18 years ago this week, Robyn "Rihanna" Fenty reintroduced herself to the world with Umbrella, the lead single from her transformative third album Good Girl Gone Bad.
Just two years after she was signed by Jay-Z at 15, Rihanna overhauled her image and formed her pop A-team (Timbaland, Stargate, Justin Timberlake) to command the world's attention with her voice, personality and style. Umbrella was the longest-running Number 1 single in the UK of the 2000s and topped the charts in 19 countries, propelling her to the A-list of global pop. Good Girl Gone Bad is a hit-stacked album that set the tone for RiRi's genre-hopping career and was her first working with Kuk Harrell, the vocal producer who would train her voice for years to come.
In this episode of We Ain't No Divas, Ross and Sam discover how the album was made, why Rihanna had to fight for Umbrella to be hers and the story behind her iconic bob hair cut. Plus, why Jay-Z interrupted her at the 2008 GRAMMY Awards, her performance with Chris Brown at the 2007 VMAs and much more.
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00:01:12 Why is Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad era significant?
00:05:36 Rihanna's inspiration behind Good Girl Gone Bad
00:09:28 How Rihanna got signed by Jay-Z
00:13:33 Umbrella released as a single
00:16:00 Why Rihanna had to fight for Umbrella
00:18:45 Who Is Kuk Harrell?
00:25:07 The "Umbrella Curse" of the UK
00:26:10 Umbrella gave Ross tonsillitis
00:29:17 The Umbrella music video
00:30:15 Did Rihanna copy Victoria Beckham's "Pob"?
00:31:04 The story behind Rihanna's bob hair cut
00:37:11 Good Girl Gone Bad album review
00:50:28 Follow-up singles: Shut Up & Drive, Hate That I Love You & Don't Stop The Music
00:55:00 Shut Up & Drive's double meaning
01:03:00 Performing with Chris Brown at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards
01:04:40 Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna's first world tour
01:05:09 Rihanna's first GRAMMY Award win
01:05:57 Jay-Z interrupting Rihanna during GRAMMYs acceptance speech
We Ain’t No Divas is hosted by Ross McNeilage and Sam Prance. This episode was produced by Sam Prance, and edited by Ross McNeilage. Music provided by Monopoly Phonic.
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