Too Much Rihanna

I’m sure we are all familiar with the saying that there can be too much of a good thing. Is there something to be said about too much of a mediocre thing? Case-in-point: Rihanna.

I remember when she first hit the airwaves with her hit “Pon De Replay” and I initially thought it was Beyonce because of the long hair and the hip gyrations (which is probably why she cut her hair). Then I realized it wasn’t her and began to look into this “Rihanna”. Then she pretty much fell off my radar until “SOS” and I got mad that she was sampling “Tainted Love” in the song for a song. Then came her biggest hit, ever. I don’t even think I need to link to it because it was one of the biggest songs of 2007. At first I hated the song. I found it to be childish and simplistic. But damn, did that song grow on me. It played in just about every bar/nightclub I went into and it got the place bouncing. People would scream “BECAUSE!” and “ella, ella” and it was a crowd pleaser. Then came the enticingly dark “Disturbia”, which is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, and from there her stock rose.

Enter 2009. She releases a new album and with it a terrible song in “Rude Boy”, “Hard” and every other single off that album. Then, just when I thought it was over she comes out with another album one year later. Now on the radio all I hear is “Only Girl”, “What’s My Name?” and her duet with Eminem. All of which are not nearly as good as the general public make them out to be. “Only Girl” is an attempt to capture the electronic-based club anthem crowd into listening to pop music. Success. “What’s My Name?” is just bad because of “Degrassi” Alum Drake’s vocals – they are nasty (and not in a good way). His voice is strained and is a pain to my ears. Her duet with Eminem makes no sense, as the song is about burning someone alive while they are on a bed. Huh? How do these songs warrant repeated listening. I heard “Only Girl” a few times before I grew tired of it and as soon as I hear her songs with Drake and Eminem I turned the radio dial. It’s too much.

The radio airwaves are being saturated with Rihanna and it’s really starting to annoy me. This is too much of a mediocre thing. I hope she takes some time to think about her next album and the next songs she makes because too much of something is bad enough and when that something is being played repeatedly over the radio then people will start to tune you out because it is being overplayed. I realize she/her agent/her marketing team are capitalizing on her stardom but this might be overdoing it to the extent that people will get tired of her and want for her to take a break. I know I do.