Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), known by her stage name Rihanna (/riˈɑːnə/ ree-ah-nə or /riˈænə/ ree-an-ə, from theWelsh name Rhiannon[4]), is a Barbadian recording artist, actress, and fashion designer. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, her career began when she met record producer Evan Rogers through mutual friends in late 2003 and recorded demo tapes under Rogers's guidance. Her demo tape was sent to several record labels, and she subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its president, rapper Jay-Z. Rihanna's debut and second studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me(2006), peaked in the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart. Both albums spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top two hit single "Pon de Replay" and her first Hot 100 number-one "SOS".
Her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), and its chart-topping lead single "Umbrella" were major breakthroughs in her career that brought her to widespread prominence. The album and its Reloaded version (2008) produced the worldwide hit singles "Don't Stop the Music", "Take a Bow", and "Disturbia". The record was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaborationfor "Umbrella", and is Rihanna's best-selling album in the US to date. After an altercation with then-boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna released her fourth studio album, Rated R, in November 2009. It was followed by three more albums: Loud (2010), Talk That Talk(2011), and her first Billboard 200 number one album Unapologetic (2012). That same year she appeared in her first theatrical feature film: Battleship. These albums feature the global hit singles "Rude Boy", "What's My Name?", "S&M", "Where Have You Been" and "Stay", as well as some of the best-selling singles of all time, such as "Umbrella", "Disturbia", "Only Girl (In the World)", "We Found Love", and "Diamonds". In addition to her solo work, Rihanna has collaborated with numerous other artists, including being featured on the worldwide hits "Live Your Life" (with T.I.) and "Love the Way You Lie" (with Eminem).
Rihanna's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including six Grammy Awards,[1] five American Music Awards, 22Billboard Music Awards, and two BRIT Awards. She has sold over 30 million albums and 120 million singles worldwide,[5] which makes her one of the best-selling artists of all time.[6] She has achieved twelve number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the youngest solo artist to achieve the feat. Billboard named her the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade, ranking her seventeenth overall.[7][8] In 2013, Billboard ranked Rihanna the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade.[9] In 2012, Forbes ranked her the fourth most powerful celebrity of the year, with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012. The same year, TIME named Rihanna one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
2007–10: Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R
For her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna embraced a new musical direction through uptempo dance tracks produced byTimbaland, will.i.am and Sean Garrett.[37][38] Released in May 2007, the album charted at number two in Australia and the US and topped the charts in multiple countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Russia and the UK.[39] The album received the most positive critical reviews of her first three albums.[40] The lead single, "Umbrella", topped the charts in thirteen countries and remained number one in the UK for ten consecutive weeks, the longest-running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994.[41][42] It was Rihanna's first single to be named one of the best-selling singles worldwide, with sales of over 6.6 million copies.[43][44] The songs "Shut Up and Drive", "Hate That I Love You" featuring Ne-Yo, and "Don't Stop The Music" were also released as singles. In support of the album, she began the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour in September 2007, with 80 shows across the US, Canada, and Europe.[45] Rihanna was nominated for several 2008 Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella" alongside Jay-Z.[46]
Throughout 2008, Rihanna performed on the Glow in the Dark Tour alongside Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and N.E.R.D.[47] Her third album's reissue, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, was released in June 2008 with three new songs: "Disturbia", "Take a Bow", and the Maroon 5 duet "If I Never See Your Face Again". All three were released as singles and charted highly, reaching peak positions worldwide.[48][49][50] In August 2008, Rihanna and a host of other female singers, including Beyoncé Knowles, Mary J. Blige, and Mariah Carey, recorded the charity single "Just Stand Up!", the theme song to the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer.[51] "Live Your Life", a duet between T.I. and Rihanna, released that November, peaked in the top ten in thirteen countries worldwide, topping the Billboard Hot 100.
