Live your life - Rihanna
by Nadira Gunatilleke
May be you’re thinking that only
black male rappers dominate the hip hop music industry but this is not
so. There are black beauties too! There are many of them who shake the
hip hop world with their music with voices and looks! Here comes one of
them and she is young, pretty, sexy and talented. She is Rihanna.
Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), better known as Rihanna
is a Barbadian R&B recording artiste and model. Born in Saint Michael,
Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue
a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers.
There are plenty of popular songs to her credit. ‘Umbrella’ (with Jay
Z), ‘Live your life’ (with T.I), ‘Unfaithful’, ‘SOS’, ‘Shut up and
drive’, ‘Run this town’, ‘Russian Roullette’ and ‘Hard’ are some of her
memorable numbers. Not all singers have unique voices but Rihanna is one
of the few singers who is an exception. Her songs, style and everything
has gained popular recognition all over the world, especially among the
youth.
Rihanna created her Believe Foundation in 2006 to help terminally ill
children. Rihanna is also heavily involved in the marketing of her
native country, Barbados. In September 2007, she became the official
face of tourism for Barbados, being included in many of their
advertisement campaigns. She holds the honorary title of Ambassador for
Culture and Youth in Barbados.
She was also honoured by Prime Minister David Thompson, who presented
her with several gifts at a national concert on February 20, 2008, in
Barbados, called ‘Rihanna Day’. In February 2008, Rihanna thanked and
honoured her country during the acceptance speech for her win of “Best
Rap/Sung Collaboration” at the Grammy Awards.
There are many more young, talented and popular hip hop and R&B
singers out there but it is very pathetic to see that some locals are
still struggling with the old set of singers and their respective music
when the Sri Lankan young generation has progressed to more current
trends of music offered by young musicians such as Rihana, Beyonce,
Ne-Yo,50 Cent and TI. However, we thank all English television and radio
channels in Sri Lanka for letting the young Sri Lankan generation enjoy
this type of music.
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