2. BIOGRAPHY AND GENRE
Rihanna was born in Barbados on the 20th February 1988. At
the age of 16 she as sign by the record label Def Jam records
and in 2005 released her first album: Music of the Sun which
sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.
Rihanna’s music genre is a mix of R&B, Reggae, Pop, dancehall,
hip-hop and dance-pop which are heard in her most well
known songs: Unfaithful, Umbrella, Disturbia, Take a Bow and
Diamonds. More recently Work and This is What You Came For.
3. EARLY MUSIC VIDEOS
Rihanna’s first music video was Pon De Replay released in 2005
followed by If it’s lovin’ that you want and SOS.
Rihanna’s image in these videos are still showing her youthful side
however areas of her body such as chest and legs are exposed
attracting the male gaze.
4. RECENT MUSIC VIDEOS
Rihanna’s star image nowadays is
mainly about the sex appeal she
shows in her videos. She is seen
naked in her videos which draws in
the male gaze further. It seems as
though it is no longer about the
music she is making but rather the
revealing choice of outfit she chooses
to wear or not wear. In her newest
video ‘Needed Me’ with Drake she is
seen wearing minimal clothing and
promoting violence by holding a gun.
5. HOW RIHANNA IS PORTRAYED
Rihanna’s style consists of mainly revealing, tight outfits to show off
her feminine assets. She usually wears red lip stick and dark smoky
eye shadows which creates sex appeal. Most of her outfits show off
her chest or legs which is their to attract the attention of males. She
often dances in the music videos which can be portrayed as sexual
and her body language is very flirtatious. Alcohol and cigarettes are
reoccurring props to occur in her videos.
6. CAMERA AND EDITING
Rihanna is the main focus of her music videos and the framing is
taken up almost always by her. Throughout the videos there are close
ups of Rihanna and she is centralised in the rule of thirds. The close
up allow emotion to be shown and there are also tracking shots of
her face and body.
7. RIHANNA AS A ROLE MODEL
Rihanna has a wide fan base ranging from younger to older people. Many
look up to Rihanna and call her a role model. From Rihanna’s videos you
can see that she is very much sexualised all the time either by outfit choice
or from camera angles. Younger audiences may see this as a correct was
to act which in turn may reflect badly on Rihanna. The public perception of
Rihanna is that she’s quite a strong female after dealing with an abusive
relationship with Chris Brown and speaking out about her abuse shows
Rihanna as a positive role model as others could have found strength in
her to come forward and get help. I think people see Rihanna as quite
grounded, apart from getting older and being displayed in a sexual
manner she hasn’t changed all that much from when she first started
singing which shows she is true to herself.
