This Is How Rihanna Became A Pop-Culture Icon

Rihanna is one in a million. Like many singers born with star power in their veins, this quadruple threat was discovered at a young age and thrust into the world of fame and fortune. But unlike many of her Hollywood peers, there's something unique that gives her a certain edge. How exactly has Rihanna set herself apart from the many other celebs with cosmetic lines, fashion brands, and sea of hit tracks? It's more than just her ability to easily strut over subway grates and pin-harp stilettos. When you hear humble beginnings, you might think of small-town suburbs. But for Rihanna, it's another story. Born in February of 1988, Robin Rihanna Fenty spent her childhood growing up on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Her middle name, Rihanna, has Arabic origins and means sweet basil. Humble beginnings or not, Rihanna was clearly always a star. Even through a difficult divorce between her parents when she was 14, she found inspiration in her love of Caribbean music, performing, and American pop culture. In high school, she formed a musical group with two of her friends, performing covers of Destiny's Child songs. At 15, her friends encouraged her to sign up for a beauty pageant at her high school, which she won. She told Daily Mail in 2007, And my military training came in handy for learning to balance books on my head for the catwalk. For the talent portion of the pageant, Rihanna belted out Mariah Carey's song, Hero. You heard right. Before her big break in entertainment, Rihanna was a combat boot-wearing volunteer army cadet, running drills through the mud. A much different experience from the Gucci-wearing songstress we know today. Her short army experience was actually alongside singer-songwriter Chantel, who was Rihanna's drill sergeant. In 2004, when the singer was just 16 years old, her talent was discovered by American record producer Evan Rogers while he was vacationing in Barbados. Rogers immediately flew the young singer to the States, where she recorded a four-track demo which was then sent to Def Jam Records, a company that at the time was newly headed by none other than Jay-Z. Although she'd never had any formal vocal training, the record producer was so impressed with her voice, passion, and look, they joked that she couldn't leave until she signed a deal. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jay-Z revealed that he knew right away. He said, After an audition with Mr. Beyonce himself, Rihanna quickly landed a six-record deal with the label. In a 2007 interview with The Observer, Rihanna revealed that she was incredibly nervous when she first met the producers. She said, I had butterflies. I'm sitting across from Jay-Z. Like Jay-Z, I was starstruck." Rihanna was barely 17 when her debut album Music of the Sun hit record stores. The single, Pawn de Replay, stuck out for its use of the singer's culture and language of Bajan Creole. The album sold over two million copies, a grand feat for 2005 before widespread streaming. Still under the encouraging wing of Jay-Z's label, Rihanna went on to find success with her second album and hits such as S.O.S. and Unfaithful. It wasn't long before Rihanna's image shifted from teen pop singer to grown-up star. How do you think she got the nickname Bad Girl RiRi? With the release of Good Girl Gone Bad and the hit track Umbrella, her look adopted a sleeker and edgier feel. Who can forget the iconic, asymmetrical-angled bob? The track was so catchy that anyone who didn't already know about the star from Barbados was now singing along to the lyrics. The album marked a shift in Rihanna's career, when she decided to take control of her style and avoid becoming a product of the pop machine. She said to New York Times Style magazine, Good Girl Gone Bad is where I started to take the reins. I'm going to do whatever I want to do. I'm taking control of my vision, my sound, my clothes. I also embraced change along the way, things that made me a better woman, a better human being, like even the way I communicate. I'm really proud of my growth on that. Nothing about me makes me embarrassed about me. In 2009, her new album titled Rated R showcased an even more mature side to the singer and introduced her edgier style. If three chart-topping albums in three years doesn't say instant icon, the upgraded style says the rest. Rihanna's incredible power in the music industry was solidified in 2011 with the release of We Found Love. The song transcended musical genres. It functions simultaneously as a powerful love ballad, a peppy pop song, and a dance club track worthy of house DJ remixes. Calvin Harris claimed that the song actually skyrocketed his career. He said, "[Career-wise, it was the best thing that could have happened. It changed absolutely everything." Over the course of her own career, Rihanna has collaborated with some of the industry's top performers, such