Loved your take on this-- particularly the strange, vicarious tension that spectator sports inflict on those who care about them.
Back in the early aughts, I was an A&R person for Sony Music, and I met Rihanna at the Yonkers studio of the producers who discovered her. It was her first trip to the US from Barbados, and her first meeting with a record label. She was beautiful but shy-- she stood and sang one song and hardly spoke at all. When we left the meeting, my colleague and I turned to each other and said immediately, "We have to sign her".
It's interesting how superstars, even ones that don't yet know they are superstars, have a presence that far outweighs anything they do or say. At 16 or 17 years old, Rihanna knew that she didn't need to say much, try to "sell" herself, or dance and "perform" her song. She could just just let the sheer force of her personality do the work. As you point out, it was exactly the same thing with her Super Bowl performance---albeit at a much, much higher level.
And really, who the hell could dance and sing on a platform that far above the ground? I would have demanded that I be strapped flat on the stage and equipped with a parachute, just in case.
This is so cool! I love that she was already radiating that kind of power and presence at the very beginning of her career. Thank you for sharing this story!
Loved your take on this-- particularly the strange, vicarious tension that spectator sports inflict on those who care about them.
Back in the early aughts, I was an A&R person for Sony Music, and I met Rihanna at the Yonkers studio of the producers who discovered her. It was her first trip to the US from Barbados, and her first meeting with a record label. She was beautiful but shy-- she stood and sang one song and hardly spoke at all. When we left the meeting, my colleague and I turned to each other and said immediately, "We have to sign her".
It's interesting how superstars, even ones that don't yet know they are superstars, have a presence that far outweighs anything they do or say. At 16 or 17 years old, Rihanna knew that she didn't need to say much, try to "sell" herself, or dance and "perform" her song. She could just just let the sheer force of her personality do the work. As you point out, it was exactly the same thing with her Super Bowl performance---albeit at a much, much higher level.
And really, who the hell could dance and sing on a platform that far above the ground? I would have demanded that I be strapped flat on the stage and equipped with a parachute, just in case.
This is so cool! I love that she was already radiating that kind of power and presence at the very beginning of her career. Thank you for sharing this story!