What is the point of Rihanna

[idratherjack]

Rihanna's a funny one. She undoubtedly has some of the best songs of the last few years and I like them when I hear them on the radio but I have no desire whatsoever to buy a Rihanna album or actively choose to listen to one of her songs. There's something missing for me too in a way that there isn't with Nicki Minaj for example who has quickly established herself as my favourite pop star this year (I'm only using Nicki as an example because Beautiful Sinner sounds like the greatest Rihanna song that never was).

Rihanna looks great and has great songs but overall she leaves me cold. I really like We Found Love and Only Girl In The World but have never once played them through choice. All very odd!

[jinzo]

There's only Britney I can think of with such a consistently amazing back catalogue (I'd say Gaga too but there's only 3 albums worth to be going off so far). Mariah and Whit had their dips, and I don't really know anything too much about Madonna to comment. But even Pon De Replay and SOS were fantastic....then she took over the world with Umbrella. Did it again with Only Girl/What's My Name. Did it again with We Found Love. There's very very few artists that manage such a big moment once. She's done it 3/4 times. And there's Love The Way You Lie to add as well, making 5. The consistency is just bewildering.

[Resi12]

I love all those songs mentioned but I wouldn't compare Umbrella to What's My Name or Only Girl.. Even We Found Love is a stretch, I'm not saying they weren't bona fide worldwide smashes but Umbrella was a phenomenon in music at the time.

[MFW]

Rihanna is too commericalised for me to feel the need to stan for her. Doesn't she just pick her songs from 'writing camps' set up by her record label?

[jinzo]

I love all those songs mentioned but I wouldn't compare Umbrella to What's My Name or Only Girl.. Even We Found Love is a stretch, I'm not saying they weren't bona fide worldwide smashes but Umbrella was a phenomenon in music at the time.

True, but they were all pretty massive #1s that put her front and centre of everyone's minds, that's kinda what I was trying to get at! Most artists manage to have that kind of exposure once in their careers, yet she's managed to keep exposing herself (wheeeeeyyy) over and over.

[Mvnl]

I wouldn't say Rihanna had no dips. Her first 2 albums are patchy at least.

[jinzo]

Oh yeah definitely, Umbrella was her first big moment. Prior to that she was just another R'n'B girl like Ashanti or Amerie. Rated R didn't really do much either apart from Rude Boy..but Good Girl, LOUD and We Found Love are like 3 separate Teenage Dreams. She always manages to find her way back to the top of the pile again.

[kaushik]

I don't see her as much of an album artist really - even though Loud and Good Girl Gone Bad are both terrific pop albums. Rihanna, according to me, is more of a medium to get brilliant songs out there. Most of her singles are extremely catchy, thats all; they're not necessarily deep and meaningful and they don't really move you, but they're catchy. They have no longevity as such, but they'll keep you humming the tune until the next one is out - which is probably why she's hell bent upon releasing albums faster than Sophie Ellis-Bextor pops out little ginger babies.

[Rmx]

She's just effortlessly 'cool' in the eyes of the general public. When you say you like Britney or Gaga, people are like "Pff, those pop girls!" but Rihanna has some sort of R&B coolness. R&B is cool, pop is essentially uncool. In the eyes of the general public, of course. I think pop is extremely cool, and I also think Rihanna is extremely pop but I'm looking through the eyes of the masses here.

[PantoponRose]

The consistency is just bewildering.

Yeah, she's thorough, efficient and consistent.

[Jonathan27]

Rmx, I agree completely. For some reason straight men are cool with jamming to Rihanna. Most of the time her songs are interchangeable in terms of how pop they sound with Britney's. Yet she doesn't have that 'gay icon' label. I'm not sure why not, especially since Nicki nearly has it after just two albums, but somehow she's managed to just be cool with catchy songs. Maybe it's that she's never been very polarizing, and that may be because there's only been a few times when people got time to focus on one of her songs for a long time. She's constantly releasing new singles, so Umbrella and We Found Love are the only two times people have just had that one song to associate with her, and both of those were incredibly well received by the general public.

I personally find myself stanning for Rihanna despite my better judgment the past several months.There's just something about her that is draws you in, and I suppose that's what makes her an amazing popstar.

[SunshineConcubine]

I think the reason Rihanna isn't lumped in as a 'gay interest' act is because she's not packaged that way. It's more context than content. Britney and Nicki are both seen as being a bit more girly I suppose. Britney was the golden-girl-next-door and Nicki Minaj models herself on Barbie with wigs made from the scalps of a million My Little Ponies- she even has a bright pink swimming pool in the video of her most successful single.

Rihanna on the other hand had edgy short hair, and edgy tattoos, and on her latest album cover, she's even blowing smoke. So edgy! It probably more appealing to the typical straight guy to pick up an album from an artist who wraps her boobs in barbed wire than one with a lady lying on a big pink fluffy cloud with a love heart in her hair.

