As far as the hits, honestly that part is damn near irrelevant. First of all look at the thread you're posting in, it's obvious image has way more to do with female artists success than music. Rihanna's music is mostly label manufactured and ghostwritten for her. So let's kill the idea right now that Rihanna is in the position purely from music or talent. The whole reason I mentioned Keri Hilson is proof that it's not about music since she's written hits for multiple artists while her own career struggled. Ciara had hits, Alicia Keys had hits, Ashanti had hits. But Rihanna lapped them and the likes of Mary J and Mariah Carey in the span of a couple years.
@Kenny West you sound silly right now. Not only that but you actually didn't help your argument and actually supported the opposing argument. You mention Ciara, Alicia and Ashanti also having hits. Well obviously Rihanna stood out in some way to be unique. She is a pop icon for a reason. I do not know what is with this bad habit of someone getting big and people always wanna throw hate and dont throw props.
"Yo yall heard about that Pon De Replay singer....i see big things for her i like her so much man"
"Yo that good girl gone bad album is so overrated son. I liked her before when she was broke and not making money. But now that she big i hate her "
Ok Rihanna doesn't write...its the same situation with the women you just named. Even if Rihanna had a better group of writers the same thing still applies. You still have to be different in some way to become a pop icon in the first place. Obviously her unique voice set her apart enough to be known worldwide
Saying her music is "label manufactured" if you are implying her brand is what is making her music pop is one of the most idiotic statements i have ever heard if that is what you are saying. That argument could be used more for Beyonce. Sometimes it seems as if the beyonce brand is forcing someone to like a song. That is true label manufactured. Whereas with Rihanna her versatile style even if you are not a fan of her causes her songs to be stuck in your head. She is more melodic. And this whole not writing thing people overhype it. Besides the obvious fact that alot of female artists are not writing.....they also downplay how the artist themselves have imput. I'm sure some like Rihanna have helped with changing a certain line or two or helped with choruses.
And by the way you mention Mary J but see is someone who actually loves Rihanna and has talked about how iconic and culturally she has been for this generation and has alot of respect for her.
You still need the VOICE for these hits and you are downplaying that. Guys think any other singer could have song these song and had these hits. That isn't alwways true. So obviously Rihanna had her role to play too in her success
Dudes have this real annoying habit of throwing out a random obscure name to say they are better than a mainstream person just to be contrary for the sake of being contrary.
"Yo i keep telling yall nikkas steak is overrated yall sleeping on eating sand from the beach"
SZA is wack as hell and so is Tinashe(the current version) just because they are lesser known than a Rihanna doesn't mean their music is good just cause of that
And since we are at it SZA and Tinashe are not better than Beyonce either.