The Multi-Hyphenate, Emotional Powerhouse: Rihanna by Enyjé Sandoz

The multi-hyphenate Rihanna is a powerhouse in more ways than one. First stepping onto the scene in 2005 at the age of 17, Rihanna was a long way from the left side of the island she grew up on, but was pre-ordained to make a permanent and indelible mark on the world through her music and later, her other notable endeavors.

 

While she is known for her club bangers, such as Pour It Up, and uber-successful pop records — too many to name—there’s a reason she is one of the highest-selling artists of all time, ranking in at #8 just after Led Zeppelin and before Pink Floyd, with 400 million records sold. Insane. I cannot even begin to conceptualize that number. Rihanna's artistry supersedes her commercial success.

With her immense success in her 20-year career, there are several elements of her music that are severely underrated and understated: her emotional infusion and the level of vulnerability she exposed to the world. The propensity to be enamored with her illustrious world of fashion, glitz and glam, bad gal embodiment, thus engaging with her music superficially, is palpable; however, as a listener, it is truly a sore mistake. 

It is evident: music was the one place she did not and could not hide.

Today’s mood called for Rihanna; thus, as I write this blog, I am listening to her discography. I keep stopping every so often, losing my train of thought due to being caught up in the music. I grew up listening to Rihanna — thanks to my sister- and as a teenager, I further immersed myself in her catalog, and listened from the vantage point of my preferences. Without a doubt, Unapologetic is my favorite album. I can listen to that album from top to bottom with no skips — I just love that album! My second favorite album is ANTI — funny enough, Close to You just came on — a fave since 2016. Besides being a phenomenal body of work, ANTI is my second favorite because it is an extension of Unapologetic, but evolved. Unapologetic is in the thick of it, while ANTI is the liminal phase of coping with an inevitable ending but still wrestling with a spectrum of emotion: desire, lust, anger, longing, disassociation, apathy, and tantalization. I could write a whole post alone on how interconnected Unapologetic and ANTI are (from a listener's perspective) — and I just might, but that’s not the purpose of this post. 

Being immersed in the musical sounds of Rihanna is to be taken on an emotional rollercoaster in the best way possible. Every song carries emotional depth that is tangible through her voice. As I currently listen to Stay, you can feel her yearning. A little over thirty minutes ago, you could grasp the cognitive dissonance she experienced in Fool In Love as she pleaded her case to her parents, all the while engaging in self-awareness. The ‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ energy permeated through Bitch Better Better Have My Money — as if the title did not say enough. The manipulation of slurred speech from being in a drunken stupor created the perfect visual for Higher without the need for a video. Her mischievous side peers through on Rockstar 101 as she welcomes danger, the trepidation yet subtle determination in Russian Roulette, or the flirtatiousness of Rude Boy. 

Rihanna is an emotional powerhouse; it is her stamp and the most distinguishable quality of her voice. Her voice is a sluice for catharsis as she details her life experiences — no matter how tortured, internally conflicted, confident or cocky, metaphorically, sexually dominating and liberated, and carefree it may sound, she never shied away from sharing in her music. 

Rihanna’s emotional malleability is a crucial aspect that is missing in today’s music. In her latest Harper’s BAZAAR interview, she revealed: “I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years. There's no genre now. That's why I waited. Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it's not me. It's not right. It's not matching my growth. It's not matching my evolution. I can't do this. I can't stand by this. I can't perform this for a year on tour.’ After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more. When I'm in the studio, I know that my time away from my kids is to blossom something that hasn't been watered in eight years. I've been in the studio the whole eight years. But it didn't hit me. I was searching for it. I went through phases of what I wanted to do. ‘This kind of album, not that album.’ I know it's not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it's not going to be commercial or radio, digestible. It's going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I've finally cracked it, girl!”

Well, RiRi, I cannot wait for your return to music. Your presence is terribly missed!

When you think about early 2000s breakout singles — e.g. 'Pon de Replay', insane! Twenty years later, that shit still slaps! The girlies are not doing it like that anymore!

— Enyjé (@enyjemai) April 8, 2025