BOOMBAYAH Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 I randomly started thinking about this today and realised that the two are polar opposites and have nothing in common aside from Jay-Z. 1. Rihanna has/had a very public rockstar persona, Beyoncé has a more strategised and private image. 2. Rihanna made predominantly pop, dance, and EDM music (with elements of hip-hop), Beyoncé makes predominantly soul, R&B, and alternative R&B music (with elements of hip-hop). 3. (Freudian context) Beyoncé has more of Madonna complex with her being labelled as the “flawless” woman with a husband, children, and “have it all” lifestyle. Rihanna is the opposite, literally a “bad girl” going against conventions and having a reputation for not settling for one man (until recently of course) and just being a “cool girl” in general. 4. Rihanna and Beyoncé in general just have very different careers. Beyoncé is her senior by many years musically, and even in terms of musical accomplishments they focus on two completely different things (with Rihanna being labelled a “singles” artist and Beyoncé being labelled a “album” artist). 5. This is more of a personal take, but even when it comes to physical beauty I think they have very different charms. I feel like Beyoncé has a very regal, understated beauty whilst Rihanna has more of a bombshell, model-esque beauty. It’s sort of crazy how the two are different in almost every way, and yet are constantly compared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMKARDASHIAN Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Simply put, because they were the top black women of their field and the media loves pitting women against one another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallad173 Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 4 minutes ago, PMKARDASHIAN said: Simply put, because they were the top black women of their field and the media loves pitting women against one another it comes down to this basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOMBAYAH Posted June 30, 2022 Author Share Posted June 30, 2022 8 minutes ago, PMKARDASHIAN said: Simply put, because they were the top black women of their field and the media loves pitting women against one another It’s kind of crazy though because the comparisons really would do…nothing? Seeing as both would go up for different awards, they both inhabited different spaces musically, both had different places in the fashion and art world, and so on. It’s probably one of the reasons why they have historically remained friendly to one another in the media, since those comparisons literally can’t hinder opportunities from either side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightingale Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 They’re black. It’s like Shakira and JLo pitted against each other when they have nothing in common besides being latinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOCK Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Their skin color and their connection to Jay. That’s it really, as has been said. It’s the same reason Chloe & Normani are arbitrarily compared & pitted against one another in stan rivalries, perpetuating the toxic industry standard that there can only be a limited number of black women succeeding. The same stupid system that boxes their pop records in RnB categories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yonsé Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) Because the music industry only allowed one Black IT girl at a time. Beyoncé snatched the spot from Ashanti who had snatched it from Brandy. When Rihanna broke out in 07 during the edgier b-day era, the comparisons began. I remember people speculating ring the alarm was a diss track to rihanna Edited June 30, 2022 by yonsé Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
State of Grace. Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 They were the only mega successful black female artists. Its really ******* weird how people and media act like there's always one place for them. Same **** going on with Normani and Chloe being pitted against each other or called "the new Beyoncé" or "Beyoncé wannabes". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starshine Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Apparently there can only be one successful black woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeille Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 They're both black, successful and have ties to Jay Z. The more you look at it the more you notice they have very little in common, if anything at all. Rihanna's music is more akin to that of pop stars like Britney Spears and Katy Perry, whereas Bey has always been traditionally R&B with some pop influence here and there. They're obviously in different stages of their career as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissman Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Well in the stan world, they are compared largely due to the fact that Rihanna's come-up included a slight Beyoncé-template that many were placed into after her breakout success in 2003, as well as the fact that her own label compared her to Beyoncé as a form of promotion. The rumours of her affair with Jay-Z in 2006 also made her name far more well known, as an actual point of discussion outside of the hits she was quickly stacking up. After she re-branded in 2007 and stepped out of the "Beyoncé shadow" as her own distinct artist like described in the OP, the above made it that Rihanna as the newest successful Black female singer would naturally be compared to Beyoncé, the previous newest successful Black female singer. They do have some stylistic (genre/production sound) similarities from time to time, but they are indeed very different artists with very different forms of appeal for their fans. I'm glad that they are both solidified in the industry enough that their "feud" amongst stans seems to be pretty leveled out (except for Twitter right now, it seems). At least on ATRL, I don't see much fighting, which is truly great because THEY are truly great in their own ways and no success either has will change a thing about the other. Truly two amazing icons of the music industry who seem to love eachother as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byzantium Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 I always thought it was the similarity between B-Day and Good Girl Gone Bad. Both are successful R&B inspired pop albums (With a lead single featuring Jay-Z) After that their careers really went in different directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RihFenty20 Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) 40 minutes ago, BOOMBAYAH said: Rihanna made predominantly pop, dance, and EDM music (with elements of hip-hop), Beyoncé makes predominantly soul, R&B, and alternative R&B music (with elements of hip-hop). Rihanna's music is also overwhelmingly R&B (albeit not tradition R&B if that's what you're referring to), her singles are mostly of the genres you listed but if you have listened to her albums you'd know that most of the time at least half of her albums were R&B. only LOUD was the closest thing to a pure pop album. 