Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), professionally known by her m… Read Full Bio ↴Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), professionally known by her middle name, Rihanna, is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, entrepreneur and fashion designer.

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).

Throw Your Hands Up
Rihanna Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Diamond track)

Ahh, throw your hands up (inna di air)
Ahh, throw your hands up (come on, put yuh hand inna di air, ay)
Throw your hands up if you really feel dah one yah
If you feel dah one yah dance to di riddim and the piano (weh you seh?)
Wild out and bruk out if unnuh wanna
If you really wanna, this is Elephant Man and Rihanna (woo)

If you feeling me then holla (come on)
Just get up and and get on the floor (get down pon di floor)
Throw your hands up if you wanna (party people)
Act a fool and lose control (wild out in di club)
You don't have to wait no longer (woo)
When we step up, you know it's on (get down pon di floor)
Elephant Man and Rihanna (ladies, come on)
Rock it 'til the break of dawn

Party people wilding out, champagne popping up everywhere
Throw your hands up in di air
Wild out, act a fool, you nuh give a damn, you nuh care
Throw your hands up in di air
You deh inna VIP, stand up pon di table and di chair
Throw your hands up in di air
Where the party at, baby? We gonna set it off right here
Push up yuh hand dem up inna di air

If you feeling me then holla (woo)
Just get up and and get on the floor (get down pon di floor)
Throw your hands up if you wanna (ladies, come on)
Act a fool and lose control (lose control)
You don't have to wait no longer (up in di club)
When we step up, you know it's on (party people)
Elephant Man and Rihanna
Rock it 'til the break of dawn (woo)

Come on, ladies, lose control (come on)
Spin, on a roll, wild out, grab on pon di pole (yeah)
Make yuh booty do a touchdown like the ball inna di Superbowl (come on)
Make yuh booty roll, make yuh booty roll
Don't we bring back the fun any time we come up?
When you see we come up we party from sun down to sun up
Weed haffi bun up, from it haffi bun up, music haffi tun up (yeah)
Nah say nothin' more, make we take the floor, so Rihanna come up

Ohh, ohh (man a road)
Throw your hands up (out and bad)
Di deuce is back
You don't have to wait no longer
It's getting stronger
Throw your hands up (inna di air)

Ahh, throw your hands up (inna di air)
Ahh, throw your hands up (over yuh head dem)
Throw your hands up if you really feel dah one yah
If you feel dah one yah dance to di riddim and the piano (woo)
Wild out and bruk out if unnuh wanna
If you really wanna, this is Elephant Man and Rihanna

Throw your hands up, music a play, start take floor
And four man gi' you when you touch di dancefloor
Chandon, Cristal a pour, cyaan' get more
Me assure, make yuh party like you never do before
Weed galore, head a spin, cyaan' find di door
Therefore me a ensure don't drink no more
Like a plane up inna di air, a suh you a soar
Couple more me have in store, you cyaan' ignore

If you feeling me then holla
Just get up and and get on the floor
Throw your hands up if you wanna
Act a fool and lose control
You don't have to wait no longer
When we step up, you know it's on

Elephant Man and Rihanna
Rock it 'til the break of dawn

Overall Meaning

Rihanna's song Throw Your Hands Up is an upbeat and catchy track that celebrates women's bodies and the various ways they can move. The song features different types of women from different cities and countries, each with their own way of shaking and bouncing their assets. From the Chicago girls with their "badonkadonks" to the Miami girls who can "jump jump", Rihanna gives a shoutout to women everywhere, acknowledging and celebrating their different shapes, sizes, and ways of dancing.

The song's chorus focuses on the booty, with Rihanna encouraging women to make it "bump bump" and "pop pop" and to "clap clap" when they're feeling good. Rihanna also references Christina Milian's "Dip it Low" and mentions "earthquakes" and "heavyweights", emphasizing the power and force of the women she's singing about. Through her lyrics, Rihanna is promoting body positivity and encouraging women to feel confident and sexy in their own skin, no matter where they come from or what kind of body they have.

