To some it may be a classic fairy tale, a dream come true. But to 17-year-old Robin Rihanna Fenty, the Barbados born singer who may be on her way to stardom, it’s simply a work in progress.
One year Rihanna was an unknown high school student in a small Caribbean nation, the next she has a hit tune on the international charts and is being flown across the country, traveling with a chaperone to major cities and to international capitals for the media and music lovers to see and hear.
“It’s like a dream coming true, it’s just the beginning,” was the way the confident 17 year old former Combermerian put it to the Carib News as she rushed from one press interview to another in New York City.
“Yes, things are happening quite fast, but no, I didn’t think it would happen so quickly,” added Rihanna, the singer of the hit tune, “Pon de Replay,” which is the number one song being downloaded from the Internet by pop music lovers throughout North America and reached number two on the Billboard chart of the top 100 mostly played pop tunes.
“Yes, I love it,” Rihanna added. “It’s not the attention that I am getting; really, it’s the success that the song is having and, hopefully, the album.”
A top music executive attributed Rihanna’s obvious talent and confidence to the people around her, including Def Jam, the music labeled that signed her and is now marketing her and to Evan and Jackie Rogers.
“Def Jam and Jay-Z are committed to her success because they see in her a super-star,” said the TV music executive. “Rihanna obviously has good people supporting her. That’s what you need in this business.”
That may explain why when Rihanna stepped on the same stage last Saturday with such tennis greats as Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova and Andy Roddick, plus ‘The Click Five’ and Jesse McCartney she took it all in stride as she sings her popular song before a large audience at the Arthur Ash Tennis Center in Queens. The event, “2005 Arthur Ashe Kids Day,” a kickoff for the 2005 U.S. Lawn Tennis Open Championships is to be taped for broadcast on television national and international television next month.
That appearance will be a prelude to a hectic period in which the Bajan is scheduled to be seen on a host of nationally televised shows and programs, beginning this week with an appearance on the “Today Show” on NBC television network. Rihana is also to sing at the World Music Awards presentation; the MTV Awards; and the kick-off show heralding the beginning of the 2005 season of the National Football League on ABC-Television. On that show, she will be singing alongside Hip-Hop’s superstar, Kanye West, whose story was on last week’s cover of Time Magazine as “the smartest man in pop music” today.
But that’s not all. In the works are appearances on “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno on NBC and “David Letterman” on CBS. Rihanna has just completed the filming in Los Angeles of her second music video, “If it’s Loving that you want,” which is being edited and soon to be aired on MTV. By the way, in the video, there are sand castles in the shape of a broken trident, a tribute to Barbados.
But is Rihanna giddy with excitement and how is she handling the media pressure?
Quite well, thank you.
“No problem, I have done some of these things before and I already have the drift of them,” Rihanna replied. “It’s just about getting them done.”
As Rihanna continues to reach for the stars, if you will, she has her mind focused on the success of the album, “Rihanna Music of the Sun.”
“Of course, we expect bigger things, like the album becoming platinum, and then some albums after that,” Rihanna declared. “We have a number of things that will take place to promote the first album and we are concentrating on that. We are confident it’s going to do well.”
By any measure, Rihanna is fortunate. The teenager from St. Michael was in the right place at the right time that enabled Evan Rogers, a talented and highly successful pop music composer and his Bajan wife, Jackie, to spot her powerful singing voice and for them to decide to do something about it. She was also fortunate that Rogers and his music partner, Carl Sturken, were able to create close to a dozen songs that suit her voice, drawing their inspiration from a mix of R&B, dancehall and reggae. She was equally fortunate to have both Evan and Jackie serving as surrogate parents while Rihanna is in the United States and away from Barbados.
To top that bill of good fortune, Rihanna points to the support, interest and attention of her biological parents who are in Barbados.
“My parents are very supportive, and they are very happy,” Rihanna said.
Rihanna was equally quick to praise both Evan and Jackie, describing them as being “excited about what’s happening.”
Reached at his home in Stamford Connecticut where Rihanna lives when she is in New York, Evan said that the Bajan was easy to work with and was destined to go even further.
“It’s all coming together nicely,” he said. “There are so many things being planned for her. It’s really very nice.”
For her part, Jackie said the other morning after driving Rihanna to the dentist that the teenager’s personality and drive were key factors behind the success.
“Rihanna is really a very nice young lady,” Jackie said.
The third installment of cheerleader film franchise BRING IT ON, which is currently shooting in Los Angeles, where a pair of rival squads compete for a chance to appear in Rihanna’s upcoming television special is Beyonce’s sister Solange Knowles (”Johnson Family Vacation,” “The Proud Family”) and Hayden Panettiere (”Ice Princess,” “Raising Helen”).