40 minutes ago, BOOMBAYAH said: Rihanna is the opposite, literally a “bad girl” going against conventions and having a reputation for not settling for one man (until recently of course) and just being a “cool girl” in general. Did you just call her a wh*re? she has had like 5 relationships. (Chris (x2), Aubrey (x2) Matt Kemp, Hassan and now Rocky). All of her relationships have lasted years. (except Chris the 2nd time). The media linking her to every man she happened to be around doesn't mean she had relations with said people. 40 minutes ago, BOOMBAYAH said: (with Rihanna being labelled a “singles” artist and Beyoncé being labelled a “album” artist). This part always took me out because they've moved the same amount of albums globally. (Rihanna has moved more outside of the USA). Rihanna's issue is her overwhelming single success makes it seem like she doesn't sell albums when she averages 4.5M pure per album Basically they both happened to be afro-descended, linked to Jay Z and also happened to be very dominant commercial acts. Of course the comparisons were going to fly. In the same way Beyonce was compared to Aaliyah and Ashanti. And Rihanna was compared to Cassie, Teirra, and Amerie when she first debuted. Edited June 30, 2022 by RihFenty20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent W Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Is just the dumbass American logic They compared them because they were black. They had absolutely nothing in common. The US has a very serious problem with education cause this is the reflection of an extremely ignorant society with no critical skills. This is really tragic if we really take a deep look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshwark Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Because there was this narrative that Beyonce killed careers i.e. Ashanti, but Rihanna just didnt GAF, she succeeded regardless of Beyonce being around and year after got bigger and bigger, rendering beyonce useless when it was about delivering the hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonnie Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Yeah they had nothing in common other than being Black. Even in the beginning when she was compared to Beyoncé, once you listen to the music from the first two albums you realize it sounds nothing like what Bey would have done. But back then any Black female artist trying to breakout would get compared to Beyoncé because she was the biggest Black female artist. Alicia was huge also but she didn't have a mainstream or celebrity image like that. Once the Rih/Bey comparisons began it took a life of its own and people never looked critically at it. Like how could people speculate on Jay and Rih having a thing when they met when she was a minor when she met him for instance. I remember that Tyra show interview where Tyra flat out asks a very young Rihanna about it and it must have been so crazy for such a young person to have to go through that when I think of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jjang Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Racism + sexism combo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla Rosón Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Racism and sexism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stepfon Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 1 hour ago, PMKARDASHIAN said: Simply put, because they were the top black women of their field and the media loves pitting women against one another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Like The Movies Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 misogynoir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bears01 Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 16 minutes ago, tshwark said: Because there was this narrative that Beyonce killed careers i.e. Ashanti, but Rihanna just didnt GAF, she succeeded regardless of Beyonce being around and year after got bigger and bigger, rendering beyonce useless when it was about delivering the hits. You are a perfect example of why the OP was saying it never made sense and that the public who engaged in these comparisons are ignorant. OT: it never made any sense, outside of the Jay Z connections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonginBey Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Didn’t Rihanna’s first label have a hand in the comparisons and trying to market her as the next Beyoncé? It wasn’t always just a “stan thing.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonnie Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 7 minutes ago, JonginBey said: Didn’t Rihanna’s first label have a hand in the comparisons and trying to market her as the next Beyoncé? It wasn’t always just a “stan thing.” Apart from that one person who Def Jam and Rih's team deny ever having had any substantial role making claims to sell his book I don't think so. I highly doubt Jay Z or L.A. Reid (who were in charge of her label then) would knowingly start rumours and comparisons like that when they would only hurt their artist in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikachoo Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 - both black - both pop rnb singers - both had a connection to Jay Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alldeezy Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 I never compare the two. Probably because they both have jay z help. Or features etc. Since jay z did write umbrella for Beyoncé but was more suited for rihanna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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