Rihanna was once the world's preeminent pop star. And yes, I use past tense.
Despite having her hit "Work" firmly ensconced at number one for the past two months, a stat that ties her with the Beatles as second only to Mariah Carey for most weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Rihanna has recently transcended pop stardom.
[...]
Speaking of brand new, the hands-down highlight was her doo-wop detour "Love on the Brain," a slow burner with a powerhouse vocal that shows off so many different textures and directions it makes one wonder why she didn't start showing off sooner.
Maybe that's because pop stars don't need to be great singers -- they just need catchy songs -- but legacy acts need both.
Now, legacy acts aren't synonymous with nostalgia acts. Rather, they're artists who have hit a career point where they don't need successful albums or radio hits to remain relevant. They can make whatever music they want to (or not want to) and still be popular, respected and sell tickets. It's Prince or Springsteen, but not Billy Idol. It's Nine Inch Nails or Pearl Jam, but not Smashing Pumpkins.
This achievement is usually unlocked at the latter stage of a career.
Justin Timberlake landed his legacy at a young age, freeing him to take a break from radio so he could star in movies, hang out at "Saturday Night Live" and release new music only when the mood finally struck him.
Same goes for Rihanna. She made "Work" work, and she'll no doubt be a presence on radio for years to come. She is only 28, after all.
But most pop stars' already ephemeral presence completely dissolves once they stop producing regular hits. Thanks to "Anti," both the album and its proof-of-concept tour, the former album-a-year Rihanna no longer has to work when she doesn't want to.
Justin Timberlake landed his legacy at a young age, freeing him to take a break from radio so he could star in movies, hang out at "Saturday Night Live" and release new music only when the mood finally struck him.
The ultimate, pop star, feminist, vocalist, model, songwriter, actress, activist, music video director, philanthropist, featurette, fashion designer, of our generation.
Work was a quick pop hit though with a Drake feature. It's not like she released some alternative album.
It sounds like nothing on the radio (or when it was released at least) and everyone dismissed it as a flop when it was released. It's easy to reduce it to a "quick pop hit" in retrospect.
she literally released single after single for a year waiting for something to stick she's not there yet, her tour and album sales disagree with all of this
once again, the navy fails to see past the hot 100
she literally released single after single for a year waiting for something to stick she's not there yet, her tour and album sales disagree with all of this
once again, the navy fails to see past the hot 100
How was she waiting for something to stick when she released Anti without a lead single
she literally released single after single for a year waiting for something to stick she's not there yet, her tour and album sales disagree with all of this
once again, the navy fails to see past the hot 100
Yes her 92% sold out tour and double platinum album disagree with what Huffington Post wrote
How was she waiting for something to stick when she released Anti without a lead single
four five seconds was the lead single for r8 released in january 2015. then she released two more singles for "r8" and I guess scrapped what she had or never finished it (love that work ethic) because she was still shopping around for songs for her album like 11 months later.
she was waiting for something to stick and Samsung told her to get that album out on time. luckily, drake carried work to success, hope they collab again in the future cuz work is a bawp
four five seconds was the lead single for r8 released in january 2015. then she released two more singles for "r8" and I guess scrapped what she had or never finished it (love that work ethic) because she was still shopping around for songs for her album like 11 months later.
she was waiting for something to stick and Samsung told her to get that album out on time. luckily, drake carried work to success, hope they collab again in the future cuz work is a bawp
she's not there yet, her tour and album sales disagree with all of this