as Jay-Z and Eminem. In 2010, she teamed up with Drake for a collaboration on her album Loud with the song What's My Name. Luckily for her fans, that relationship never really ended and the pair still work together often, such as their 2012 release Take Care and later, the hit Work. Her ease on stage doesn't come without hours of work behind the scenes. That's just the kind of dedication it takes to keep the chart-topping albums coming year after year. Rihanna also showed us just how seriously she takes her work when in 2011, she revealed to Esquire her extensive pre-show routine and rituals. She said, "'I eat lozenges, steam my voice, do my makeup, I Skype my vocal coach for about a half hour, my personal assistant-slash-bartender brings me a drink. I take it very seriously so there is a level of anxiety always. I overthink everything when it comes to my job." Rihanna even admitted to enjoying the occasional stroll through her audience before performances, unbeknownst to her fans. "'Sometimes I go out into the audience, I put on a really big hoodie and sneak out there,' she said." In 2008, Rihanna won her first Grammy Award, which was for Best Rap Performance. Of course, she's earned another 33 Grammy nominations and nine wins. After her 2013 album, fans had to wait a long three years for the release of her next album in 2016 titled Ante, which included the power ballad Love on the Brain, which landed a nod for several awards. It was well worth the wait. The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts twice, two months in a row. Rihanna wasn't satisfied with a singular career, and in 2012 she made her big-screen debut portraying Petty Officer Cora Rakes in the film Battleship. This, of course, led to the star appearing in multiple projects. Although Battleship was Rihanna's first scripted role, she also made a cameo appearance in 2006's Bring It On, All or Nothing, and in the 2013 movie by Seth Rogen, This Is the End. Navigating the journey to a more serious career on screen, Rihanna then found her way to the film adaptation of the musical Annie, the animated film Home, Sandra Bullock's Oceans 8, and television's Bates Motel series. Most recently in 2019, she worked on a passion project with Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, Guava Island, which was released on Amazon Prime and is about a small-town musician living on a tropical island. Having conquered the screen and radio, Rihanna's lifelong love of beauty and fashion has also led her to collaborations in cosmetics and clothing. In 2014, she participated in a project with Puma as a creative director. Her shoe designs ended up winning the prestigious Shoe of the Year award, a prize previously won by Kanye West's famous Yeezys. In her usual cool style, Rihanna even closed out the Puma fashion show by riding through the event on the back of a motocross bike. Her collab with Puma eventually led to working with them through her own brand, Fenty. Another collaboration linked the singer's famous lyrics, "'Shine bright like a diamond," to Chopar, where she designed a line of diamond jewelry. In 2017, Rihanna's highly anticipated cosmetics company, Fenty, hit Sephora stores. Fans immediately fell in love with the line because of its inclusivity, with 40 different shades of foundation. Rihanna was making a clear statement that many skin tones are normally underrepresented in the beauty industry. The company is challenging standards of the industry and essentially reinventing the way makeup foundations can be marketed and sold. A year later, Savage and Fenty dropped within her brand as well, a line of inclusive lingerie. The line carries an extensive size range and includes diverse models for advertising, soon after she announced a fashion line with LVMH. Then in July of 2020, she announced the launch of Fenty Skin with a successful social media campaign. Rihanna has previously opened up about her struggles with skincare and acne. She told Cosmo, "'When I feel like my skin has had it, I cut out all alcohol and overdo the water.'" She also shared that bright lipstick is a hack to draw attention away from skin issues, so it's no surprise that the star has decided to branch into skincare products that, by the way, are also vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free, and eco-conscious. She also cares about having passionate people on her team and staying humble. Of building her Fenty brand, she said, "'I like to think of my establishment at the Fenty house as a hub. Even if you've never designed something in your life, you might have impeccable taste. I'm welcoming everyone's vision here because that's what it's gonna take.'" Rihanna's decade and a half of hard work has not gone unnoticed. According to Forbes, as of June 2019, she was considered the world's richest female musician, all thanks to her good habits of work, work, work. With a $600 million net worth, she stands