She has attained fourteen Billboard Hot 100 number ones thus far and is the second Barbadian artist to win a Grammy Award. She is also a cultural ambassador for Barbados. In 2021 Rihanna was named a "National Hero" in her home country, earning her the title "The Right Excellent."
Rihanna was born in Saint Michael, Barbados to Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor, and Monica Fenty, an accountant. Her mother, a native of Guyana, is Afro-Guyanese and her father is Bajan and Irish. She is the oldest of three siblings; two younger brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty. She began singing at around the age of seven. Her childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine and parent's rocky marriage, which ended when she was fourteen years old. Rihanna attended Charles F. Broome Memorial School, a primary school in Barbados, and then the Combermere School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates at the age of fifteen. In 2004 she won the Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant. She was an army cadet in a sub-military programme that trained with the military of Barbados and Shontelle was her drill sergeant.
At the age of 15, she formed a girl group with two of her classmates. In 2003, friends introduced Rihanna and her two bandmates to record producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados with his wife. The group auditioned for Rogers, who said that "the minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn't exist." While auditioning for Rogers, Rihanna sang Destiny's Child's cover of "Emotion". Over the next year, Rihanna and her mom shuttled back and forth to Rogers home in Stamford, Connecticut. Then, shortly after turning 16, she relocated in the United States and moved in with Rogers and his wife. Carl Sturken helped Rihanna record a four-song demo, which included the ballad "The Last Time," a cover of Whitney Houston’s hit "For the Love of You" and what would become her first hit, "Pon de Replay" to send to various recording companies. It took a year to record the demos, because she was going to school and would only record during summer and Christmas school breaks. Rihanna's demo made its way to Def Jam, which invited her to audition for the label's then-president, Jay-Z, who quickly signed her.
Rihanna broke into the recording industry in 2005 with the release of her debut album Music of the Sun, which features the number 2 hit single "Pon de Replay". Less than a year later, Rihanna released album artist=Rihanna]A Girl Like Me and earned her first number-one single, "SOS, which sampled the popular 80s track "Tainted Love". "Unfaithful" was also released and was fairly successful.
Rihanna released her third album Good Girl Gone Bad in June 2007. Prior to the release of the album, she spent the week of the Grammys writing songs for the album with Ne-Yo. She adopted a more sexual image while recording the album, eventually dying her hair black and cutting it short. Rihanna worked with Timbaland and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, as well as previous musical collaborators such as Stargate, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers to re-imagine her album compositions with uptempo dance tracks. Rihanna commented, "I want to keep people dancing but still be soulful at the same time. You feel different every album, and [at] this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo [songs]."
The album topped the charts in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Russia and Ireland, and peaked at number two in the United States and Australia. Unlike previous work, the album featured a more dance-pop sound instead of the dancehall, reggae and ballad styles. The album received positive reviews by critics, becoming her most critically acclaimed album at that time compared to her previous efforts.
It yielded eight hit singles - "Umbrella" "Shut Up and Drive", "Don't Stop The Music" "Hate That I Love You" "Rehab" "Disturbia" "Take A Bow" "If I Never See Your Face Again" - all singles reaching the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 — including the worldwide number-one hit "Umbrella," featuring Jay-Z.
In addition to reaching number one in various countries, "Umbrella" was the number one single in the United Kingdom for ten consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running number-one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007 published by Rolling Stone magazine. In 2008, "Umbrella" earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It managed to stay at number one in the United Kingdom for 10 weeks, the longest time spent by a female and in the 21st century, on this chart.
"Umbrella" has also been recognised in various forms of accolades by the music press. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007, published by the music magazine Rolling Stone. Time magazine also listed the song number three on their Top 10 Songs of 2007. The song is listed number one on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while topping the magazine's poll for the best single of 2007. Blender magazine awarded the song Song of the Year in their Readers' Poll 2007. The music press has considered "Umbrella" as 2007's Song of the Summer, while The New York Times writer Kelefa Sanneh regarded it as "arguably 2007's signature slow jam".
In August 2009, Rihanna collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West on "Run This Town." The song peaked at number two on Billboard Hot 100 and also reached the top ten in five other countries. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia for the September 2009 Issue. The shoot was influenced by Rihanna's hair, which she had cut for the shoot into a mohawk-like style. The style of the shoot was Extreme Couture and very dark, and in one shot she appeared semi-nude. Rihanna performed "Run This Town" along with Jay-Z and West for the "Answer the Call" concert at Madison Square Garden in September 2009, making it her first musical performance since the altercation with Brown. The trio also performed "Run This Town," on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show on September 14, 2009.
