I've seen some of the Navy refer to Rihanna as 'The Black Madonna'. This is really quite confusing as they seem to have nothing in common.
1. Madonna worked very hard to get signed and went from being very poor in NY to being very famous, Rihanna was seen by someone from the industry and signed without actually working for it.
2. Madonna Mania began with Like A Virgin, her second album. Rihanna only had considerable success with Good Girl Gone Bad, and even then there was no 'mania'. There was no such thing as a 'Rihannabe' at that point, whereas this was already happening to Madonna:
3. Madonna sold considerable amounts with each record and each one was an event. Her first album sold ten million copies (a figure Rihanna has yet to get anywhere near), her second 21 million, her third 25 million and her fourth 15 million. The most Rihanna has sold is 8 million and only has one album certified double platinum in the US. The Navy say that it's because they both have consistent success but this is not true; Erotica and American Life completely flopped but were Madonna doing what SHE wanted to do and still had impact whereas Rihanna has constant middle of the road success, which isn't something to be commended.
4. Madonna puts a ton of effort into her live performances - her Vogue performance at the VMAS and the entire blond ambition tour are some of the most intricately designed tours of all time, including appropriating props, sexuality and cultural aspects into intense, constant choreography. Meanwhile Rihanna's tours tend to include her awkwardly strutting around the stage while feeling herself a lot, with no message, no proper dancing and little actual talent for performing being demonstrated.
All these points prove that the only person from this generation who can really be compared to Madonna is Beyoncé, because even when she wasn't that successful commercially she still was very relevant and had an impact on the industry. For the past two eras Rihanna has simply stayed in the middle of the road.
So in what way, to the Navy, is Rihanna the 'black Madonna'? To Madonna stans this makes little sense and is almost insulting to Madonna.
Madonna is madonna and Rihanna is Rihanna. They have there own identity. Madonna already written her name in music history and Rihanna is on the process to put her name on it so they aren't comparable.
And to answer your question people consider her te back Madonna as she reinvents her self every era with a new sound & image. Has had an incredible amount of success in such a short amount of time & is controversial. However, I consider her to be just Rihanna. There was no one like her before she came on the scene. She's original and doesent strive to be someone else unlike majority of the other girls.
And Katy is the white Madonna 
your dedication tho 
