It seems like the fans had a great time at the first ever European AWT date. And so did Rihanna. Other than performing at the stadium she took the opportunity to spend some time in the city, visiting the Anne Frank-museum, meeting up with super model Cara Delevingne and biking through Amsterdam.

She also visited a famous dance school called Lucia Martha’s Institute For Performing Arts. There, Rihanna’s choreographer HiHat posted a video of her and Rih dancing to This Is What You Came For.

I hope it means some changes on the setlist. Can't wait! pic.twitter.com/oPsky7vmBh

— Ronny Erickson (@RonnyErickson) June 20, 2016

Marley writes:

”Well there were some rumors that Rih was rehearsing at my school (Lucia Marthas Institute For Performing Arts) and I didn’t believe them at first. When HiHat posted that video I recognized the studio instantly, that was MY school and Rih was there and I wasn’t. My school is close to Rih’s hotel and is also worldwide known (a big name in the dance industry) so it actually makes sense.”

Perhaps they’re rehearsing a new choreography for AWT to add to the Dublin date happening tomorrow? Let’s hope they add Nothing’s promised and Too Good too!

Rihanna also made sure to greet some of her fans while staying in Amsterdam. Danique tells us:

”A fan spotted her van, so we went to that spot. We were 4 fans in total. She walked out the door and started talking to her crew first. So later she turned around to us and I asked her if she could sign my ANTI CD and she walked towards us. I told her my Twitter name and she responded to it, like she recognized it. So there was a little convo where she told me ‘I looked so cute!’. I showed her my Pon De Replay single and she was cheesin’ so hard when she saw it and responed with: ‘Yas, thank you!’. She signed a few more things like Creepers and another ANTI CDs from other fans. We told her to have a great time and enjoy it. We were really calm and you could tell that they really liked that, we got some thumbs up from her security after our meeting with her. We were also told that we weren’t allowed to post anything yet on social media because she wanted to stay lowkey as long as possible. Well, ‘weren’t allowed’ sounds too harsh. It was more that they asked if we could wait and not put it out there on social media right away. We respected that, so we posted our story in the evening when we actually met her that afternoon.

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.

Watch the video below and download the song here:

Download
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/CH.iTunes?IQid=YT
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0azC730Exh71aQlOt9Zj3y

Crush by Rihanna (PRNewsFoto/Parlux Ltd.)

It’s time for a new fragrance by Rihanna! The perfume named ”Crush by Rihanna” is the second fragrance in her ”RiRi-trilogy-collection” (in fact, every fragrance she has made has been part of a trilogy). It’s said to be mysteriously sexy, set to make you feel unapologetic, strong and confident. Sensual woody notes paired with red fruits and pink musk makes for a fun and feminine twist. Nostrils getting in formation.

The scent is a collaboration between Rihanna and perfumer Natasha Cote from Givaudan and will be available at Macy’s, macys.com and other fine retailers starting August 2016. Prices run from $60 to $20 depending depending on size and yeah, Rih designed the bottle herself.

Crush by Rihanna – 3.4oz EDP (PRNewsFoto/Parlux Ltd.)

The 9th Berlin Biennale for contemporary art, open to the public from June 4 until September 18, has a giant RiRi on display. The piece entitled Ewaipanoma (Rihanna) was made by Colombian artist Juan Sebastián Peláez and can be seen at the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art.

The Ewaipanoma are old mythical creatures described as having a mouth in their chest and eyes in their shoulders. As grand colonizer Walter Raleigh went to strip Guyana (where Rihanna’s maternal family is from) of its resources and hand them over to the British crown in 1595, he came across the rumor/tale of these ”headless men”. Quoting local children and the occasional anonymous Spanish bastard, he went on to pen down the myth of the Ewaipanoma in a book called The discovery of Guiana (as if the land wasn’t discovered long before his white ass settled down on it…).

Juan Sebastián Peláez work is described to the visitors as ”featuring upright, oversize photo-cutouts of headless human bodies—captured in athletic positions, sporting bikini swimwear, or posing in the limelight in glitzy, bling gowns—with faces surreally integrated into their chests. Both the bodies and faces are sourced from pop queens and soccer stars from the Caribbean or Latin America. A giant Rihanna welcomes visitors here in the courtyard. While hinting at the sometimes monstrous body modifications typical of celebrity culture, these works also reference longstanding projections of otherness. For these works Peláez was inspired by drawings from sixteenth-century explorers of the New World (like Sir Walter Raleigh), who on returning home described having encountered so-called “Blemmyae,” headless natives with faces on their upper, naked bodies.”

I see it as a comment on pop stars’ mythical status in today’s society and how stories of these larger than life creatures are just as man made (and manipulated) as the old myths. Spoken by one person, passed on to the other, spread at the hands of whomever sees a gain from spreading them. What Raleigh did by writing a book in the 16th century, fans/management/the person themselves do today by posting on social media. Yes? No?

And what happens when hundreds of people post pictures of themselves in front of a giant Rihanna that’s been manipulated to look like an Ewaipanoma, followed by hundreds of fans reposting those images as well? Is it possible for the piece itself to reach mythical status? Wandering millions of miles from the original sighting on it’s way through the thick jungles of cyber space.

And here I am forwarding, interpreting and manipulating the message through a blog post. Because I too want to be part of the myth building simply because I feel part of Rihanna (both myth and person). In that way, it’s not just her or the Ewaipanomas that evolve with each person whispering their name. So does the whisperers as we engage with the world through and with them.

Maybe RiRi will stop by herself during her AWT show in Berlin on August 16? I can definitely see it happen.

/Alex

IT’S HERE! Nothing is Promised has been released! First single off of Mike WiLL Made-It’s Ransom 2 and long time Instagram snippet favorite the Rihanna featured track is finally with us.

Available on iTunes and Tidal.

Congratulations to Rih for killing it once again. Sitting pretty on that rap trap pop dancehall reggae country folk throne.