Overall, Throw Your Hands Up is a fun and energetic song that celebrates women and their bodies. Rihanna's lyrics promote body positivity and female empowerment, encouraging women to embrace who they are and have fun on the dancefloor.

Line by Line Meaning

Chi town girls have di badonkadonk (Oh!)
Chicago girls have big curvy butts

A-T-L junk in di trunk a bounce (Oh!)
Atlanta girls have jiggly butts that bounce

Jamaican girls pat yuh front a clump (Come on!)
Jamaican girls have big breasts

Miami girls let mi see yuh jump, jump (Yep)
Miami girls like to jump and dance

New York girls can shake that ass (Oh!)
New York girls know how to dance with their butts

St. Louis girls mi see yuh shake it fast (Come on!)
Girls from St. Louis dance very fast

Midwest girls can shake that ass (Yep)
Girls from the Midwest know how to dance with their butts

Ele and Kelly won't let dem pass, come on!
Rihanna is joined by Elephant Man and R. Kelly who won't let anyone else be better at dancing

We got the place surrounded y'all (Scoobay!)
They have the dance floor surrounded

This is big! (A weddy weddy weddy weddy weddy weddy weddy weddy)
This is a big party

Mic check (Ladies) One two I can't hear myself (Turn it up)
Rihanna is testing her microphone and asking for more volume

I like it when your booty go bump, bump Ladies)
Rihanna likes it when the girls dance and move their butts

Girl make your booty go bump, bump (Come on)
Rihanna is motivating the girls to dance with their butts

Haven't seen a booty like that since the rump shake
Rihanna hasn't seen such a nice butt since the 'rump shake' trend

That's the kind of booty that makes your bed break
That girl's butt is so nice that it could break a bed

Girl hit the floor turn out the party
Rihanna wants the girl to dance and liven up the party

Love it when you shake and wind your body
Rihanna loves it when the girl dances and moves her body

You got me wantin to be with you all the time
Rihanna is attracted to the girl because of her dance moves

You make me wanna pass them chips girls you are so fine
The girl looks so good that she's making Rihanna lose her appetite

How 'bout me and you go jump in my car(Oh)
Rihanna invites the girl for a ride in her car

Talk about our future in my car
Rihanna is suggesting a conversation about their future together in the car

Take a ride to my spot in my car (Oh)
Rihanna is inviting the girl to her place on a car ride

Now you in my bed screamin' dada (Oh)
The two are now in bed together

Don't make no sense how you bring your body down now
It's amazing how well the girl dances

Bring it back up and roll it all around now
Rihanna wants the girl to continue dancing and move her body all around

The way your bendin' it over clap clap (Clap Clap!)
Rihanna is amazed at how well the girl can bend and move her body

Your the girl in the top five videos
The girl is so good at dancing that she could be one of the best dancers in music videos

By tomorrow this will be number one
The girl's dancing skills are so good that they can make anyone's music video a hit

In or way upside down on the pole
The girl's dancing skills are so versatile that she can dance on a pole from any angle

Pretty mama you know your dead wrong (Get jiggy gal)
The girl is so good at dancing that it's almost unfair to the competition

And if the DJ is rockin' this club (Ladies, come on)
If the DJ is playing good music, then the girls should continue dancing

All of the sexy ladies in this club (Ladies yuh lookin' like a mermaid)
Rihanna is complementing all of the pretty girls in the club

Throw your hands up come on throw your hands up
Rihanna is inviting everyone to raise their hands and dance

Elephant Man and, the are, AKA talkin' for the ladies
Elephant Man and AKA are cheering the girls on

Let me know that, we like to feel when, the junk in the trunk
They like it when girls have big butts

Goes like bop, bop, bop, and clap, clap, clap
This is how the girls should dance

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Carl Allen Sturken, Christopher Birch, Evan Rogers, O'Neil Bryan, Robyn Fenty, Richard Martin

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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