[Kirkland]

Rihanna has that thing Kylie used to have in that she unites everyone. She isn't just there for the gays, she doesn't pander to one specific demographic, she's universal and constant. She can be gangsta rap, rnb, pop, club and usually all on the same album!

[SuckMyBean]

I think her success is down to her not have anything "specific" about her. She's never had a huge "thing" that she's known for (except her distinctive voice). The fact that she's a singles artist and has nothing special that could give her a dedicated fanbase has protected her from over-exposure, despite her mechanically churning out a single every other month for the past 7 years. People are happy to be her casual fan (because she's had so many good songs, everyone will like at least some of them), without feeling the need to stan or get more involved. She's an easy popstar to like.

Also her career trajectory has been different from other popstars. Most girls are huge from the get-go (Katy Perry, Lady gaga etc) then people inevitably become sick of them. But Rihanna already had a string of big hits as a teenager before anyone started to even take notice of her. So when Umbrella blew up, the only thing people thought was "oh yeah, I know her, she sung SOS, Pon De RepIay, Unfaithful... she always does good songs!" So the one thing she actually became known for was persistently catchy hits. People expect her to produces chart smashes. That's what gives her the midas touch. She's had so many genuinely good songs that people imagine they're all good, so they buy whatever she puts out. She's also a blank canvas. She's just a model for music engineered to smash. She never really had any media presence, pre-Fist Brown. She didn't have any personality or image pre-Rated R, and that's worked in her favour in the long run.

I actually thought she was a poor man's Ciara when Pon De Replay came out. I thought she would be a one-hit wonder, and never hear from her again. I was surprised when she released a second single, and her album charted in the top 40, and I was surprised when she had another 3 hits and album a few months later. I was totally amazed by the success of the GGGB era. It was more amazing still that she made Rated-R. I never really saw her as big until then, and her success wasn't cemented until LOUD. It's incredible to me that she retained her record deal after her first two albums, because she was the epitome of nothingness. There's no way that they would be that persistent to make a virtually talentless girl a success today, unless they became immediately famous.

The last thing is her voice. It's limitations means she has to change the songs slightly to adapt them to her voice, but that actually makes for unique sounding results. At the risk of sounding Simon Cowellish, she makes the songs her own.

[passionoia]

Well couldn't be arsed to look for the general Rihanna thread so I'll post here.

I know it's probably a bit bad taste to find humour in something like this so close to someones death but Rihanna's twitter reaction made me smile...

'Donna Summer??'

What's funny is you could genuinly picture her meaning it in a 'Who?' kinda way.

[Maureen]

She has an impressive back catalogue, regardless of her lack of involvement with its creation. For me, I am only interested in some of her songs. She has had some genuinely fantastic pop hits. She holds no other allure for me. Absolutely everything about her pretty much leaves me cold, although I did warm to her slightly after the We Found Love video.

She's just a vessel, a means to an end. Oh, and each and every one of her songs would have sounded better if sung by Beyoncé – that's an undeniable, solid gold pop FACT for you right there.

[benm]

This thread is a bit mean.It is not as though Rihanna is one of those pointless slutty celebrities that are famous for being famous on their backs and nothing else like all the Kardashian sisters, the cast of Towie and all the Real Housewives.
Rihanna may not be the best singer, the best dancer but there is no denying that she has pulled off a major coup in dragging what talent she has so far with really good pop songs. She is the Black Katy Perry.

[3Xs]

Beyonce Caterwauling Knowles could ruin discographies. I shiver at the thought.

[jinzo]

Beyoncé doing Birthday Cake would just be amazing.

But I can't see B doing much justice to her more dancey numbers.

[Someboy]

She is the Black Katy Perry.

That's pretty low. I'm not Rihanna's biggest fan, but I find her infinitely better at the pop game than Katy.

[Jonathan27]

I've always considered Rihanna a mix between Beyonce and Britney. Not as R&B big-ballad big-voice as the former, but more versatile and slightly more serious at times than the latter. I personally think Rihanna has quite a good voice; not as good as Beyonce, but better than Britney, so that's also where I've gotten the middle ground from. She draws fans from both, and I think that's why she's so successful, as has already been stated: she appeals to the largest audience of all the popstars right now.

[vasilios]

She's the best.

[Mr.Arroz]

She's my favowite.

[JadeFan]

It's quite sad that Rihanna somehow managed to get through the sieve, whilst Ciara and Keri and Cassie are left out in the trash, even though they possess similar vocal qualities. Just stick one of them in a bra and a Stargate track and what have we got? A 'Rihanna rip-off'.

[Loveplus31]

It's quite sad that Rihanna somehow managed to get through the sieve, whilst Ciara and Keri and Cassie are left out in the trash, even though they possess similar vocal qualities. Just stick one of them in a bra and a Stargate track and what have we got? A 'Rihanna rip-off'.

All of those girls are different.

If you're trying to compare them on their weak vocals why didn't you throw in Britney, Ke$ha, etc too?