In 2005, Rihanna started out with her first album 'Music Of The Sun', She had her own look but it wasn't anything special, it was very basic and plain, she was a girl from Barbados who just got signed and the look was obvious and matched what was happening. Since this was when she first started off, the look worked for her and many of the audience could relate to how she looked as most of them looked the same. It was obvious that she had time to grow and become better as an artist. Her album at the time was 'Music Of The Sun', her music was more reggae and it went well with her image. One of the reasons the audience liked her was because she was relatable and also something different, she was also fun at this point, and none of her music was too serious.
By looking at her video for 'If It's Lovin That You Want' you can see that she is just starting off, everything about Rihanna is new and its also clean, none of what she is doing is explicit, which was also right because of her age. She made everything right for an artist who was just coming on to the music scene as she wanted to make a good impression. Her clothes again matched what was happening around that time, and this will have been what most people will have been wearing. Doing something a bit more different at first could have made the audience put off, so starting off safe with her style made sure that she was going to be a successful artist.
After her first album it was then in 2006 when Rihanna released 'A Girl Like Me' her second album which again still had the same vibe to it, but that little bit more up tempo and upbeat. This is when she brought out SOS, and her look changed. This was one of the first times we had seen Rihanna looking more like a star then her just looking like an average everyday girl. She started to straighten her hair and go for more of a dance vibe, although there was still aspects of the first album mixed in, it was still a big change from the girl we saw at first. She also started to wear more explicit clothing and much more make up to what we was used to at first, her dancing in the video's as well was more explicit and her whole image changed. This matched what was happening at the time though, as many artists was doing the same. If Rihanna didn't change her look, it wouldn't have shown growth as an artist, so changing was the right thing to do, and her success was the proof. Her hair was the biggest change, as we was used to more of a natural look at the start of her career, but the straight hair made her more up to date and current, she couldn't have kept her hair like this all the time, other wise the audience would have got bored.
The video for 'SOS' was a big change for Rihanna. In her earlier videos like 'If It's Lovin That You Want' there is a dance sequence, but its not explicit at all. This video is much more explicit, it has more skin on show, and also the dancing is very different. Its much more intimate and also it shows a different side to her that the audience hadn't seen. They was used to this new girl on the scene from Barbados, and this was more of what we have seen other artists doing, her making this big change brought her onto the level what other artists was on and it got her more and more attention just from changing her image.
In 2007 it was a massive change for Rihanna, Jay Z has signed her to his record label, he is one of the biggest names in Hip Hop meaning that her style of music was going to change, and not only her music but also her look. Def Jam is one of the biggest record labels in the world, so making sure that her image was right was a big deal and changing it drastically worked for her. This was when Rihanna became the most successful, she got a number 1 with her song umbrella and this was when we saw a huge difference in image. She cut her hair into the famous bob, dyed it black and wore completely different clothes. This was nothing like what we has seen before, you wouldn't be able to tell that just a couple of years ago she was just starting out, so the look paid off and made a big difference, it made her more of an artist.
The 'Umbrella' video was the first video in which Jay Z had signed her, and it was a huge shock to the audience. The video and her new look got a great response and the song was a UK Number 1 was many weeks. It was a big risk for Rihanna to change her look so drastically and also her type of music but everything she did fitted in with what was going on at that time, for example; the song, the UK had floods all over the country, meaning more people bought the song and also her look matched what everyone was doing at that point and she also started off trends as a lot of people started to copy her hair cut and also her make-up. The album was called 'Good Girl Gone Bad' which also shows that she was going to change. There is also other videos like 'Shut Up and Drive' which was brought out in the same year, these are all edgier video's, as time goes on you can see Rihanna becoming more and more edgy, and also making sure that she is relevant and up to date with everything including what's happening and the style
Also in 2008, Rihanna didn't release a new album, she just re released her old album and added new bonus tracks to it. She released 'Take A Bow' which she striped back for a while, she cut her hair even shorter and when very basic and simple, she didn't keep this hair cut for very long, but people still liked this look and again started to copy, it was even a trend for star tattoo's, which Rihanna has on the back of her neck. Her image was starting to get even bigger, and people really was interested in what Rihanna was going to do next, what hair colour and cut she was going to have, if she was going to get any more tattoo's and also what clothes and style of music she would be doing next, and this is what an artist wants, their style to be recognized.
