Shortly after Rihanna stepped off the Super Bowl LVII halftime stage at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday night, Rihanna's rep confirmed what her performance was suggesting.
As Pregnancy revealed, it wasn't on the theatrical level of Beyoncé's belly rub at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. But it was probably the only gesture that could surpass and reconfigure the show she just put on...
Rihanna hasn't released an album since 2016's "Anti," and many of her adoring fan base have indicated her willingness to perform at this year's Super Bowl to mark her return to music. I thought it was a sign of impending Perhaps she will release her new single or album or tour.
Instead, she used one of pop music's biggest stages to argue that despite all that collective expectation, she had other things to focus on. So even if her actual stage delivery was a bit tiring, we had to focus on more important things.
Rihanna nonchalantly performed snippets of her 12 hits in 13 minutes. The closest she came to frisson, sass, authority and exuberance was a little after the halfway point of the set.
Shortly after her familiar "All of the Lights" horn salvo blared through the speakers, Rihanna took a compact with her right hand from the outstretched hand of one of the dancers and shoved her powder into her two. I tapped it twice. In recent years, she has had more professional interest than her music, but she returned her music from another dancer before grabbing the mic with her left hand.
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She then embarked on the hook of "All of the Lights." This is her more than a decade-old collaboration with Ye (ex-Kanye West), who ostracized him for making anti-Semitic remarks late last year. She soon followed that song with "Run This Town," another collaboration with Ye (and Jay-Z).
A simple cosmetic ad. of course. A tacit expression of support for a comrade in distress. why not? Rihanna — her one of the most important pop hitmakers of the 21st century — needs the Super Bowl less than the Super Bowl needs her. She treated it like many people are tackling their professional duties when their private lives are in demand.
A nonchalant queen, Rihanna first appeared on stage Sunday night floating 50 yards above her line (a gesture used on her tour in 2016 Ye St. I sang "Better Have My Money". She was tethered to a platform and restricted in maneuvering, but even when she hit the ground she never overemphasized her dance, instead holding a sturdy coat at the center of more than 100 dancers, I shared their moves, but I couldn't beat them.
Her Rihanna hits are plentiful, charting on the Billboard Hot 100 more than her 60 times. But this casual revue of a dozen songs she's deeply loved had no real theme. For the most part, she leaned on the uptempo side of her catalog – 'Where Have You Been,' 'Only Girl (in the World)' – and her Caribbean roots on 'Work' and 'Rude Boy.' A nod to heritage. At the end of the set, she emphasized the big picture, highlighting one-word title smashes: "Umbrella" and "Diamonds."
Rihanna takes on a variety of roles, including her new mother, fashion and cosmetics billionaire tycoon, and amazingly believable pop star with an extensive catalog. But she's not the hitmaker she is today. And she hadn't done a show of this magnitude since 2016.
As such, the Super Bowl highlighted in its marketing how coup d'état it had been to land her most visible effort in years. I said, largely. that's all. "
Essentially, the event was her appearance. The event was the event. Despite the frequency and power of her collaborations, there were no guests. Despite her status as an innovator in fashion, there were no changes to her costume.
The performance was short and rushed, but it still felt slow. There was little change in tone or energy, and the lightly themed setlist had no aesthetics. It was a foregone conclusion triumph, a routine designed to provoke a long-honed pleasure center rather than to ignite new enthusiasm. have succeeded in publishing or executing papers on She declined her appearance at her 2019 Super Bowl. In this era, turning down a gig at one of the world's biggest stages, the Super Her Bowl, was Colin's response to her N.F.L. It was a time when I felt However, Jay-Z's Rock His Nation's involvement with the league in the years that followed saw his show at halftime reworked both musically and socioculturally.
From an entertainment point of view, it's the best. And for Rihanna, playing halftime is a fitting milestone in the scope of her accomplishments. Instead, it served as a placeholder. Yes she came to perform. But she has more pressing concerns.
Inside Rihanna's World
The artist, who last performed publicly at the Grammy Awards in early 2018, headlined the Super Bowl on February 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
After years off the stage, Rihanna took advantage of her LVII halftime show at the Super Bowl to perform her 12 hits, agreed to work outside of her music, and became pregnant. announced that
Rihanna's first single, "Ponder Play", was released in 2005. The result is her one of the summer's biggest and most glamorous club tracks," wrote the critic.
Her singer's latest album 'Anti' was released in 2016.
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In 2019, the singer and entrepreneur released "Rihanna," which was billed as her "visual autobiography." Fashion critics and music critics gathered to discuss its significance.
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