A remix album, Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes, was released in January 2009. Good Girl Gone Bad has sold over 2.8 million units in the United States alone, receiving a two-times-platinum certification from the RIAA. It is Rihanna's best-selling album in the country to date.[25][52] The album has sold over seven million copies worldwide.[53]
In July 2009, Rihanna collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West on "Run This Town", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, number one in the UK, and reached the top ten in ten other countries.[54] Her fourth studio album, Rated R, was released in November 2009.[55]Critical response was favorable; Rolling Stone stated that Rihanna "transformed her sound and made one of the best pop records of the year".[56]The album's lead single, "Russian Roulette", was a commercial success, reaching number one in Norway and Switzerland and making the top ten in sixteen other countries.[57] This was followed by the release of "Hard" with Young Jeezy and "Rude Boy". The latter was the biggest worldwide success from the album, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and reaching top ten positions in twenty-two other countries.[58][59] Two other singles were released from the album: "Rockstar 101" with Slash and "Te Amo".[60][61] Rated R: Remixed was released in the spring of 2010 and featured ten tracks remixed by Chew Fu.[62] To promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her second worldwide tour, the Last Girl on Earth Tour.[63] At the 52nd Grammy Awards, "Run This Town" won Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[64]
2012–present: Unapologetic
.png)
In early 2012, two collaborations featuring Rihanna were released: Coldplay's "Princess of China" from the album Mylo Xyloto and Drake's "Take Care" from his album of the same name.[99][100] In February 2012, Rihanna won her third Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the2012 Grammy Awards, and was voted the Best International Female Solo Artist at the 2012 BRIT Awards for the second consecutive year.[101][102] March 2012 saw the simultaneous release of collaborations between Rihanna and Chris Brown: remixes of her song "Birthday Cake" and his "Turn Up the Music". The recordings received mainly negative responses due to the pair's history of domestic violence.[103] In September 2012, "We Found Love" won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, making Rihanna the first woman to receive the accolade more than once.[104]
Rihanna's seventh studio album, Unapologetic, was released in November 2012.[105] In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 238,000, marking Rihanna's first number one album in the country. In addition, it was the best-selling debut week of her career, besting her fifth studio album Loud (2010).[106] The album was Rihanna's third consecutive number one album in the United Kingdom and fifth in Switzerland.[107][108] The lead single from the album, "Diamonds", reached number one in more than twenty countries worldwide, including on the US Billboard Hot 100, her twelfth number one on the chart which tied her with Madonna and The Supremes as the artists' with the fourth most number ones on the chart's history.[109] The album's second single, "Stay", featuring Mikky Ekko, reached the top five in over twenty countries, including number three on the Billboard Hot 100.[110] "Pour It Up" was released as the second US single and third overall, reaching number 19 on the Hot 100.[111] An official remix featuring American rappers Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Juicy J, and T.I. was later distributed.[112] "Right Now" featuring David Guetta serves as the fourth single from the album and peaked at number fifty on the Hot 100.[113] As promotion prior to the album's release, Rihanna embarked on the 777 Tour, a mini tour of seven shows in seven countries in seven days.[114] A documentary DVD of the tour was later released.
In February 2013 at the 55th Grammy Awards, Rihanna won her sixth Grammy Award, in the category Best Short Form Music Video for "We Found Love" (2011).[115] Also that month, the Official Charts Company announced that Rihanna had sold 3,868,000 records in the past year in the UK alone, ranking at number one in the list of 2013 BRIT Awardsartist nominees.[107] Rihanna's fifth headlining concert tour, the Diamonds World Tour, began in March 2013 in support of Unapologetic.[116] On June 3, 2013, American hip hop artist Wale released a remixed version of his single "Bad" featuring Rihanna.[117] Rihanna will also be featured on Eminem's eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 on the track "The Monster". The album is due out November 5, 2013.[118]
Artistry
Music and voice
 |
"Pon de Replay" is infused with a reggae style using a mixture of dance-pop and R&B. Lyrically, the song is about Rihanna asking the DJ to play her favorite song repeatedly.