In November of 2009, Rated R was released in the wake of a physical altercation with romantic interest Chris Brown, who pled guilty to felony assault. The album's lead single, "Russian Roulette" -- written with Ne-Yo - was one of the year's most controversial singles. The album also includes collaborations with Tricky, The-Dream, Stargate, and SRP.
One year later, Rihanna released her fifth studio album called Loud. It's lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", reached number one in more than ten countries. The song also won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
Talk That Talk was released one year after Loud. With the song "We Found Love", Rihanna became the fastest solo artist in the chart's history to achieve twenty Hot 100 top-ten singles, breaking the previous record set by Madonna. The song later became her eleventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. "You Da One" became the second single from the album but was not as successful as "We Found Love". The third single from the album, "Talk That Talk" featuring Jay-Z, was announced on Rihanna's Twitter. The fourth single, "Where Have You Been", peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.
On February 20, 2012, Rihanna and Chris Brown released 2 remixes, one featuring the "Talk That Talk" album track "Birthday Cake" and the other featuring Chris Brown's "Turn Up The Music"
In April 2012, the singer appeared in the movie "Battleship", which is based on the game of the same name.
Rihanna's seventh album Unapologetic was released on November 19, 2012; it was preceded by the lead single Diamonds, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Rihanna's twelfth number one single on the chart and tying her with Madonna and The Supremes for the fourth-most number ones in the chart's history.
On January 28, 2016, Rihanna released her eighth studio album ANTI exclusively through streaming service Tidal. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Rihanna's second number one and eighth top ten album on the chart. The album was supported by the release of four singles including the lead single "Work" featuring Drake, which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Further platinum singles "Needed Me" and "Love on the Brain" both peaked inside the top ten of the Hot 100. In 2016, Rihanna was featured on several singles. The first collaboration was Calvin Harris' "This Is What You Came For," which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the United Kingdom. Rihanna was also featured on Drake's "Too Good" from his album Views and Mike Will Made It's single, "Nothing Is Promised". On June 27, 2016, Rihanna released "Sledgehammer", the lead single from the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. On August 28, Rihanna was honored with the MTV Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Rihanna was elected artist of the decade of 2010 by Pitchfork, Insider, Lofficiel among other major music magazines.
In October 2022, Rihanna released "Lift Me Up" from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, marking her first solo single since 2016's "Love On The Brain". It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 in the UK. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, making it Rihanna's first nomination in both awards. On February 12, 2023, she performed at the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, marking her first performance since the 2018 Grammy Awards. Her Halftime show became the second most watched Halftime show of all time with 118.7 million viewers, just after Lady Gaga’s (117.5 million), but behind Katy Perry’s (121 million).
A Girl Like Me
Rihanna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They all walk and talk
And they dress the same
Nothin' new to say (new to say)
Don't they realize
That it's so easy to see
Right though there disguise
Makes me wonder why
It's when I'm goin' right
I need someone to let me be
Just who I am inside
'Cause a girl like me
Is just a little different from all the rest
And a girl like me
Never gonna settle for second best
Could it be a boy like you
That would give me anything
If I asked him to
To take all my dreams
And then make 'em true
Show me all the reasons that you ought to be
With a girl like me (a girl like me)
Just like me
Possibility
Got me trippin'
Thinkin' of what could be
Between you and me
Still I need to know
Should I keep this feelin'
Or let it go
I can't wait no more
So now's the time
To speak your mind
And show me what you feel
So tell me if you
Wanna take a chance
On something real
'Cause a girl like me
Is just a little different from all the rest
And a girl like me
Never gonna settle for second best
Could it be a boy like you
That would give me anything
If I asked him to
To take all my dreams
And then make 'em true
Show me all the reasons that you ought to be
With a girl like me (a girl like me)
Like me
Just like me
Mirror mirror on the wall
Catch me now before I fall
I wish I may, I wish I might
Find the answer here tonight
Mirror mirror on the wall
Catch me now before I fall
I wish I may, I wish I might
Find the answer here tonight
When the whole world's turnin' left
It's when I'm going right
I need someone to let me be
Just who I am inside
'Cause a girl like me
Is just a little different from all the rest
And a girl like me
Never gonna settle for second best
Could it be a boy like you
That would give me anything
If I asked him to
To take all my dreams
And then make 'em true
Show me all the reasons that you ought to be
With a girl like me
Just like me (just like me)
Mirror mirror on the wall
Catch me now before I fall
I wish I may, I wish I might
Find the answer here tonight
'Cause a girl like me
Is just a little different from all the rest
And a girl like me
Never gonna settle for second best
In “A Girl Like Me”, Rihanna addresses the judgment that women face for not fitting into certain molds or conforming to societal expectations. She begins by commenting on the homogeneity of certain groups of girls who play the same game, dress the same way, and have nothing new to say. Rihanna sees through this facade and questions why they can’t embrace their individuality. She then reveals that a girl like herself is someone who is unafraid to be different from the rest, who will not settle for second best, and who is willing to take a chance on something real. She wonders whether the boy she has feelings for could be the one who will accept her for who she is and make all her dreams come true.
