Tweet
Rihanna
Cover Story (SHE magazine)
The Bajan Beyonce
A teenager from St Micheal’s Bardados is one of the hottest artists on the international stage, rubbing shoulders with Jay-Z and gaining recognition for her soulful voice. Amina Taylor met a young woman proud of her roots and wise beyond her years. Rihanna is at an age when most teenagers are in high school sweating over which subjects to choose, who they are going to take the school dance and wondering if their parents might not notice if they stay out past curfew. Instead this green-eyed beauty from Barbados is on first name terms with music mogul Jay-Z, has companies beating down her door to endorse their products and has emerged as one of the most exciting Caribbean artists to explode on the world stage in a very long time. At the tender age of 18, Rihanna has already performed on the UK’s premier music show, Top of The Pops, appeared on MTV channels around the world and is being lined up for numerous award ceremonies outside her sun-drenched island.From Jamaica’s Bob Marley and Sean Paul to Trinidad’s Mighty Sparrow, Kevin Lyttle from St Vincent and fellow Bajan Rupee, prior to Rihanna’s success it seemed the prerequisite for Caribbean musical achievement was male DNA. Women were generally only granted local stardom, destined to work the regional music circuit until hopefully fate intervened. But no one told Rihanna the odds should have been stacked against her. Instead, just a year after leaving high school, the petite beauty with the knock-out voice was only kept off the top of the English charts by Oasis, a group of scruffy rockers from Manchester who had been singing longer than Rihanna had been alive. Her infectious hit, Pon De Replay, was lapped up in Britain, making it one of the most successful debut tracks by a Bajan artist ever—male or female.Rihanna’s international success story is the stuff of those happily-ever-after Disney movies. She was discovered after a friend, and keen supporter of her singing talent, introduced her to New York producer Evan Rogers who happened to be vacationing in Barbados with his Bajan wife, Jackie. Rogers liked Rihanna’s impromptu, hotel lobby audition and later introduced her to his musical partner, Carl Sturken. The two men are well respected on the music scene having produced hits for Christina Aguilera and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. They knew they had another potential star on their hands.To introduce Rihanna to the rigors of recording in a gentle way, the then 16-year-old was brought over to Evan and Sturken’s New York recording studio during her school holidays to record over 12 songs for her first demo tape.Rihanna still recalls the recording sessions with an air of disbelief. Prior to her brush with the American super-producers, her ambition to sing had been kept very low-key. “I never sang in public,” she says with a lilting accent to die for. “I never performed in Barbados in front of a crowd. A few of my friends knew I wanted to sing and one of my best friends knew a producer through her mom. She knew he was going to be in Barbados because he’s married to a Bajan and they vacation there at Christmas time. She wanted me to meet with him.” The talented teen remains unapologetic about wanting to take advantage of the opportunity afforded her. “I wasn’t shy about it. I was like, ‘Where is he?’ It’s like I needed to do this. We met, I sang for him and he was impressed. I was flown to his studio in NY to record. This was over a year. I’d fly over to his studio at Easter to just get me used to being in a studio environment, then I’d fly back up, record in October and come back in December. My recording basically happened during school vacation time.”The completed demo fell into the hands of Def Jam CEO and label head Shawn Jay-Z Carter who called Rihanna and her team in for an immediate meeting. She’s almost breathless as she recounts the series of events, and it’s hard not to be astonished how quickly things moved. “I left to go back to Barbados on Monday. The demo was sent in on Wednesday, Def Jam called back Thursday and the producers went over for a meeting, so I had to come back on Friday evening. I was supposed to come back on my next school holiday in February but the guys over at Def Jam said, ‘Why do you have to wait?’ That’s when I knew it was serious.”Just how serious quickly became apparent. In the room with rapper-turned label head Jay-Z were two artist and repertoire representatives, one representative from the Def Jam Marketing department, two producers, Rihanna’s manager and her lawyer. Considering this teenager had never sung in public in Barbados this was a baptism of fire. “For a while I was sure I was just sweating. I was so terrified that my make-up would run because I could barely sleep the night before and had to get up extra early to get dressed. My throat was dry and I was trying so hard to act like this was normal for me.” Dressed to evoke the spirit of the Caribbean’s azure waters in a blue boob tube, white trousers and white boots, Rihanna belted out The Last Time, a ballad from her album, Whitney Houston’s version of For The Love of You and Pon De Replay. “There was no music. Just me,” she recalls. “Jay-Z was so cool. He was sitting on the couch and he went out of his way to make me feel comfortable. Everything was done in a very professional manner but he made me feel so at ease and able to do my best. He did not let me leave until three in the morning when I had signed with him. All our representatives checked over the contract and everyone was happy.”
