flavor. On August 30^th, Def Jam Records released Rihanna’s debut album, ‘Music of the Sun’. Although she was complimented for its dancehall and Caribbean-inspired tracks, she was also criticized for lacking creativity. Rihanna was compared to Beyonce. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the lead single ‘Pon de Replay’ as “a dancehall-pop mixture that owes plenty of its sweat and shimmy to Beyoncé Knowles ‘Baby Boy’”. Rumour has it that Jay-Z molded Rihanna to have aspects like Beyonce. Although some believed Rihanna was an imitator, some critics thought otherwise. Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic commented that the album introduces Rihanna as "winsome rather than [a] wannabe". 

Her second studio album ‘A Girl Like Me’ was also released through Def Jam Records on April 2006. As well as her previous album, Rihanna continued sticking to her Barbadian roots and projected her love for where she comes from, through her music. Because she was criticized in her last album for being too safe, this time, she also featured dance-hall  R&B and reggae tracks. She didn't even stop there, as she also incorporated elements of ballads, but music critics were uncertain about them.

Although Rihanna was only in her teens when this album was released, her voice was mature. She was inspired by artists such as Alicia Keys, Beyonce Knowles and Mariah Carey. While her singing remained strong, her video’s and look were still age appropriate. Rihanna still incorporated her Caribbean flare to what she wore. She kept her attire fresh and young, usually paring her crop tops with her low-rise bottoms.

Here is the music video for 'If it's lovin' that you want' from Rihanna's 'Music Of The Sun'. You immediately get the Caribbean feel to this video due to the exotic location and the costume worn by Rihanna and her dancers. This is the video that got compared to 'Baby Boy' by Beyonce. After watching the video, I can now see what the critics are talking about (when she dances on the beach, I can see the similarities). 

Also from the 'Music Of The Sun' album, whether it be the up beat instrumental or her sequin covered (but didn't manage to cover) top, this club banger by Rihanna caught more people's attention. It's successes included a number 2 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart and the UK Singles Chart.

With this song, Rihanna continued with the dance-pop ambiance. The video for 'SOS' from her 'A Girl Like Me Album' is most remembered for her signature glittery, golden skin again the bright green leaves. Her glittery, short skirt also couldn't be ignored. Although quite young, Rihanna had a little bit of sex appeal in this video.

Also from her 'A Girl Like Me' album, Rihanna toned it down with a heartbreaking ballad called 'Unfaithful'. A lot of her maturity is expressed in this video... like that little life of the bra... she's just making sure everyone knows she wears one and she's a big girl now, thumbs up.

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 After being compared to all these other musicians, Rihanna had had enough, so took a completely different approach to her as a musician, as well as her sense of style. “I basically took the attitude of the bad girl and I really got rebellious and just did everything the way I wanted to do it—I didn't want to listen to anybody. I didn't consult with anybody. I just want to have a little more fun with my music and be a little more experimental in terms of my image and my sound. I just reinvented myself.” She told The StarPhoenix. The ‘Good Girls Gone Bad’ album was her way to perish the old image she had in her previous albums. She achieved this by chopping her hair off and dying it jet black... as shown in the next few images...

Umbrella-Ela-Ela-Eh-Eh... okay, I'll stop now. This song is where it all started. From her 'Good Girl Gone Bad' album, Rihanna broke out of her shell and revealed her new look through this iconic video. From her pixie cut to her un-walk-able high heels, she has opened herself to a more mature fan base. She wanted to come back to the music industry with a bang, and I think she certainly achieved that... everybody was talking about the 'it' girl. 

Later, Rihanna received much media attention due to the assault ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, had committed. After these unfortunate events, she had taken a long break away from music to reinvigorate. But just as the public thought she couldn’t be more ‘dark’ than ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ she came back with her fourth album, ‘Rated R’, in 2009. This album was almost like a ‘come back’ to what her then boyfriend had done- her way to tell the public that she hasn’t fallen off the pedestal, but has only came back even stronger. This album featured ominous and distinctive tracks. ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘Rockstar 101’ is a couple of the successful songs Rihanna has caught the public’s attention with.

Rihanna was really living up to her 'badgal' status in these video's. All of which came from her fourth album, 'Rated R'. Her serious and edgy approach to her music left people gobsmacked but interested. All of the video's above include dark and morbid elements to them. Rihanna loved to include electric guitar's on these tracks... I guess without them, they wouldn't have that 'rockstar' feeling to them.

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