Rihanna
From LoveToKnow Music
With two albums under her belt in the past year, Rihanna is working harder than any ten musicians these days. Her blend of R&B with soca, dancehall reggae, and even a bit of rock thrown in (not to mention a killer Soft Cell sample) has sent her on an unstoppable march to the top of the charts.
Early Years
Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on the island of Barbados on February 20, 1988. Growing up, she was active in local talent contests and singing competitions. In 2004, she was introduced to music producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing on Barbados. Rogers recognized her talent and arranged for her to record a number of demos in the US.
With Rogers’ help, Rihanna approached a number of record labels with her demo recordings. Def Jam records sat up and took notice, and after an audition in front of Def Jam head honcho Jay-Z, the then 16 year old Rihanna was signed on the spot.
Music of the Sun
Rihanna’s debut album, Music of the Sun, was released in August, 2005. The first single, Pon de Replay, eventually climbed to number two on the US and UK charts, and was also a huge hit in Japan. The album went platinum in several countries and gold in the US. Rihanna toured with Gwen Stefani to support the album, giving her the opportunity to play in front of huge crowds and different audiences that might not normally have given her music a chance.
On the back of the success of Music of the Sun, Rihanna graced to covers of many magazines and took part in several commercial campaigns for companies such as J.C. Penny and Nike.
A Girl Like Me
Def Jam wasted no time in building up the success of Rihanna’s first album. Within eight months of Music of the Sun, Rihanna released A Girl Like Me (April 2006). Her sophomore album ratcheted up Rihanna’s profile in a big way. The album debuted at number five on the US charts and number 6 in the UK charts. The first single, S.O.S. was Rihanna’s first number one hit on the Billboard charts and the download charts - in fact, the single is the second fastest selling first week release on the digital charts to date. S.O.S. is driven by a sample of the immediately recognizable 80s electro-pop classic Tainted Love by Soft Cell.
The second single from the album, Unfaithful, was another top ten hit in the US and the UK. The album itself was certified platinum in July 2006.
Rihanna’s musical success, combined with her striking good looks, have lead to more modeling opportunities since the release of A Girl Like Me, and also to a few TV and movie appearances. She appeared in the film Bring It On Yet Again and in summer of 2006, she appeared on the soap opera All My Children. She performed two songs - S.O.S. and Kisses Don’t Lie (which is to be her third single) on the soap. She was also nominated for two 2006 MTV Video Music Awards for her S.O.S. video - Best New Artist and Viewer’s Choice Award.
Other awards and nominations Rihanna has received include:
- 2006 BET - Best New Artist nomination
- 2006 MOBO (UK based award) - Best R&B Artist nomination
- 2006 Teen Choice - Award for Female Breakout Artist
- 2006 Teen Choice - Award for Choice R&B Artist
The Future
Rihanna will be touring through the end of 2006 throughout the US and Canada.
Listen to Rihanna
- [http:www.myspace.com/rihanna Rihanna’s MySpace page]
- Def Jam Records’ download page
Comments
she is good.
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