Rihanna’s “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z is from her third album Good Girl Gone Bad.  The single and album marked a new direction for Rihanna’s sound and image. She moved away from Caribbean-influenced styles and into an edgier American mix of pop, rap and R&B. Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, The-Dream, Kuk Harrell and Jay- Z wrote “Umbrella” which was originally intended for Britney Spears whose record label rejected it. The compressed hi-hat, the ‘ella ella’ hook plus Jay-Z’s verses were memorable and quickly sunk into pop culture. “Umbrella” was a worldwide hit and the video received five MTV Video nominations. It was a defining moment for Rihanna and she morphed from a moderately known singer into an icon and superstar. Looking back, “Umbrella” is accepted by most fans and critics as Rihanna’s signature song. Rihanna released her eighth studio album Anti in 2016. In the past five years, she has launched the popular Fenty fashion brand, Fenty Beauty cosmetics, Savage X Fenty lingerie and Fenty Skin. 

[youtube id=”In0P55759jU”]The Childish Gambino and Rihanna film Guava Island is streaming now exclusively on Amazon Prime. Hiro Murai directed the story about Gambino being a celebrity and musician living on an island with his girlfriend played by Rihanna. The movie is a thriller based around Gambino’s character, Deni Maroon, and his passion for giving his community a music festival. Guava Island premiered at Coachella and then was offered to everyone for free on Amazon Prime for 18 hours. The film’s political message is driven by the soundtrack that has original music from Childish Gambino as well as reworked versions of “This Is America” “Summertime Magic” and “Feels Like Summertime.” 

[youtube id=”n5LoVcVsiSQ”]The trailer for Ocean’s 8 arrived today and it stars Rihanna alongside Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Awkawfina. The all-woman spin-off of Ocean’s Eleven puts Bullock’s character, Debbie Ocean who is Danny Ocean’s sister as the ringleader in the plot. Ocean has plans to pull off a never done before heist at New York City’s Met Gala. Her target is Daphne Kluger, a famous actress played by Hathaway. Kluger will be wearing $150 million dollars worth of diamonds around her neck and Bullock and her crew position themselves to take the stones and escape without hassle. Ocean’s 8 will be Rihanna’s ninth film appearance when it debuts in theaters June 8th. 

[youtube id=”fzCct3j-pH8″]  Tonight Pharrell debuted a remix of N.E.R.D.’s “Lemon” on Drake’s Ovo Sound Radio. The original version from their latest album No One Ever Really Dies features Rihanna. You can listen to the whole episode here.