|
| Problems playing these files? See media help. | |
While recording tracks for her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna took vocal lessons from Ne-Yo. Speaking of the experience she stated, "I've never had vocal training, so when I'm in the studio, he'll tell me how to breathe and stuff... He'll call out these big fancy words: 'OK, I want you to do staccato.' And I'm like, 'OK, I don't know what that is.'"[38] Her vocal performance on Loud (2010) received positive reviews from music critics. James Skinner from BBC praised Rihanna's vocals on the song "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" and wrote that her voice is powerful and that "it is Rihanna’s vocal – at once commanding, soulful and vulnerable – that anchors the song, and Loud itself".[119] Andy Gill from The Independentfeels that "California King Bed" features her best vocal performance.[120] In a review of Unapologetic, Billboard magazine wrote, "Diamonds" "finds Rihanna doing one of her throatiest, most impassioned vocals to date, on this inspirational pop ballad."[121] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times stated, "over the years, as her game face froze in place, her voice cured into a weapon of emotional chill and strategic indifference. It’s decidedly unfriendly, made to give orders".[122] Volume 65 of the Contemporary Black Biography book series notes that "Rihanna is the rare rhythm and blues diva to emerge from the Caribbean world."[123]
At the time of her debut, she was marketed as a reggae singer because of her Caribbean descent.[124] She began recording songs that were inspired by caribbean music genres such as soca, dancehall, and reggae. She later departed into a broad range of musical genres such as dance-pop, hip hop, dubstep, rock, and house.[125] Some of her songs are also inspired through samples, containing samples from other artists.[126] The combination of dancehall and reggae genres on her debut album, Music of the Sun (2005), was complemented by Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times, who said, "Dancehall reggae sometimes seems like a furiously insular form of music, but ... Rihanna is only the latest singer to discover how versatile the genre's spring-loaded electronic rhythms can be".[127] Her debut album featured production from Stargate and production duo Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, who discovered her and helped launch her career with her debut single "Pon de Replay".[38] A Girl Like Me (2006) saw Rihanna infuse a bit of rock music on the track "Kisses Don't Lie",[128] a sound she would also use on tracks like "Shut Up and Drive" and "Rockstar 101". The album included pop and R&B. Rihanna worked again with Sturken and Rogers, J.R. Rotem, and label-mateNe-Yo.[129][130] The ballads on the album were described as elegant and mature, showing artistic growth.[131]
With Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), she took a different direction from the dancehall influence of her previous efforts with uptempo songs.[132] "[At] this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo [songs] ... but still be soulful at the same time", she said.[38] She worked with new producers on the album, including Timbaland, Sean Garrett, and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who produced the international hit "Umbrella", a major breakthrough.[133] Rihanna again entered a new musical and lyrical direction with Rated R, departing from her previous up-tempo and dance-pop style with elements of hip hop, rock, dubstep, and dancehall.[134] Recorded after the assault by her then-boyfriend, Chris Brown, the album had a much darker tone and was filled with various emotions she experienced throughout 2009.[134] She continued to reinvent her music and sound withLoud (2010). She wanted to have more fun with her music and image while experimenting with new material. "With Loud, I got a bit more rebellious and did whatever I wanted to do. I reinvented my image and took creative control", she said.[135] Unlike Rated R, Loud reflects the sassy, fun, flirty, and energetic attitude she had while recording the album.[136]The album is a mixture of ballads, party anthems, and empowering love songs with elements of up-tempo and pop genres, ranging from dance-pop to R&B.[137] Described as "a sexy, sexual record", Talk That Talk (2011) was similar to Rated R, as both contain hip hop, R&B, dancehall, and dubstep genres.[138] Loud and Talk That Talk also saw her return to her dancehall roots, evident in the tracks like "Man Down" and "Watch n' Learn".[139] She also branched out into house music with tracks like "We Found Love", "Only Girl (In the World)" and "Complicated."[140]
Influences
Rihanna has named Madonna as her idol and biggest influence. She said she wants to be the "black Madonna".[135][141] "I think that Madonna was a great inspiration for me, especially on my earlier work. If I had to examine her evolution through time, I think she reinvented her clothing style and music with success every single time. And at the same time remained a real force in entertainment in the whole world."[135] She also cites Whitney Houston as a major influence and idol,[142] and Mariah Carey[143] and Beyoncé Knowles[144][145] as major influences. Of Janet Jackson, Rihanna has commented that "[s]he was one of the first female pop icons that I could relate to."[146] Rihanna was inspired to start her career after watching Knowles on television with Destiny's Child.[147]Rihanna commented that Marilyn Monroe and vintage clothing served as visual inspiration for the music video "Hate That I Love You" and "Rehab". The "dark, creepy" scenes of "Disturbia" have been compared to Michael Jackson'sThriller.[148][149] Other musical influences include Alicia Keys,[150] Fefe Dobson,[151][152] Celine Dion,[153]Brandy,[154] and Gwen Stefani.[155] Jon Bream of the Star Tribune commented "[i]n the tradition of Madonna and Janet Jackson, Rihanna has become the video vixen of the '00s ... Rihanna has perfected the pout, the long-legged strut and trend-setting hairdos that keep women and men alike checking her out on YouTube."[148] George Epaminondas of InStyle considers Rihanna's music videos to be "cinematic" due to her "blend of lush island rhythms and swinging pop and ... mischievous sensuality."[156]
Rihanna's music contains strong influences of Caribbean music, including reggae and dancehall.[157] The video for "Rude Boy" was inspired by her Caribbean roots.[157] She stated that while growing up in Barbados she listened to reggae music, and when she came to the United States she was exposed to many different types of music.[158] Rihanna is heavily influenced by the Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley. She stated, "[h]e's one of my favorite artists of all time [...] he really paved the way for every other artist out of the Caribbean".[159] She built a shrine in her Los Angeles home dedicated to Marley.[160] Rihanna has covered Marley's "Is This Love" and Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Redemption Song".[161]
No comments:
Post a Comment