Rihanna Research Paper

Music in America

Rihanna: Live at the Xfinity Center On March 26, 2016, I had the pleasure of seeing American artist, Rihanna, perform live at the Xfinity Center in Hartford, Connecticut. This was part of Rihanna’s “Anti-World Tour”, her seventh concert tour, supporting her eighth album. Rihanna became a famous singer at the age of 16 and is known for her unique style of reggae-influenced music, due to her Barbadian culture. Rihanna, along with her band, performed music of various different genres that allowed me to expand my knowledge of different types of music and appreciate how much work and dedication artists, and their audience, put into their music. This experience helped me to listen to music with a more open eye and diligent ear.

The instruments involved in the show were the drums, piano, guitar and a bass. With many modern pop-culture concerts, tracks are played in the background in replacement of instruments because the instruments do not seem as important as the performer; however, this concert was much different and the musicians were greatly involved and appreciated. Rihanna never overpowered her musicians, but worked with them instead. She communicated with them onstage by singing next to them and talking to them in between songs. All of the musicians had solos during the performance that lasted between 30 seconds to one minute. First, the drums contained a loud dynamic and syncopated rhythm by keeping a steady beat and the tune faithful. This way, Rihanna was able to stay on beat and keep the form organized. Next, the piano provided a soft dynamic to the show by slowing the songs down and creating a peaceful atmosphere. With only Rihanna’s voice and the piano playing during her song, “Diamonds”, the audience was truly able to capture and embrace the beauty of the instrument. The piano was able to change the timbre from Rihanna and her backup singers to just a solo by Rihanna. This helped relax the mood and create a monophonic texture. Lastly, the guitars were able to break the form of the music and get the audience excited by using improvisation. During the solos, the guitar players were able to

First, Rihanna is an excellent example of the popular culture era. Her music is often responsive to current events happening in the world and is relatable to people of all ages. For example, her song, “American Oxygen”, is a ballad that tells the story of an American girl working hard to create the “American dream” for herself. This is a relatable song because it applies to all the working Americans who exhibit hope and encouragement for a brighter future. Also, Rihanna’s music represents another important era discussed in class, rhythm and blues. Rhythm and blues is defined as, “a black popular style in quadruple meter, with strong backbeats and a dance-able tempo”. For example, her song, “Don’t Stop the Music”, contains a strong bass beat, hip-hop rhythms and an intensified structure to make it a fast tempo, polyphonic composition that her audience can dance to. Lastly, Rihanna exhibits Latin popular music, specifically Caribbean music. Her song, “Work”, is one of her most famous reggae pieces and contains many elements of rhythm and blues, as well as jazz music. This specific type of Caribbean music uses the drums and bass guitar as the dominant instruments to create a slower, but rhythmic “island sound”. This shows Rihanna’s various different styles of music that truly represent the music diversity in