Let it be known that a remix changed my life. I’ve been really down the past couple of days but seeing/hearing This Is What You Came For in an 80s version somehow helped me breath again. Something about the aesthetics of the video is super calming too. All hail art helping us all to hang in there.
I want more of these soft, semi-sad and calming songs in my life. Nelly Furtado’s Pipe Dreams also fits the category but I need more so send me some suggestions please. <3
Ps. This is also exactly what I mean/need! Could it be I’m just craving 80s songs? Sounds too weird to be true.
In honor of Fenty’s Vanguard Award I’ve listed her top 10 music videos (according to me). I think visuals are really personal and just like songs they will carry a different meaning depending on who you are and what you’re going through at the time.
Do you have a favorit RiRi video? Comment and let me know! When I hear someone explain why they enjoy a certain video it makes me see that piece in a whole new light (which I love!).
Like when my friend Ziggi called me to declare her love for Sledgehammer – saying the video is an orgasm from Madonna’s Frozen and Rihanna’s Pour it up having intergalactic sex. That sentence alone should be enough to convince anybody about the greatness of the video, but she went further.
”She sings about how she ”hit a wall” and was ”bracing for the pain” until she realized SHE’S THE FUCKING SLEDGEHAMMER!! It’s she that is punching holes in every fucking wall and when she’s least expecting it, when she feels she’s about to break, the bricks starts falling around her and she realize she’s the survivor. ”I gathered all my strength and I found myself whole.”
– Ziggi Willpower.
At number 10, here is Sledgehammer:
9, Needed me. It’s hardly a secret how much I love this video and why.
8, Te amo. Rihanna’s lesbian castle drama deserves way more praises than what it’s gotten. I discovered it after it’s release myself, but wow was I struck. Both song and video is steaming.
7, Kiss it better. She’s so, strong, grown and grounded. My own ties to it is a bit too personal to blog about but know it will always hold a very special place in my heart. It’s at the point where I get chills every time I press play.
6, Man down. She guns down her rapist. No need for further explanation.
5, Work. This is all HER. The accent, having her friends and family in the video, it taking place in a Caribbean joint, making eye-contact with herself in the mirror while dancing (this magical segment!!!).
4, Rude boy. Her movements!!! I remember playing this over and over again being completely hypnotized with what I saw. She’s so playful (and HOT) + the look, the feeling, everything is so visually pleasing.
3, Pon de replay. A classic and what put her on the map. She has always had something so unique and completely undeniable about her. That thing that makes her Rihanna and no one else. First time seeing it was in Pon de replay. I’ll never forget the feeling and I’m yet to tire of it.
2, Bitch better have my money. A profound piece of intersectional feminist art. The video tells the story of a black woman taking revenge on the white man stealing from her and the white woman living off of the white man’s theft. The abused is taking revenge on her abusers. Very important work.
1, Pour it up. I’m not going to use my words for this, but instead pull quotes from this amazing conversation called Rihanna on my mind, in which three women discuss the video after it’s release.
”I feel like Rihanna has solidarity. Maybe that’s too wishful/ cheesy/ “nice” to say, but I felt like she had (this word again!) a basic respect for bitches who get their own. It wasn’t “look at them”; it was “look at us, we out here,” etc”
– Sarah Nicole Prickett
”Rihanna would rather be tricking than being a trick.”
– Susan Elizabeth Shepard
”It goes back to the money/ power/ agency. She doesn’t buy into traditional gender roles of music. She is having her cake and eating it too, omg.”
– Ayesha Siddiqi
”In the “Beez In The Trap” video, Nicki positions herself as a customer. She’s gazing at the strippers, not identifying with them. Rihanna aligning herself with the strippers instead of the customers is a pretty powerful image.”
– SES
”I think to be a fan of Nicki you have to identify with her, while to be a fan of Rihanna you’re a fan of yourself.”
– AS
”The water in “Pour It Up” reminded me of how hostess clubs/ strip clubs are the “water trade” in Japan, and how water signifies money — and sex, especially female sexuality. I mean, if this were a Kanye video, people would be like, “He’s walking on water. He’s Jesus.” Perhaps Rihanna is the real messiah.”
– SES
Rihanna released her video for Goodnight Gotham today!! It was shot at Trocadero Square, Paris, all the way back in December, 2014. Since then, all we’ve known is that she invited fans to meet up at the square and later came running towards them with Goodnight Gotham playing in the background. But today, what was then called the ”R8 experience” popped up as a visual for the ANTI track.
Seeing how the video doesn’t give us anything we haven’t already seen, the song being more of an interlude (and featured in Dior’sSecret Garden IV) – I’m not too excited about it. Of course it’s nice to see the finished material, but it should have happened closer to the day it was shot tbh. Here’s to hoping the fact that Goodnight Gotham got a video means all songs off of ANTI will receive one though!
Yaaaaaaasssss!!! The video for This Is What You Came For is finally here! And we love it.
It’s almost been five years since the two collaborated with their smashing hit We Found Love and now it was time for another EDM hit with influences from house music. The song, written by Calvin himself and Nils Sjöberg, was released via radio stations on April 29th. The song debuted at number 9 on Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna’s 28th top 10 hit, surpassing Stevie Wonder and making her the forth artist with the most top 10 hits of all time. The song is currently number 7 on the BH100.
The video for This Is What You Came For features Rihanna in an open box in the middle of nowhere with images projected on the inside walls. We see Rihanna dancing in the forest, the desert and at a party all by herself while looking absolutely adorable. The video is directed by Emil Nava, a music video director that has been working several times with Harris before and other artists such as Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Tove Lo, Alesso, Ne-Yo and Jessie J. However, this is the first time he collaborates with RiRi.