Even now Rihanna always speaks enthusiastically about the great relationship she has with her employer. He might have a reputation as hard-nosed rapper but Rihanna says Jay-Z just lets her develop her style naturally. “As label head he was not very hands-on with the project. He gave final approval but he let me write the kind of music I wanted to write and sing the kind of songs I wanted to sing. If he liked it, it went on the album, if he didn’t he’d tell me to tweak it or it just did not make the final cut and that rarely happened. He is an incredible boss and an incredible person. The thing is he’s done it, been there and seen it all and truly wants you to do your best.”It is this impeccable sense of manners and decorum that gives Rihanna a grace and maturity beyond her years. She has a strong business brain, not surprising since it was the subject she was studying in Barbados when fame came calling. Rihanna is one young lady who certainly has her head screwed on right.Dubbed the Bajan Beyoncé because of her good looks and association with Jay-Z, Rihanna claims her ability to stay focused and behave more worldly than her years is due to the influence of her mother who raised her and three younger brothers on her own. “I know a lot for my age. My mom raised me to be a child and know my place but also to think like a woman. She never held back from me in terms of being too young to know certain things so fortunately, I am very mature for my age. In this business you have to work with the things that get thrown your way; the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't feel under any additional pressure being young. Starting early means I get a chance to grow as a person and as an artist. My family keeps my feet on the ground so I don't get too ahead of myself.”This Caribbean princess might still have to study 15 hours every week to meet the requirements of child labor laws, but her youth has not shielded her from the backlash that invariably follows the acclaim. “I have been ready for the backstabbing my whole life. After I won the school [talent and beauty] pageant I lost a lot of people who I thought were my friends. Even the person who I thought was my best friend, stopped speaking to me but the people who are real have stuck around. When I signed my recording deal, a few fake friends and I parted ways. I gained some who wanted to get close to me because of the deal so they had to go as well. “In Barbados we have this pride thing, people hate to give up compliments. It physically hurts them to say congratulations so they find it easier to be mean.”Cattiness and backbiting will not stop Rihanna from taking her rightful place on the world stage. Cosmetics companies are lining up to sign her as the face of their products and clothing firms are vying for her signature, but for the moment, this teen is taking things slowly and remaining focused on the music. “I am very good at being in the here and now. The easiest way to do it is to think about what I would have been doing if so many things had not fallen in line for me. What if my first song had not become successful? What if Jay-Z did not like how I sounded or appreciated the kind of music I wanted to do. I’m a very blessed artist.”She might be carrying a big responsibility on her young shoulders but Rihanna takes her role as the region’s unofficial female ambassador seriously. On her debut album, Music of the Sun, she attempts to fuse some of her own musical influences—reggae, soca and RnB—into a format that perhaps best represents where the Caribbean is headed musically. She can never say enough about her love for her island and the music that still drives the beat of her heart, despite her international success. “The people are so warm, you’ll find a few rude ones but I guess those sneak through wherever you go. The majority of Bajans are warm and friendly. We love to welcome people from other countries, generally we cater to them well. We love to hang out, we love to party. Music is our love. We embrace music like reggae, hip hop, RnB. Soca and calypso are our cultural music but we Bajans love the full flavors of the Caribbean.” To demonstrate her passion for the region’s music Rihanna recently linked up with SHE Caribbean cover star Rupee to record some material that may well get an international release.“It is such an honor to carry the torch for Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean. When I performed at the MTV Video Music Awards so many people had the Barbados flag and people back home saw that and were just so touched. The people at the Barbados Tourist Board saw that and were just so moved. They had never seen a Bajan artist represent on the international stage like that before which is amazing. Sometimes, when you have that kind of support you feel like you could take on the world.”Don’t bet against this Bajan cutie doing just that.
