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REVIEW: Rihanna, The ‘LOUD’ Tour

07.19.11 | No Comments

Review and photos brought to you by @steezurkel of Girls, Sounds & Sadomasochism.

Never in my life would I have thought I’d be writing about my Rihanna concert experience. This past week has been very overwhelming, feeling like I won an Academy Award or Grammy, but I digress.

The concert started exactly at 7:30pm, with opening act J. Cole, having an hour set. I’ve never been a fan of him until that night. He had the crowd rocking and screaming and even saying “I know a lot of you are wondering who the f#$k is this red boy on stage.” But at the end of the night he made himself known and earned my respect.

Up next the QUEEN, Rihanna, appeared in a large illuminated sphere opening with her best record yet “Only Girl (In The World).” At this point my heart was in my knees because to me this is all a dream to hear and see her do her thing.

Opening:
She then went on to do some of her greatest hits such as “Disturbia,” where she stripped down to a two piece mosaic looking outfit and went on to perform “Man Down” and “Shut Up and Drive.”

Take the jump for more, including photos.
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Events

Tagged: girl, loud tour, rihanna, steezurkel
Video Premiere: Rihanna Deals With Topic Of Rape In “Man Down”

05.31.11 | No Comments

Rihanna has just shown the public her most serious music video to date. The Anthony Mandler-directed video for “Man Down” took on a serious issue in societies all over the world.

Rihanna jetted down to Jamaica to shoot the video. Much like Drake’s “Find Your love,” Mandler uses the country of Jamaica to reveal another dark tale… The stereotype of Jamaica does not look like it will change anytime soon.

The video starts off with the climax, rewinds to an earlier time and progresses right before the big bang. Rihanna is the attractive village girl, sipping on cocnut water all day and interacting with her neighbours. She dances the night away at a yardie club, later that night, at which point a strange man imposes on Rihanna and starts to dance. It’s not too long before Rihanna pushes him away. As she leaves the club she is followed and taken advantage of. No visuals are shown but we are led to believe that she was raped.

A dark plot for a dark song; Rihanna is knockin’ them out one by one this era. View the video after…

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MUSIC

Tagged: anthony mandler, man down, rihanna
Britney Spears At The 2011 Billboard Music Awards

05.23.11 | No Comments

Britney Spears hit the stage, not once but twice, at The 2011 Billboard Music Awards. The original Princess of Pop opened the show with Rihanna for the “Rihmix” to “S&M.” Much later, Spears hit the stage for a brief appearance during Nicki Minaj’s performance for “Till The World Ends.”

Both of the performances were what you have come to expect from Britney although the “S&M” was bit more memorable and entertaining. With Nicki Minaj’s performance, it just lacked overall. Minaj’s stage performances will make you cringe and then on top of that it was like Brintey Spears walked out to present an award whilst singing miming. But despite all of that people still love Britney Spears. Watch the videos after…
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MUSIC

Tagged: britney spears, nicki minaj, rihanna, s&m official remix, till the world ends remix
Video Premiere: Rihanna “California King Bed”

05.09.11 | No Comments

Plot is thrown out of the window for special attention to detail in the video for Rihanna’s “California King Bed.” From the rose tint to the black and white, every single beauty shot of Rihanna in this video is magazine perfection. This latest video is like the “Only Girl (In the World)” video, her VOGUE pictorial and her Rolling Stone pictorial all wrapped into one. Who knows how this single will fair but maybe this video will help when the song is released to radio. Maybe “California King Bed” will be her next “Take a Bow.”

Music Videos, VIDEOS

Tagged: california king bed, rihanna, video premiere
On American Idol: Kelly Clarkson Was Great & Rihanna, The Vocalist?

04.15.11 | No Comments

Last night, two of the music industry’s shining talents took to the stage on American Idol. First up was Kelly Clarkson who performed her duet, “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” with Jason Aldean. No surprise there, Kelly Clarkson vocals were beautiful.

The eye opener of the night came in the form of Rihanna’s performance of “California King Bed.” Since the dawn of her career, Rihanna has been criticized for not being able to sing. Well years of work and growth, Rihanna delivered what probably was her best vocal performance of her career, thus far.