ahead on the scale of even Madonna and Beyoncé. New York Times reported that in 2017, Rihanna's company, Fenty Beauty, generated $72 million in sales during its first month on shelves. The company took in over $500 million by the end of 2018. Her cosmetics line has grown to be worth almost as much as the record-breaking Kylie Cosmetics, with both lines in a race towards billion-dollar net worths. Her success is so far-reaching, beyond even the numbers of net worths and album sales. Rihanna has a total of eight wax figures in Madame Tussaud's museums all over the world. That's a sign of success. Aside from her own fashion lines, Rihanna's personal style and street looks have become She recently appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris, rocking a bathrobe and towel. Who would think that anyone could make a towel into fashion? A trendsetter and an old soul when it comes to fashion, Rihanna can rock just about any look. A few mysterious images have also saturated the internet, with fans marveling at the singer's ability to walk in balance on subway grates on the sidewalk while wearing spiked stiletto heels. No matter how high she's risen, stilettos or not, Rihanna has never forgotten her home in Barbados. The government of the island recently renamed the street where the singer grew up Westbury New Road to Rihanna Drive. The star shared a heartfelt message to Instagram and said, "...Westbury is more than a community, we're family." Barbados Prime Minister also named February 22nd Rihanna Day. Despite her massive success, Rihanna doesn't plan on slowing down or riding the success train without shoveling a little coal when necessary. She told New York Times Style magazine, "...I never thought I'd make this much money, so a number is not gonna stop me from working." Immense talent or not, Rihanna isn't afraid to break a sweat and work for what she has. She also added, "...I'm working out of what I love to do, what I'm passionate about." It's that same attitude that prompts the singer to invest in charities and create campaigns to help those in need. In 2012, she founded the Clara Leone Foundation, which helps improve the quality of education and healthcare for youth in low-income areas. She also created the Believe Foundation in 2006 to help terminally ill children and participated in a campaign for Fashion Against AIDS, as well as a project with Gucci for UNICEF. In 2017, the singer was awarded the Humanitarian Award of the Year by Harvard University. Because of her strong belief in philanthropy and giving back, President Barack Obama praised her work at the 2017 Diamond Ball by saying, "...you've become a powerful force in the fight to give people dignity." Through her multiple companies and brands, she feels it's important to employ as many people as possible. She says, "...I can create jobs for other people. My money is not for me. It's always the thought that I can help someone else. The world really can make you believe that the wrong things are priority, and it makes you really miss the core of life, what it means to be alive." Back when Rihanna first announced her brand Fenty, some fans worried it meant the end of her musical career. On an Instagram post, one fan even commented that she had forgotten about her music. The singer responded, "...how? Y'all would never let me." Two years later, however, there is still no new album in sight. "...Y'all gonna have to wait, maybe. I'm so sorry." In March 2020, the singer finally gave fans her long-awaited new music when she teamed up with Party Next Door for the track Believe It. It's already four years since we've heard new music, and now she's told Times Colonist that she's asking herself where she wants to see her music going. The next direction of her art and work have taken some major consideration for this veteran entertainer. She stated, "...how do I want to reimagine it? Because it's been so structured before." She also said, "...I want to go on tour, but I can't. So I'm stuck with music that I love, and now I'm trying to figure out how I can even create visuals to that. That's a challenge as well. But I love challenges, you know? I'm gonna get it done." In October, it was announced that her first new album, known as R9, would be coming within the year, and will have a different sound from her previous work, opting for a reggae-inspired bass. The date of release has not yet been clarified, and the delays are most likely due to the recording restrictions and overall difficulties that COVID-19 has caused. The bottom line? A new album is on its way, and fans are willing to wait for the magic that is Rihanna. Being discovered at 16, Rihanna has had plenty of time to forge a diverse career. What do you think makes Rihanna so unique and special? Let us know what you think in the comments, and don't forget to like this video and subscribe to the Taco for more videos about your favorite stars. Bye for now!