We were at a time where Pop & Dance music were in crisis. To get a hit record was to either release one of those Pink/Clarkson/Avril PopRockz mess, or a Pop song that aims for urban appeal. Some efforts by the likes of Britney and Gwen were appreciated, but never to the extent of making Pop dominant as a genre. The Timbaland movement was refreshing, however; it didn't help the situation much either.
Where was the Pop song/artist that made everybody wanted to go Pop, though?
They all tried, but Pop/Dance -- as a genre -- was never as desired before Rihanna.
It was Rihanna who made it cool to make a Pop song -- especially for urban singers and listeners.
I'm not even going to talk about "Umbrella" becoming one of the defining moments in Pop music from the past decade, and music history in general. Till this day, nobody has been able to come up with a song that sounded like "Umbrella" AND had the cultural impact of it.
"Don't Stop The Music" was the first Dance-Electro-Pop song with pure European influence to hit the American airwaves and make a change.
She started it all.
Followed by "Disturbia" -- which also brought the art of music videos back.
Later, she paved the way for the likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Ke$ha to make pure pop records that could shine on the charts.
R&B singers like Usher were stepping into new territories of Pop music.
Rappers like Kanye West were finally able to release rap albums with heavy Pop influence.
While she made it possible for the Guetta movement to happen.
How many songs do we hear on daily basis that have the Rihanna influence?
ETC.
And we don't even have to mention her bringing the whole "catchy-hook-in-a-rap-song" back to the scene.
The public and the industry will always keep their eyes open on what Rihanna is about to release next. Everybody wants to sound as fresh and as widely appealing as Rihanna -- whether she decides to go deeper into dance music, extend her presence in urban music, or give us some of her island flava.
Like it or not, Rihanna had single-handedly changed Pop music to its current shape and form.
I feel like to be an important pop star, you have to at least have a #1 album. Seriously.
Rihanna is wildly popular, yes, but she's hardly massed the success or popularity of some of her peers, like Beyoncé . Even Gaga has managed to overcome Rihanna in popularity, though admit Gaga is a rare and special case,... but the fact of the matter is that Rihanna is just another pop star like Katy or Ke$ha. She's not really leading any movements. She's not really doing anything controversial that hasn't been done already.
You want to talk about important pop stars, let's talk about Britney bringing something new to US mainstream with every album. Let's talk about how Beyoncé made YouTube one of the most important tools in promotion. Let's look at how Gaga has been the voice of the LGBT movement. Let's talk about Shakira's humanitarian efforts. Let's talk about how Adele is breaking records.
What's Rihanna done? Made a few interesting hair choices? I don't think so. There are plenty of pop stars who have done more for the industry than rack up #1s and be on everyone's single.
I love Rihanna, but her fans are some diluted folks. Sorry.
