That riddle named Rihanna

In 2010 Rihanna performed for the first time in Spain.

It was at Rock In Rio, which was held in a space that was built specifically for this festival in Arganda del Rey, 40 kilometers from Madrid.

Rihanna was 23 years old, had released four albums, was a star in the United States, but in Spain most people knew her as “la de

, in reference to her great success in the company of Jay-Z.

That day at Rock In Rio Shakira was also announced, who had edited her bestseller

Rihanna emerged triumphant from the duel.

With short hair dyed red and dressed only in a conical bra and

black, offered a concert that combined sophistication with fun.

An Amazonian figure on stage that projected elegance and grit at the same time.

When the hour and a half of recital ended, it would never be “the one from

Rihanna (Saint Michael, Barbados, 34 years old) is an atypical pop star.

Because of her musical versatility, since she performs on all fronts and always well.

And for the way she has led her career.

His latest album

and tour dates back to 2016. TikTok did not yet exist, currently the basic social network for disseminating popular music.

Miguel Ángel Bargueño, specialist in pop music and author of books such as

, analyzes it: “This musical silence is striking insofar as the current trend is the opposite: the vast majority of artists publish single songs every one or two months, while she has been missing for several years.

Rihanna is a star that transcends music, and she doesn't need to follow any current to stay on top;

she doesn't even need to sell records.

Her parallel activities (clothing and lingerie collections, beauty product lines) have turned her into a businesswoman who occasionally releases records.

Which translates into an enviable freedom that gives him carte blanche to produce music that is far from commercial”.

Rihanna at a concert in Stockholm (Sweden) in July 2014. MICHAEL CAMPANELLA (Redferns)

A year before her performance in Madrid, Rihanna suffered the most cathartic incident of her career.

The night before the 2009 Grammys, her then-boyfriend, rapper Chris Brown, abused her and beat her inside a car.

The image of the singer's wounded face, happily broadcast by the TMZ website (specialist in delving into the miseries of celebrities), overwhelmed everyone who saw it.

The next album in her career,

(2009), was packed with sordid tales of murder, revenge and men abusing women.

There is a musical and lyrical change for Rihanna since the incident.

After three albums

2005;

2006, and

2007) with hits of pop for all audiences, in

the singer delves into darkness and musical experimentation.

In a 2011 interview for the cover of the US edition of

, the artist justified some of her lyrics about shady sex with this statement: “I love being submissive in bed.

It is fun.

You get to be a little lady, have someone who is macho and in charge.

I work a lot and have to make a lot of decisions, so when it comes to being intimate I like to feel like I'm someone's girl."

The singer ended up forgiving Chris Brown.

As a child, Rihanna took refuge in

when problems raged in her Barbados home.

Her father was an alcoholic and drug addict and mistreated her mother.

The singer has confessed that she was afraid "that the weekend would arrive", at which time her father collected the pay and got drunk.

She became a lonely and quiet girl who listened to

She suffered from persistent headaches.

When she turned 14 her parents divorced and peace settled in her house.

The migraines stopped.

Over time, her father disengaged.

Since then, the relationship between the two has experienced moments of good intentions and others of hurricanes, such as when, in 2019, the artist was forced to go to court to defend herself against the father's management of a company in her name.

At the age of 15, he won a talent contest playing

by Mariah Carey.

This encouraged her to enter other competitions.

She was always one of the first, singing songs by Whitney Houston.

Evan Rogers, a music producer on vacation in Barbados, was fascinated with her qualities and returned to the United States with some recordings and the goal of moving them through record companies.

Jay Brown, a talent scout for the Def Jam label, fell in love with her voice and introduced her to the company's president at the time, none other than Jay-Z, rapper, executive and partner of Beyoncé.

And she started Rihanna's career.

In

her first bombshell, Jay-Z collaborates, emulating that duet between the rapper and Beyoncé in

2003. “Rihanna's great challenge continues to be occupying Beyoncé's throne, which in turn took over Madonna's.

Well, let's say that, since her last album,

was the best of all the ones she has published, she is in the right mood to try it ”, points out Santi Carrillo, editorial director of

Rihanna has been characterized by a lack of apprehension when it comes to facing her music.

She drew on 1980s electronic English pop on tracks like

where she introduced a melody from

Soft Cell's

she paid homage to Michael Jackson in

she was inspired by Depeche Mode on

(which she performed in an explosive duet with Britney Spears at an awards show);

and has invited other artists to shine in their songs: the commercial pop of Maroon 5, the rock guitar of Slash, the furious rap of Eminem or Nicki Minaj, the sophisticated hip hop of Drake, the commercial electronics of David Guetta, the non so commercial of Calvin Harris and even (oh, surprise!) a duet with David Bisbal in

surely the most disconcerting episode of his career.

A sense of humor is not lacking in Barbados.

With 17 years in New York, in 2005, at the beginning of his career.

Brad Barket (Getty Images)

Rihanna released one album per year from 2005 to 2012 (with the exception of 2008).

Four went from

(2012) to

(2016).

Among all the albums, she adds 14 songs at number one in sales in the United States.

And then the silence.

What happened is that she became a billionaire with her cosmetics brand, Fenty (which she later expanded into clothing design), an original proposal with 40 shades.

Inclusion brought to makeup.

In these six years without a new album, Rihanna has

by entering the richest on the

which awards him 1,400 million euros accumulated from the sale of his ointments.

It is the second largest fortune among women in the entertainment industry, only surpassed by the presenter Oprah Winfrey.

During the last six years he has occasionally appeared doing some collaboration until last October when he presented two songs (a bit disappointing) for the soundtrack of

He now returns to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl (early morning from Sunday 5 to Monday 6 in Spain).

His decision to participate in it is controversial, since he refused on occasion.

Carrillo explains it: “She is going to act after reversing her refusal to join the American football league for something that she, and the civilized world, considered racism: the fact that she had sanctioned the player Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem in protest before the police brutality against African Americans.

So, there is no racism anymore?

Where are we, Rihanna?"

Does his 12-minute performance at Sunday's Super Bowl mean he's back to music and touring?

“I am open to explore, discover and create different and strange things.

Maybe my fans don't make sense of it.

What I want is to have fun with music, ”she declared two days ago at a press conference prior to her performance at the Super Bowl.

The prospect of a comeback with a new album is greeted with excitement by his fans and with a meme by those who view him cynically.

which is what is speculated to be called the album, is compared to

the work that Guns N' Roses was delaying for ten years.

The reality is that there is no news of a new album or tour.

A circumstance that may make you consider your present, whatever it may be: your first child, the result of a relationship with the rapper ASAP Rocky, was born in May 2022.

The Rihanna enigma will continue beyond the Super Bowl...