Robin Rihanna Fenty is being photographed for PAPER while jumping on a trampoline in a well-lit studio wearing a pink, frothy confection-like dress designed by Luella. She is the perfect doll: a porcelain, café-au-lait ballerina twirling inside a jewelry box. Delicate and fragile, Rihanna exudes a pop-princess persona. At first glance, it would be hard to find anything about her that reflects the title of her third CD, Good Girl Gone Bad.
Of course, we all know that looks can be deceiving. If good girls follow rules and bad girls break them, then Rihanna is undeniably in the bad girl category. But to her, the title of her new CD represents more than just that--it's about a revolutionary remix of her image. "It really represents my liberation--how I wanted to do everything my way," she says. "I was tired of people forcing me to be a certain image."
When Rihanna first hit the music scene in 2005, it seemed like every single piece of press about her mentioned the word "island," while publicity shots emphasized her curvy figure, light mossy-green eyes and long wavy hair. There was no mistaking that Rihanna was being marketed and perceived as the quintessential island girl. On the surface, she was. Born and raised on the picturesque and tranquil island of Barbados (one of the most affluent islands in the Caribbean), Rihanna lived a not un-charmed life as a typical Bajan girl--she went to school, chilled on the beach with her friends and, of course, sang.
The casual ease of her island girlhood would change in an instant when music producer Evan Rogers (Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson), who was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, heard Rihanna sing. With her striking good looks and dulcet voice, Rihanna struck Rogers as the total package and he immediately invited her to New York, where she would be welcome to stay with him and his wife while he developed her demo. Initially reluctant to let her go, her parents would ultimately decide to embrace this opportunity for their daughter.
Rogers sent Rihanna's demo to all the major labels, but it was Def Jam, the modern-day equivalent of Motown, that ultimately won over the young songstress. Shawn "Jay Z" Carter, then president of Def Jam, recalls his first impressions of Rihanna. "It was in her eyes. She had it all in her eyes," he says. "The way she carried herself and performed right there on the spot, I was like, 'Wow, she's a star, we'll figure out the rest later.'" Although, not much later. "We wouldn't let her out of the building," he continues. "We actually closed all the doors, brought her some food. She brought in her lawyers and her production team, and we signed the deal that day."
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