It was back in 2005 when we heard the lines 'Come, Mr. DJ, song Pon De Replay' on our local radio channels and on MTV. Robyn Rihanna Fenty appeared on TV the very first time in that music video, wearing a shimmery gold top and jeans. The 17-year old made her mark, proving that she's here to slay and stay.
Born in 1988 and a Barbados native, her childhood was deeply affected by her father's alcoholism and cocaine addiction which contributed to her parents' strained marriage. Rihanna's father used to abuse her mother physically, and she would try to get in between them to break up fights. As a child, her health was often compromised because of this and and had improved after her parents divorced.
In 2003, Rihanna formed a musical trio with two of her classmates in her home country of Barbados. Without a name or any material, the girl group auditioned with American record producer Evan Rogers who commented, "The minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn't exist." Recordings were intermittent, taking about a year because she was only able to record during school holidays. "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time" were two tracks recorded for the demo tape, which were eventually included on her debut album Music of the Sun. That same year, Rihanna impressed Jay-Z and Rogers, eventually being signed on to Rogers's production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions.
The Beginning of Business Ventures
With a flourishing singing career in place after hits like 'Umbrella, Please Don't Stop the Music and Diamonds', Rihanna was already valued at $43 million according to Forbes as of 2011.
The same year, she ventured into the business aspect of things by launching Reb'l Fleur by Rihanna, a fruity based fragrance. "Daring, sexy and truly memorable, Reb'l Fleur is as much in tune with Barbados-born Rihanna's roots as it is with the glamour of her present life in New York City." The scent reportedly garnered $80 million in sales in its first year. She quickly followed up with another scent, Rebelle, and has subsequently released nearly a dozen fragrances in total,
Over the years, she's inked deals with fashion companies like Puma - where she's served as creative director. In addition to being a global brand ambassador, the 26-year-old star "will work with Puma to design and customize classic Puma styles as well as create new styles to add to the Puma product portfolio," the brand told the publication. Rihanna also went on to sign brand ambassador deals with River Island, Armani, Dior, CoverGirl, and MAC.
In 2015, Rihanna took a stake in music streaming service Tidal. Six years later, Jack Dorsey's Square acquired the company for $297 million, reportedly netting Rihanna and the other artists involved nearly $9 million a piece, according to Variety.
Mogul Empire Status
In 2017, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty, a cosmetics brand that first appeared on the shelves of Sephora US. At just 29, the label received massive praise for the one key aspect that Rihanna took advantage of - the broad inclusivity across various skin tones, its Pro Filt'R foundation which ranged across 40 shades and has since expanded to 50 after that.
At a time when inclusivity was hardly looked up upon and practiced in the beauty industry, Rihanna leveraged on creating the foundation shades for women who have snow white skin tone right up to a deep ebony skin tone for African women. There were no other major cosmetics brand at the time who had foundation ranges that catered to women of all skin color. Rihanna addressed a long-criticized gap in cosmetic industry offerings for black women and other women of color. She included them in the marketing promotions, for all 50 shades.
She developed the line with luxury conglomerate LVMH(Louis Vuitton Moet-Hennessy), signing a deal in 2016, to produce Fenty Beauty through LVMH's Kendo division. Kendo Holdings, Inc, is an "incubator" company that manufactures cosmetics for sale through cosmetics retailer Sephora, another LVMH subsidiary, as well as other outlets. Women's Wear Daily reported that LVMH may have paid $10 million (USD) for the agreement, which followed on Kendo deals to produce Marc Jacobs Beauty and Kat Von D lines.
The success of Fenty Beauty has been unmatched by other brands such as Kim Kardashian's line KKW Beauty, Tarte's Shape Tape Foundation and Benefit Hello Happy Foundation.
Within one month of release, Fenty Beauty's sales were valued at $72 million,and sold-out products widely reported, with darker shades of foundation particularly in demand (shoppers noted even testers were often gone from stores.)
According to Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, Fenty Beauty's sales reached almost 500 million euros ($573 million) by the end of 2018. Forbes reported that following 15 months of operation, in 2018, Fenty Beauty accumulated US$570 million in revenue. Rihanna had an initial stake of 15% but this was increased to 50% following the success of the brand. The brand is valued at $2.8 billion USD with Rihanna owning 50% of the valuation.
Shortly after launching her beauty empire, Rihanna introduced another venture: Savage X Fenty, a size-and skin-tone-inclusive lingerie line. The brand carries lingerie in sizes up to 3X and includes nude color options in a wide range of shades.
The Power Rihanna Holds
With a successful singing and acting career in place, multiple brand signings, 3 ventures under the Fenty label, multiple Grammy awards, and a self made billionaire, Rihanna became a mother in 2022 and that according to the her, is the best 'label' she's ever received.
The superstar also made headlines in 2023 when she performed at the Super Bowl half time show, announcing her second pregnancy while also becoming the first person to headline a Super Bowl halftime show, pregnant.
To have a glance, Rihanna is a true definition of 'If you want it, dream big and go get it'. From Barbados to Hollywood, this woman has made it big and there's no turning back for this diva.
For millions of girls and women out there, Rihanna is an icon, inspiration and someone most of us can look up to for what she's achieved.
At 35, Rihanna's net worth is $1.4 billion USD as of 2022 according to Forbes and America's youngest self-made billionaire.
Pooja Patel is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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