Cover Story (SHE magazine)
The Bajan Beyonce
A teenager from St Micheal’s Bardados is one of the hottest artists on the international stage, rubbing shoulders with Jay-Z and gaining recognition for her soulful voice. Amina Taylor met a young woman proud of her roots and wise beyond her years. Rihanna is at an age when most teenagers are in high school sweating over which subjects to choose, who they are going to take the school dance and wondering if their parents might not notice if they stay out past curfew. Instead this green-eyed beauty from Barbados is on first name terms with music mogul Jay-Z, has companies beating down her door to endorse their products and has emerged as one of the most exciting Caribbean artists to explode on the world stage in a very long time. At the tender age of 18, Rihanna has already performed on the UK’s premier music show, Top of The Pops, appeared on MTV channels around the world and is being lined up for numerous award ceremonies outside her sun-drenched island.From Jamaica’s Bob Marley and Sean Paul to Trinidad’s Mighty Sparrow, Kevin Lyttle from St Vincent and fellow Bajan Rupee, prior to Rihanna’s success it seemed the prerequisite for Caribbean musical achievement was male DNA. Women were generally only granted local stardom, destined to work the regional music circuit until hopefully fate intervened. But no one told Rihanna the odds should have been stacked against her. Instead, just a year after leaving high school, the petite beauty with the knock-out voice was only kept off the top of the English charts by Oasis, a group of scruffy rockers from Manchester who had been singing longer than Rihanna had been alive. Her infectious hit, Pon De Replay, was lapped up in Britain, making it one of the most successful debut tracks by a Bajan artist ever—male or female.Rihanna’s international success story is the stuff of those happily-ever-after Disney movies. She was discovered after a friend, and keen supporter of her singing talent, introduced her to New York producer Evan Rogers who happened to be vacationing in Barbados with his Bajan wife, Jackie. Rogers liked Rihanna’s impromptu, hotel lobby audition and later introduced her to his musical partner, Carl Sturken. The two men are well respected on the music scene having produced hits for Christina Aguilera and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. They knew they had another potential star on their hands.To introduce Rihanna to the rigors of recording in a gentle way, the then 16-year-old was brought over to Evan and Sturken’s New York recording studio during her school holidays to record over 12 songs for her first demo tape.Rihanna still recalls the recording sessions with an air of disbelief. Prior to her brush with the American super-producers, her ambition to sing had been kept very low-key. “I never sang in public,” she says with a lilting accent to die for. “I never performed in Barbados in front of a crowd. A few of my friends knew I wanted to sing and one of my best friends knew a producer through her mom. She knew he was going to be in Barbados because he’s married to a Bajan and they vacation there at Christmas time. She wanted me to meet with him.” The talented teen remains unapologetic about wanting to take advantage of the opportunity afforded her. “I wasn’t shy about it. I was like, ‘Where is he?’ It’s like I needed to do this. We met, I sang for him and he was impressed. I was flown to his studio in NY to record. This was over a year. I’d fly over to his studio at Easter to just get me used to being in a studio environment, then I’d fly back up, record in October and come back in December. My recording basically happened during school vacation time.”The completed demo fell into the hands of Def Jam CEO and label head Shawn Jay-Z Carter who called Rihanna and her team in for an immediate meeting. She’s almost breathless as she recounts the series of events, and it’s hard not to be astonished how quickly things moved. “I left to go back to Barbados on Monday. The demo was sent in on Wednesday, Def Jam called back Thursday and the producers went over for a meeting, so I had to come back on Friday evening. I was supposed to come back on my next school holiday in February but the guys over at Def Jam said, ‘Why do you have to wait?’ That’s when I knew it was serious.”Just how serious quickly became apparent. In the room with rapper-turned label head Jay-Z were two artist and repertoire representatives, one representative from the Def Jam Marketing department, two producers, Rihanna’s manager and her lawyer. Considering this teenager had never sung in public in Barbados this was a baptism of fire. “For a while I was sure I was just sweating. I was so terrified that my make-up would run because I could barely sleep the night before and had to get up extra early to get dressed. My throat was dry and I was trying so hard to act like this was normal for me.” Dressed to evoke the spirit of the Caribbean’s azure waters in a blue boob tube, white trousers and white boots, Rihanna belted out The Last Time, a ballad from her album, Whitney Houston’s version of For The Love of You and Pon De Replay. “There was no music. Just me,” she recalls. “Jay-Z was so cool. He was sitting on the couch and he went out of his way to make me feel comfortable. Everything was done in a very professional manner but he made me feel so at ease and able to do my best. He did not let me leave until three in the morning when I had signed with him. All our representatives checked over the contract and everyone was happy.”
