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How did Rihanna get so big?
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I've been a fan of Rihanna since she released Unfaithful years ago, but back then she wasn't as famous as the big stars.
And then after Umbrella she just got huge everywhere, especially after Don't Stop The Music and Take A Bow. Since then, she's been everywhere.
I just wonder how she did get so big. Because in 2005/2006 she was the average RnB artist like Ciara and now she's the biggest pop star in the world.
And then after Umbrella she just got huge everywhere, especially after Don't Stop The Music and Take A Bow. Since then, she's been everywhere.
I just wonder how she did get so big. Because in 2005/2006 she was the average RnB artist like Ciara and now she's the biggest pop star in the world.
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I joke, sort of.
Good Promotion, reinvention of her sound and image, preventing people from becoming bored, and she has very good songs which both the radio and the record buying public love. She is the definition of striking while the iron is hot. She and her team know the coming trends, she is a trend setter in all regards, she is the new modern day artist at the height of her career. Advertisements, tours, television appearances, face of brands., she sells her music well. Thats my opinion anyways.
idk maybe her looks had something to do it did she not audition for Jay-z or something?
Although she was still pretty huge in 2005/2006 anyway (as was Ciara), even if she continued with that success she would've been successful imo. I mean, SOS was a much bigger hit than most of her recent singles.
I think the story is that when she was about 16 she made a mixtape, including Pon de Replay, and sent it round to record labels. Jay-Z's label heard the song, and called her in to audition.
When I think about it, it's not THAT surprising Rihanna would get signed imo. For starters, she presented the record label with a ready-made hit for them. Also, she was extremely young (meaning they could get two decades out of her and she'd still only be in her mid-30s). She also has a good appearance (good-looking, and being light brown skinned and from the Carribean gives her more potential to crossover to different genres, and also means she can be successful worldwide (I know this isn't really PC, but it's the way it seems to be)). Also, she's not amazing at singing (especially back in 2004 I imagine), but she was good enough. You don't need to be an opera singer to be a good pop star. Not today anyway, it's not 1985 anymore.
Overall, I think Rihanna would've appeared very marketable at the time (and obviously as we've seen it turned out to be true).
Also, I think how she targetted record labels and got together with a producer to get her own tape together was probably impressive to the record label. Whilst that sort of thing isn't at all unusual for a rock band, it probably is for teenage girls wanting to be pop stars. The vast majority of girls that say they want to be pop stars just sit on Youtube singing covers of songs waiting to be discovered these days. Some of those girls are good singers, but it seems a bit lazy compared to Rihanna who went and found a producer to make lots of beats and record her and sent it to record labels. It shows that she was serious about what she wanted as a career.
The best vocalists in the world would probably make awful pop stars imo.
And I do think Rihanna is attractive, but a lot of that is down to the fact that she has some of the best fashion and make-up people in the world making her look nice. If record labels really just cared about looks for pop stars, there's hundreds of thousands of girls much more attractive than Rihanna that they could've signed.
Also, Jay Z was actually kind of hesitant to signing her after hearing Pon De Replay, because he wanted to sign someone who could last, and not just send out one great song.
"I'd been developing my music and working with 2 producers (Evan Rogers & Carl Sturken) for a little over a year and they sent my music to Def Jam. Met with Jay-z and his team.... And the rest is history!"
Behave yourself.
Two girls were hired to the Def Jam label by Jay Z; Teairra Mari & Rihanna
"Make Her Feel God" & "Pon De Replay" were essentially pitted against each other and Teairra was (obviously) dropped. Things started to lag a bit for Rihanna with "If Its Lovin That You Want" and her debut album sales weren't tremendous for 2005. Christina Milian who was also on the label was offered the recording "SOS" and was basically forced to record it by her executives however, she adamantly turned it down because she wanted to be more urban and recorded "Say I" instead thus leaving "SOS" to get passed on to Rihanna. Christina's creative decision didnt really pay off (even though "Say I" was somewhat of a hit) and she was ultimately dropped due to do funding cut backs - which she states in an issue of Rap Up magazine, was due to the label wanting to spend more money on funding Rihanna after the success of "SOS".
1. Jay-z
2. Chris Brown
3. David Guetta
BIB- WHAT? How so? :eek::eek: The only track she done with him was 'Who's that Chick?' which was one of her worst and by no means one of her big hits.
She keeps reinventing herself to keep people interested and got a hit and capatalised on the hype. That's it.
Domestic Abuse - S&M - Nude shoots - Drugs - ?
She is very unique in terms of her voice and thus stands out compared to her peers.
4. L.A.Reid and his A&R executive Karen Kwak / [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Def_Jam_RecordingDef_Jam_Recordings[/URL]
5. Umbrella / The-Dream (though it's hook is very cheesy - song rejected by Britney Spears even ) - good promotion ($$$$$) of the song got her noticed by the general 'pop' loving public
Umbrella (song)
6. Being in the right place at the right time
7. $$$$$$$ - good contacts / commercial partnerships :rolleyes: with media outlets.
+ a write up on Karen Kwak http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/detail/208
S.E.X? Yes.
A byword for the over-sexualisation of "music" nowadays, she would even make Madonna blush, surely?:o