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 Houstonβs 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 β 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 Gagaβs (117.5 million), but behind Katy Perryβs (121 million).
S & M 1
Rihanna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I know we haven't spoken for a while
But I was thinkin' 'bout you
And it kinda made me smile
So many things to say
And I'll put 'em in a letter
Thought it might be easier
The words might come out better
Does he still look just like you?
So many things I wanna know the answers to
Wish I could press rewind
And rewrite every line
To the story of me and you
Don't you know I've tried and I've tried
To get you out my mind
But it don't get no better
As each day goes by
And I'm lost and confused
I've got nothin' to lose
Hope to hear from you soon
P.S. I'm still not over you
(Still not over you) you yeah
Excuse me, I really didn't mean to ramble on
But there's a lot of feelings that remain since you've been gone
I guess you thought that I would put it all behind me
But it seems there's always somethin' right there to remind me
Like a silly joke, or somethin' on the TV
Boy it ain't easy
When I hear our song
I get that same ol' feeling
Wish I could press rewind
Turn back the hands of time
And I shouldn't be telling you
Don't you know I've tried and I've tried
To get you out my mind
But it don't get no better
As each day goes by
And I'm lost and confused
I've got nothin' to lose
Hope to hear from you soon
P.S. I'm still not over you
(Still not over you)
Did you know I kept all of your pictures
Don't have the strength to part with them yet
Oh no
Tried to erase the way your kisses taste
But some things a girl can never forget
Don't you know I've tried and I've tried
To get you out my mind
But it don't get no better
As each day goes by
And I'm lost and confused
I've got nothin' to lose
Hope to hear from you soon
P.S. I'm still not over you
Still not over you
How I tried to forget you
Don't you know I've tried and I've tried
To get you out my mind
But it don't get no better (don't get no better)
As each day goes by (each day goes by)
And I'm lost and confused
I've got nothin' to lose
Still not over you
The song "P.S." by Rihanna is a sentimental ballad about a past relationship. The song starts off with Rihanna expressing how she hasn't spoken to her ex in a while but has been thinking about them, and how there are so many things she wants to say to them. She thinks that writing a letter might be easier, and hopes that the words will come out better that way. Rihanna then proceeds to ask about her ex's mother and little brother, and wonders if he still looks just like her ex. She wishes she could go back in time and rewrite their story, but she can't. Rihanna is lost and confused, and has nothing to lose by trying to reach out to her ex, as she's still not over him.
In the next verse, Rihanna admits that there are a lot of feelings that remain since her ex has been gone, even though she thought she would put it all behind her. She gets reminded of him when she hears their song or when she hears a silly joke or sees something on TV. She wishes she could turn back the hands of time, and erase the way his kisses taste, but some things a girl can never forget. She still has all of his pictures and can't bear to part with them yet. Rihanna is still not over her ex, and even though she has tried and tried to get him out of her mind, it never gets better.
Line by Line Meaning
What's up?
Hello, how are you doing?
I know we haven't spoken for a while
It's been a long time since we last talked.
But I was thinkin' 'bout you
You've been on my mind lately.
And it kinda made me smile
Thinking about you made me happy.
So many things to say
There's a lot I want to tell you.
And I'll put 'em in a letter
I'll write down my thoughts in a message.
Thought it might be easier
It might be simpler to express myself this way.
The words might come out better
I hope to articulate my feelings more clearly in writing.
How's your mother, how's your little brother?
I want to know how your family is doing.
Does he still look just like you?
I wonder if your little brother still resembles you as much as he used to.
So many things I wanna know the answers to
There are a lot of questions I have about your life that I would like you to answer.
Wish I could press rewind
I wish I could go back in time.
And rewrite every line
I wish I could change how things turned out between us.
To the story of me and you
I want to alter the narrative of our past relationship.
Don't you know I've tried and I've tried
I've made many attempts to forget about you.
To get you out my mind
I've been trying to stop thinking about you.
But it don't get no better
Unfortunately, my efforts have not improved my situation.
As each day goes by
My feelings remain strong with each passing day.
And I'm lost and confused
I'm feeling unsure about how to handle my emotions.
I've got nothin' to lose
I'm already feeling pretty low, so I have nothing else to lose by reaching out to you.
Hope to hear from you soon
I'm looking forward to your response.
P.S. I'm still not over you
Additional note: I have not gotten over you yet.
(Still not over you) you yeah
I'm still hung up on you.
Excuse me, I really didn't mean to ramble on
I'm sorry for going on and on.
But there's a lot of feelings that remain since you've been gone
I still have a lot of emotions to process since you left.
I guess you thought that I would put it all behind me
You probably assumed I would have moved on by now.
But it seems there's always somethin' right there to remind me
I keep getting reminded of you in different ways.
Like a silly joke, or somethin' on the TV
Sometimes even small things trigger my memories of you.
Boy it ain't easy
It's really difficult to move on.
When I hear our song
Hearing the song that reminds me of us is particularly painful.
I get that same ol' feeling
I feel the same strong emotions I used to feel when we were together.
Wish I could press rewind
I wish I could erase the past and start over.
Turn back the hands of time
I would like to go back in time to alter the course of our relationship.
And I shouldn't be telling you
I know I shouldn't keep bringing up these feelings to you.
Did you know I kept all of your pictures
I still have all the pictures of us that we took together.
Don't have the strength to part with them yet
I don't have the emotional strength to get rid of them.
Tried to erase the way your kisses taste
I've tried to forget the physical sensations of our past intimacy.
But some things a girl can never forget
Certain memories are too deeply ingrained to be forgotten.
(don't get no better)
Things aren't improving for me emotionally.
(each day goes by)
I can't stop thinking about you, even as time passes.
Still not over you
I'm still struggling with my feelings for you.
Lyrics Β© Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Carl Allen Sturken, Evan A. Rogers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@saraib6297
My poor mother had to listen to 8 year old me loop this,,,,bless her soul. AMEN
ty for the likes oml
@sabinaioana22
nugget HAHAHA MOOOD
@user-ie7jx4uw1l
Amen
@ldive
My mom and dad also turned the radio off when E.T. by Katy Perry played and it said βfill me w/ ur poisonβ
@KM-tg6se
nugget lmaooo
@saraib6297
@@ldive i prayyy
@chloehurst5723
Me at 10 years old: βCHAINS AND WHIPS EXCITE MEEEEEβ
Me now at 19:...... wait...... they do......
@100xfun5
OMG, it's all the song's fault!π
@DD-kw9wp
Thiss
@bi.fruitsalad
Truee but I never understood the lyrics at 8 and also cause I didnβt speak English so I was just like βnananana come on!β Lmaoo