Where have you been all her li-i-i-i-i-ife? I mean, I get it, she’s not the only girl in the world, the only one that you’ll ever love, but you should probably know what’s her name, what’s her name, what’s her name. Add me to the list of people disturbiaed by its spelling.
I think these three words perfectly encapsulate why the SDMB has never heard of this 9x Grammy Award-winning billionaire music artist.
I work in retail. I’ve probably heard her songs dozens of times, but - here’s the thing - without knowing she sang them. I hear a lot of music that is merely background; if I like it, I’ll look up the artist. But if not, I’ll just ignore it. It took me a long time to realize how ubiquitous Taylor Swift is, for example.
I don’t see why it’s so difficult to accept that a person might not connect background music that doesn’t especially appeal, to a specific performer. I’ve heard of Harry Styles and Bruno Mars and Jay-Z, too, but I couldn’t tell you what songs they sing. That’s not a slam on them, or on Rihanna; it’s simply a matter of my personal tastes.
You should look before you disdain.
Kids these days loves them some vinyl “records”.
I’d seen the likes of this list before, listing Rihanna as the wealthiest female singer. Ahead of Barbra and Beyonce, and Madonna, and double 2d place. I guess a good chunk of that is from business other than music, but I was surprised that someone upthread suggested she was A-list, but not A+ or A++.
I don’t have high expectations for these sort of things. I thought the songs and music were good enough, but the overall performance mediocre. There was a bit of a sterile aspect to the costumes and floating platforms and dancing. It was better than the Covid show, but also kind of similar. Meh. Meh, I say.
Oh yeah, sure, that’s totally what he meant. Definitely just wanted to be ironically retro. How do you do, fellow kids?
I think I may have mentioned this before. When I was working at a winery, I had to open and close a bunch of cash drawers and “Bitch better have my money” was my theme song. I own that song and love it. I also love the songs “Stay” and “Love on the brain” …and I could go on.
I’m 66 years old and Rihanna is one of my favorite artists. She’s worth over a billion dollars.
But I didn’t love the show. I would have preferred to hear one or two of my favorite songs in full. I’d be okay with less show and more just her singing.
I couldn’t remember when she’d given birth so I couldn’t figure out if I was seeing a baby bump or if she was carrying a little post baby weight. I’d heard an interview with her earlier and she mentioned a special guest so my family and I were all trying to guess who it was going to be. Turns out it wasn’t Drake.
If that song were an American, it’d be old enough to drive now.
And people saying she’s not A-list are all tripping. Rihanna is the one of the biggest artist in the world in terms of confirmed units sold. More than your precious Beatles, in fact.
ETA, no, wait, that was confusing, there are people on the <250 mill list with >250 mill in sales. Eminem, Swift. Still less than Rihanna, though. But, Drake is on the <200 list with 434 million? He’s the only one with more certified sales than her. Drake? WTF?
But the point about more than the Beatles stands.
I loved the music, but the reenactment of Woody Allen’s sperm scene from EYWTKAS…BWATA confused me.
Most of it is, in fact, from Fenty and SavageXFenty. As in, billions.
What does “everywhere” mean these days? Rihanna’s songs are not on my Spotify playlist or on the YouTube channels I listen to. I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t go to parties or clubs, I avoid going to malls. My teenage son may know her songs, but he only listens to music on his omnipresent earphones so I have no idea what he likes. How can I get to know any new music from the last 20 years unless I actively go looking for it?
I know a couple of Rihanna songs. I never felt like knowing any more of them.
On the radio, at parties, in clubs, in malls.
This is like saying “I never see anyone wearing [the latest fashion item]” … when you live in a cabin in the woods.
What can I say… I’m over 45.
And it’s not like I’m a hermit: I eat in restaurants a lot, I go to movies, I spend a lot of time walking on city streets, I go to the beach. It’s just that whenever I hear anything new, it’s in the context of “background noise”; I may enjoy it on occasion, but rarely enough to bother to check who the singer is.
I suppose this is normal for anyone over a certain age, but it’s even more normal now, where everything is on-demand and everyone lives in their own bubble. Face it: there is no “popular music” these days, just eight billion different playlists.
^What he said!
I just listen to current pop music on the radio when I drive or when I (used to) exercise. I watch SNL. I watch the music award shows. I don’t like everything I hear, but I know pretty quick if I’m going to hate a song, usually.
It helps that my car will display the artist and name of song when it plays. Makes it easier to buy a song that grabs me and listen to more songs by the artist.
That both does and does not surprise me. His music is just all over the place, either on his own or as a guest on someone else’s track. Dude has 67 Top 10 hits here in the US (counting his work with other artists – that’s how Billboard tracks it, it seems), and even had 27 simultaneously charting songs on the Hot 100, among other records. And when he did that (July 2018) 21 of the songs were on the Top 40, which is just bonkers. And only two of those were him as “featured artist” on someone else’s track. Of course, the Top 40 is a bit different these days than when we were growing up, but it’s still insane. Over half the Top 40 was Drake.
Excellently well-said.
I just don’t get the butthurt over the fact that some posters on this thread - on a messageboard that is primarily over 50 - are not familiar with Rihanna. No one has said she’s not an A-lister, no one has said that her music wasn’t good, no one has boasted that they don’t know who she is:
So where is the “disdain” that some posters are complaining about? As a matter of fact, I suspect Dopers are more likely to be open to new music than any other random group of over-50s.
And for what it’s worth, I would gladly accept nosebleed seats for Billie Eilish or Ingrid Michaelson in exchange for front row tickets for the Beatles or Rolling Stones. Just because I’m not familiar with one particular current artist doesn’t mean I’m ignorant of all of them.
It’s fun to think about what it might have been like if, back in the day, performers like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett might have played the Super Bowl.
So would I because I hate watching old acts trying to milk money from their heyday (the Stones) and half of the Beatles are dead (the better half btw).
Drake is another performer of whom I am aware, but damned if I could name or hum a single tune of his. Sometimes it is hard to tell if an entertainer is famous because of their body of work, because of non-art business ventures, or because of personal issues the get publicity.