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Billboard’s Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century: No. 3 — Rihanna
Rihanna is one of our Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century for her untouchable decade of pop culture dominance.
Outside of the music, the Good Girl Gone Bad era also helped position Rihanna as the fashion icon and sex symbol she remains today; her edgy bob (she finally deaded those pesky Beyoncé comparisons) and seductive stage show shredded the girlish image of her first two albums and properly cast her as an adult pop star. (She made another cameo on another similarly themed hit later in the year, with her appearance on Kanye West’s spellbinding and brutal “All of the Lights.”) At once a grueling emotional undertaking and an expertly constructed pop song, “Love the Way You Lie” marked the beginning of a union that would spawn three more collaborations – including 2013’s Grammy-winning Hot 100 chart-topper “The Monster” — and a joint six-date stadium trek in 2014. Not only did Rihanna spend the set feeding her cross-genre inclinations, but she also infused her songwriting and themes with the high drama of celebrity; anxiety-wracked tracks like “Get It Over With” complemented more jaw-dropping moments like “Nobody’s Business,” an unsubtle Brown duet that explicitly winks, nods and scoffs at the expected, horrified reactions to the two ex-lovers’ reunion.
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