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).
man_down
Rihanna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't even sleep at night, can't get it off my mind
I need to get out of sight, fore I end up behind bars
What started out as a simple altercation
Turned into a real sticky situation
Me just thinking on the time that I'm facing
Makes me wanna cry
'Cause I didn't mean to hurt him
Coulda been somebody's son
And I took his heart when
I pulled out that gun
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum
Man Down!
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum, bum rum bum bum bum
Man Down!
Oh mama mama mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
In front of a big ol' crowd
Oh, why? oh, why?
Oh mama mama mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
Little 22, I call her Peggy Sue
When she fits right down in my shoes
Whatchu expect me to do? if you're playing me for a fool
I will lose my cool, and reach for my fire arm
I didn't mean to lay him downBut its too late to turn back now
Don't know what I was thinking
Now he's no longer living
So I'm bout to leave town, aye uh
'Cause I didn't mean to hurt him
Coulda been somebody's son
And I took his heart when
I pulled out that gun
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum
Man Down!
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum, bum rum bum bum bum
Man Down!
Oh mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
In front of a big ol' crowd
Oh, why? Oh, why?
Oh mama, mama, mama, I just shot a man down (Criminal)(In central station)
Said, "I'd never thought I'd do it
Never thought I'd do it, never thought I'd do it!
Oh gosh, What ever happened to me
Ever happened to me, ever happened to me?
Why did I pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull the trigger? Boom
And end a nigga, end a nigga life so soon?
When mi pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull it pon' you
Somebody tell me what I'm gonna, what I'm gonna do? Ehh
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum
Me say one man down (And wah me say)
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum
Then me went downtown
'Cause now I'mma criminal, criminal, criminal
Oh lorda mercy, now I am a criminal
Man Down, tell the judge please gimme minimal
Run out a town none a dem can see me now
Oh mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
In front of a big ol crowd
Oh, why? Oh, why?
Oh mama, mama, mama
I just shot a man down
In central station
The song "Man Down" by Rihanna is a powerful and emotional ballad about regret, remorse, and the tragedy of ending someone's life. The song is a narrative arc of a woman who has shot a man in central station and is sent to prison. She expresses her feelings of guilt and sorrow as the weight of her actions weigh heavily on her mind. She starts by acknowledging that she didn't mean to end his life and that it was not right. She says that she cannot sleep at night because she can't get it off her mind. She fears being caught and sent to prison because of her actions.
The next verses describe how things escalated from a simple altercation and turned into a terrible situation. The woman expresses her sorrow and regret for the man who died, saying that it could have been someone's son. She also recognizes that she took his heart when she pulled out that gun. The chorus of the song - "Man Down" - is a repeated phrase used throughout the song, accompanied by a drum beat rhythm. The last verse of the song is more of a conversation where the man speaks up, asking how he could pull the trigger and end someone's life so soon.
Overall, the song "Man Down" is a powerful and emotional ballad that speaks to the tragedy and regret associated with taking someone else's life. It highlights the importance of talking things out rather than using violence to solve problems. In light of the controversy surrounding gun violence and police brutality in America, this song has an important message for everyone to hear.
Line by Line Meaning
I didn't mean to end his life, I know it wasn't right
I didn't intend to kill him, and I know that it was wrong.
I can't even sleep at night, can't get it off my mind
It's hard for me to sleep, and I keep thinking about what happened.
I need to get out of sight, fore I end up behind bars
I have to leave, or I'll be arrested and put in jail.
What started out as a simple altercation
It began as a small conflict.
Turned into a real sticky situation
It quickly became a difficult and complicated problem.
Me just thinking on the time that I'm facing
When I contemplate the punishment that I might face,
Makes me wanna cry
It brings tears to my eyes.
'Cause I didn't mean to hurt him
I didn't intend to cause him harm.
Coulda been somebody's son
He could have been someone's child.
And I took his heart when
I broke his heart when
I pulled out that gun
I took out my gun.
Rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum, rum bum bum bum
A sound effect (drumming) used to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.
Man Down!
Someone has been hurt or killed.
Oh mama mama mama
A cry for help.
I just shot a man down
I killed someone.
In central station
In a public place.
In front of a big ol' crowd
Many people witnessed it.
Oh, why? oh, why?
A question to which no answer can be found.
Little 22, I call her Peggy Sue
A reference to a small gun.
When she fits right down in my shoes
It's easy to carry concealed.
Whatchu expect me to do? if you're playing me for a fool
If you're trying to deceive me, what do you expect me to do?
I will lose my cool, and reach for my fire arm
I will become angry and take out my gun.
But its too late to turn back now
I can't change what has already happened.
Don't know what I was thinking
I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time.
Now he's no longer living
He's dead.
So I'm bout to leave town, aye uh
I need to flee the area.
Said, "I'd never thought I'd do it
I never imagined I would do something like this
Never thought I'd do it, never thought I'd do it!
I didn't realize I was capable of this
Oh gosh, What ever happened to me
I'm at a loss as to how things turned out this way.
Ever happened to me, ever happened to me?
Why did this happen to me?
Why did I pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull the trigger? Boom
Why did I shoot him?
And end a nigga, end a nigga life so soon?
Why did I take his life?
When mi pull the trigger, pull the trigger, pull it pon' you
When I aim and shoot at you
Somebody tell me what I'm gonna, what I'm gonna do? Ehh
What am I going to do now?
Me say one man down (And wah me say)
Someone has been hurt or killed.
Then me went downtown
I went to the city.
'Cause now I'mma criminal, criminal, criminal
I'm now a criminal.
Oh lorda mercy, now I am a criminal
I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I'm a criminal.
Man Down, tell the judge please gimme minimal
I'm asking the judge for the lightest punishment possible.
Run out a town none a dem can see me now
I have to leave town so that nobody can find me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SHAMA JOSEPH, ROBYN FENTY, THERON THOMAS, TIMOTHY THOMAS, SHONTELLE LAYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DJBeye
i Know i'm not the only one who think this... but I Love the way how Rihanna brought out her Caribbean Accent in this song. Rihanna is truly Talented in every way, because literately every song she comes out with now a days becomes a Hit. When they play this song at my school, the girls go crazy... (; All im really trying to say is I Really respect Rihanna for her staying on top of the Music Industry for so long. She An Inspiration for many Upcoming Artist now. I am a 17 Year Old rapper, and if you can, maybe go on my channel, listen to a few of my songs, and tell me how i did? That's all i ask... Thank you
@younghomieforreal8060
I like your song Bank roll
@niyaburke8556
DJ Beye I will
@marthaortega122
this video is cool
@kellysahadew-lall1189
yes
@kristijanstojanovski8693
i love this song
@bbygurl8821
as a sexual attack survivor I can definitely relate to how she felt in this video, sexual assault of any kind is simply NEVER okay.
@rachelsmith6359
But I meant to hurt him.
@dalryhenry1350
@bby gurrlzz, going through the comments I was wondering if I was the only one that saw that this was a very tragic video she was showing about a girl who met a guy at a club, misjudged him, had a good time with him, she left the club alone and he followed her and raped her, after which she tracked him down and killed him. How quickly when you are gripped by only hurt and anger your life can go from happy-go-lucky to very dark, and you make a wrong decision that you can't take back. Glad you discovered your strength, and hope that you are not just surviving but thriving despite that terrible experience you went though.
@ann5141
:'c