The song is an empowering anthem for girls who have struggled with the pressure to fit in and conform to society's expectations. It encourages listeners to embrace their unique qualities and not be afraid to go against the norm. The lyrics also suggest that true happiness and fulfillment come from being true to yourself, not from conforming to what others expect of you.
Line by Line Meaning
Some girls play the game
There are girls who conform to societal norms and expectations.
They all walk and talk
These girls follow the same way of acting and speaking.
And they dress the same
They also conform to the same fashion trends.
Nothin' new to say (new to say)
They don't have anything interesting or unique to share.
Don't they realize
These girls are unaware of their lack of originality.
That it's so easy to see
Their lack of uniqueness is obvious to others.
Right though there disguise
The lack of uniqueness is evident regardless of appearances.
Makes me wonder why
This lack of individuality is confusing and puzzling to the singer.
When the whole world's turnin' left
When everyone else is following the same path and trends.
It's when I'm goin' right
It is when she chooses to go against the norm and be herself.
I need someone to let me be
She needs someone to accept and appreciate her for who she truly is.
Just who I am inside
The person she truly is, without conforming to societal expectations.
'Cause a girl like me
The singer is unique and refuses to conform to the norm.
Is just a little different from all the rest
She is not like other girls who conform to societal expectations.
Never gonna settle for second best
The singer will not accept anything less than what she deserves.
Could it be a boy like you
The singer is addressing a potential romantic interest.
That would give me anything
She wants a partner who is willing to provide for her.
If I asked him to
She wants someone who would give her what she wants upon request.
To take all my dreams
She wants someone who will support and help her achieve her goals.
And then make 'em true
She wants a partner who can help make her dreams a reality.
Show me all the reasons that you ought to be
The singer wants to see why she should choose this particular person as a partner.
With a girl like me (a girl like me)
She wants someone who understands and appreciates her for who she is.
Possibility
The singer is excited about the potential for a relationship with the person she is addressing.
Got me trippin'
She is overwhelmed and excited about the possibility of a relationship.
Thinkin' of what could be
She is imagining what a relationship with this person would be like.
Between you and me
She is addressing the person she is interested in.
Still I need to know
She wants to know where the person stands in terms of a relationship.
Should I keep this feelin'
She is uncertain about whether or not to pursue a relationship.
Or let it go
She is considering moving on if the other person is not interested.
I can't wait no more
She is impatient and wants to know where the other person stands.
So now's the time
She feels that it is the right time to address the issue.
To speak your mind
She wants the other person to share their thoughts and feelings about a relationship.
And show me what you feel
She wants the other person to express their emotions about the situation.
So tell me if you
The singer wants to know if the other person is interested in a relationship.
Wanna take a chance
She is asking if the other person wants to take a risk on a potential relationship.
On something real
She wants a genuine and authentic relationship, not just something surface-level.
Mirror mirror on the wall
A reference to the fairytale of Snow White and how she would consult her mirror.
Catch me now before I fall
She is asking for help before she falls too deeply in love.
I wish I may, I wish I might
She is making a wish to the mirror to help her find the answer to her relationship question.
Find the answer here tonight
She wants to know if the person she's interested in is right for her.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Carl Sturken, Emma Bunton, Evan Rogers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
L
on SOS
When I'm around you, I'm feeling a mix of nerves and excitement.
ARI SETIA PARWINDA
on Hate That I Love You
ISIZUKI SHOGUN 125 CC
Edimar Pereira
on Man Down
bob marley...jimi hendrix...rihanna...dificil nascer outros demais brasil ;;;;;;
Cinthia Juliana De Jesus Francisco
on Unfaithful
love