MUSIC

Tagged: american idol, california king bed, don't you wanna stay, jason aldean, kelly clarkson, rihanna
Listen To The Rihmix! Chains & Whips Excite Britney Spears Too

04.11.11 | 2 Comments

There was Beyoncé & Lady GaGa and now two other contemporary female Popstars are collaborating for a track. Yup, for the first time, Britney Spears’ name is at the end of a song’s title, as a feature. Spears has jumped on board Rihanna’s current radio hit, “S&M.”

With the recent crop of interviews from Britney Spears, this era, she has gone on about her like for Rihanna as well as the single. And just as easy as it probably was to get Spears to jump on the remix, the end product is just as easily forgettable. No more to say, just check out what will probably be Spears’ only feature.

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MUSIC, Remixes

Tagged: britney spears, rihanna, s&m official remix
Sneak Peek Of Rihanna’s ‘VOGUE’ Cover + Chelsea Lately Interview

03.11.11 | No Comments

Months ago Rihanna tweeted about her Vogue shoot, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Today, a sneek peak of the issue is unveiled. It won’t be long before we get a better view.

Also, Rihanna is down under, in Australia, wrapping up her Last Girl On Earth tour. Comedienne and host of the Chelsea Lately show, Chelsea Handler, is also in Australia this week. Rihanna sat down to be apart of the Handler fun. Check it out after…
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FASHION, Magazine Covers, Music Media, NEWS

Tagged: annie leibovitz, chelsea handler, chelsea lately, rihanna, vogue
Rihanna Brings Out Drake & Kanye West For NBA All Star Performance

02.21.11 | No Comments

Who say Rihanna ain’ a Jungaliss?

The 2011 NBA All-Star game came to an end last night with The West taking the win and Kobe Bryant earning his fourth MVP trophy. For halftime entertainment, Rihanna took to the stage for a medley of her hits.

RiRi kicked things off with an orchestral version of her 4-year-old hit, “Umbrella.” She then moved into “Only Girl” before winin’ and grinin’ to “Rude Boy.” Once again, the flamin’ redhead brought out Drake for “What’s My Name.” This time around, the interaction between the two was a bit less bumpin’ and grindin’ and more flirty fun. To finish the performance off, Kanye West joined Rihanna for a performance of “All Of the Lights.” All in all, the visual of Rihanna kept us entertained.

Take the jump to view the video for “All Of the Lights,” which premiered over the weekend…
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MUSIC

Tagged: all of the lights, drake, kanye west, nba all star 2011, only girl, rihanna, rude boy, umbrella, what's my name
Can We Talk About Rihanna’s & Drake’s On-Stage Chemistry At Grammys 2011?

02.14.11 | No Comments

Image via: ConcreteLoop

In what seemed as a last minute filler, the Grammy society had Rihanna perform her #1 single, “What’s My Name,” with Drake. “RAMPIN’.” STEAMY. SEX. All of that and more is what Rihanna and Drake displayed on stage last night at the 2011 Grammy Awards.

While not as good as her 2010 American Music Awards performance, the wining and grin’in’ Rihanna was doing on Drake was a naughty but pleasant reminder that the island gal isn’t as stiff as a piece of 2×4 when it comes to rhythm. Oh, let’s not forget Rihanna’s bejeweled crotch. Both Drake and Rihanna have a great deal of comfort with each other and hey, it didn’t make for the best performance of the night but it certainly kept our attention. View the performance after..

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MUSIC

Tagged: drake, grammys 2011, rihanna, what's my name
Best Grammy Stage Performances Last Night.

02.14.11 | No Comments
This year’s Grammy Awards were not as memorable as we thought it would had have been but nonetheless there were some performances to be remembered. The list goes a little something like this:
- Aretha Franklin tribute performed by Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch and Jennifer Hudson
- Lady Antebellum Medley
- Cee-Lo & Gwyneth Paltrow “Song otherwise known as ‘Forget You’”
- Mumford & Sons “The Cave”
- Arcade Fire “Month of May”
- Mick Jagger & Raphael Saadiq “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love”
- Janelle Monae “Cold War”
- Eminem, Rihanna, Skylar Grey & Dr. Dre Medley
WATCH ‘EM ALL HERE
MUSIC

Tagged: arcade fire, aretha frankilin, cee-lo, christina aguilera, dr. dre, eminem, florence welch, grammys 2011, gwyneth paltrow, janelle monae, jennifer hudson, lady antebellum, martina mcbride, mick jagger, mumford and sons, raphael saadiq, rihanna, skylar grey, yolanda adams