2009 was when Rihanna then brought out her album 'Rated R'. Again her style changed, and this time it was more for a Rock look. She changed her hair, the colour and the cut and even took to the extreme of shaving the side of her head. People again was copying her style and wanting to look like her. Her music changed the most and people wasn't used to seeing Rihanna like this. She also started to reveal much more skin than usual and was seen as very explicit, it became worrying to parents and made Rihanna more for the older audience's. This was a new Era for Rihanna and she was just experimenting. This was also when Rihanna started to be more explicit and started to bring more sex into her music, she did explicit photo shoots and also revealed much more in her music videos, which the audience hadn't really seen her do before, although she has shown some explicit scenes in other music video's none was quite like these scenes in any of 'Rated R' tracks she brought out, For example in 'Wait Your Turn', she is wearing less clothes and in 'Te Amo' the lyrics are explicit and so is the video.
This music video was very explicit. She did a different theme, changed her look and her dancing and the way she acts is much more different. Although she is only young, she started to act much more older and at this point, her music wasn't doing as well as her other songs and albums had been doing. This just proves that image can also knock an artist down, and if the image isn't right, it means that sales will go down and also people will get a different impression of the artist, although her album didn't do terrible, it was the worst sales for Rihanna yet, meaning that she had to find yet another style to get people back on board and bring all the attention back on to her again.
After the Rated R came 'LOUD', Rihanna's 5th Studio Album, in 2010/2011 Rihanna again radically changed her look, she went from being a tomboy rock girl, to being very girly with red hair. This was when the audience started to do what she did, since she dyed her hair it was a huge trend around early 2011 to dye your hair bright red, girls was also becoming much more girly, and this was all down to Rihanna. She was still explicit in video's, including 'S&M' which was banned because of the outrage of parents, this didn't stop her though and she still carried on being the same person, which is why Rihanna is so popular, she did this many years ago and knows it works, so she did it again, and although it was banned it didn't bring down her success. This look carried on for a while and she even brought it on tour with her but still changing her look every step of the way, this being the style of her hair or the outfits, she still had that loud bright hair, and this is what was good, the style matched what the music was about.
'Only Girl (In The World)' was the first video after the 'Rated R' album. This was yet again another shock to fans after they had seen her do rock, she came out with a fun Pop/Dance song. The look is red hair and also very colourful make up and clothes. The clothes and the make-up really work well together with the song, even the effects in the video match the song. She still dances in the video, but its not so much choreographed moves like we have seen in previous video's she has done, this is because I think you see more of her the artist rather than other people, her video's in this Era also started to be more like stories, and not just fun video's, like 'Man Down' about her shooting someone and also 'What's My Name' where it was more of a romantic video. Rihanna makes sure that the audience see her in different ways, so you can see the fun side of her and also the more serious side. Every video from the 'LOUD' album is very different but they all have her with red hair and they all have that same colourful theme. 'Cheers (Drink To That)' was a video in which Rihanna used home footage and also tour footage which gave us an in sight to her home life, and you saw yet another image, a more raw and natural look and style, also it shows you her real hair and that the red hair is just a wig, this made us feel like we knew the artist more and what she is really like.
This is Rihanna's current image and style. In late 2011, Rihanna decided to dye her hair brown, her natural hair colour, and although the hair colour wasn't a drastic change her style was. She is now dressing much more edgier and sexier. This is because this is now what is in style. She is wearing shorts, bandanna's and also changing her music, she is now doing more Dance music and this is because its what popular at the moment. Her new album has lots of different style's of music but its much more edgy than any of her other stuff. The audience are still copying what she is doing though, and her style is becoming more and more up to date and relevant, she is starting the trends instead of following them like what she did at the very start of her career and it also makes us see her differently, she is now again looking more natural and her image is still changing.
This music video is like none she has ever done before, it has much more meaning than the others and it has no dance moves, its more like a story and brings the audience in much more. Her clothes are realistic and are what you would see normal everyday people wear. I think that she is relating more and more to the audience as time goes on and she just keeps growing as an artist, not only in her style but also in her music. Making sure that she is up to date is a key aspect for Rihanna, this is what has made her so successful, is that she knows what the audience like especially style wise and she knows what they will copy, and this is what she will think about when making any album cover or music video, will the audience wear this or something similar? Because not only do the audience feel good, but it will also bring in more publicity as an artist for Rihanna and make her more popular, which is why style is so important.
I am going to try and make sure that in my own music video, I represent the style really well and try and get across what style my artist is. I think that the styling of an artist is very important and is one of the main reason's a star is a star. I should try and make sure that the styling suits the music video genre and look of the video and also it creates an image for the star, it can make them different from everyone else and using style can express this. I hope I can take some aspects of what Rihanna has done and put them into my own music video, and although Rihanna is not from my chosen Genre she is still a great example of how style really can change how your artist is seen, how they are seen and how their music has to match the image. I want to also make sure that the style isn't boring and something that you have already seen before, which again is what Rihanna does.
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