The Barbadian starlet, known for her "Good Girl Gone Bad" image and her third studio album of the same name, has certainly had her share of personal issues in recent memory. In particular, she made headlines in the winter of 2009 when she became the victim of domestic violence involving then-boyfriend Chris Brown. But things seem to have been looking up lately; this summer her collaboration with Eminem on his track "Love The Way You Lie" which addresses the issue of domestic abuse helped boost the single to number one on the charts.
During her "Last Girl on Earth" tour, the "Love The Way You Lie" music video and her duet with Eminem on the 2010 Video Music Awards this past September, Rihanna flaunted a new look, with less clothing and fire-engine red hair. She oozes even more sex appeal now than she did in her straightforward single and video "Rude Boy," released in February, which shows off everything but Rihanna's purity and modesty. And in "Only Girl (In The World)," released on Sept. 10, she sings, "I want you to love me/Like I'm a hot ride I want you to take me/Like a thief in the night." Rihanna does not hesitate in asking for what she wants through her music, establishing a bombshell pin-up girl image along the way.
Her lyrics and style, as a matter of fact, have become extremely sexual, almost all of the time. Near the beginning of her career, she made more use of sexual innuendo in her songs. Lately, however, she has not shied away from being sexually explicit. In "Rude Boy," for example, she sings, "Come here rude boy, boy can you get it up?/Come here rude boy, boy is you big enough?" Technically, as some pop-culture commentators have pointed out, she had a "rude boy" in Brown if she took the label literally, and it did not turn out very well for her. Nevertheless, Rihanna has definitely established herself as a sex symbol, taking the hearts of men while setting trends for women (and young girls) to follow.
"Loud" in both her image and her sexuality, Rihanna seems to be dangerously close and getting closer with each release to crossing over into gimmick territory. She takes very literally the idea that sex sells, although it seems to be working very well for her. Maybe she is not the best role model for young women, but she definitely is an unstoppable hit-maker who sings and performs like she is the only girl in the world.