Even now Rihanna always speaks enthusiastically about the great relationship she has with her employer. He might have a reputation as hard-nosed rapper but Rihanna says Jay-Z just lets her develop her style naturally. “As label head he was not very hands-on with the project. He gave final approval but he let me write the kind of music I wanted to write and sing the kind of songs I wanted to sing. If he liked it, it went on the album, if he didn’t he’d tell me to tweak it or it just did not make the final cut and that rarely happened. He is an incredible boss and an incredible person. The thing is he’s done it, been there and seen it all and truly wants you to do your best.”It is this impeccable sense of manners and decorum that gives Rihanna a grace and maturity beyond her years. She has a strong business brain, not surprising since it was the subject she was studying in Barbados when fame came calling. Rihanna is one young lady who certainly has her head screwed on right.Dubbed the Bajan Beyoncé because of her good looks and association with Jay-Z, Rihanna claims her ability to stay focused and behave more worldly than her years is due to the influence of her mother who raised her and three younger brothers on her own. “I know a lot for my age. My mom raised me to be a child and know my place but also to think like a woman. She never held back from me in terms of being too young to know certain things so fortunately, I am very mature for my age. In this business you have to work with the things that get thrown your way; the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't feel under any additional pressure being young. Starting early means I get a chance to grow as a person and as an artist. My family keeps my feet on the ground so I don't get too ahead of myself.”This Caribbean princess might still have to study 15 hours every week to meet the requirements of child labor laws, but her youth has not shielded her from the backlash that invariably follows the acclaim. “I have been ready for the backstabbing my whole life. After I won the school [talent and beauty] pageant I lost a lot of people who I thought were my friends. Even the person who I thought was my best friend, stopped speaking to me but the people who are real have stuck around. When I signed my recording deal, a few fake friends and I parted ways. I gained some who wanted to get close to me because of the deal so they had to go as well. “In Barbados we have this pride thing, people hate to give up compliments. It physically hurts them to say congratulations so they find it easier to be mean.”Cattiness and backbiting will not stop Rihanna from taking her rightful place on the world stage. Cosmetics companies are lining up to sign her as the face of their products and clothing firms are vying for her signature, but for the moment, this teen is taking things slowly and remaining focused on the music. “I am very good at being in the here and now. The easiest way to do it is to think about what I would have been doing if so many things had not fallen in line for me. What if my first song had not become successful? What if Jay-Z did not like how I sounded or appreciated the kind of music I wanted to do. I’m a very blessed artist.”She might be carrying a big responsibility on her young shoulders but Rihanna takes her role as the region’s unofficial female ambassador seriously. On her debut album, Music of the Sun, she attempts to fuse some of her own musical influences—reggae, soca and RnB—into a format that perhaps best represents where the Caribbean is headed musically. She can never say enough about her love for her island and the music that still drives the beat of her heart, despite her international success. “The people are so warm, you’ll find a few rude ones but I guess those sneak through wherever you go. The majority of Bajans are warm and friendly. We love to welcome people from other countries, generally we cater to them well. We love to hang out, we love to party. Music is our love. We embrace music like reggae, hip hop, RnB. Soca and calypso are our cultural music but we Bajans love the full flavors of the Caribbean.” To demonstrate her passion for the region’s music Rihanna recently linked up with SHE Caribbean cover star Rupee to record some material that may well get an international release.“It is such an honor to carry the torch for Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean. When I performed at the MTV Video Music Awards so many people had the Barbados flag and people back home saw that and were just so touched. The people at the Barbados Tourist Board saw that and were just so moved. They had never seen a Bajan artist represent on the international stage like that before which is amazing. Sometimes, when you have that kind of support you feel like you could take on the world.”Don’t bet against this Bajan cutie doing just that.
Comment