What’s up, y’all! Happy Black History Month ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 and Happy belated Valentine’s Day! ❤️❤️
As y’all already know, the Queen of Barbados, otherwise known as Rihanna, was set to perform at this year’s Super Bowl. It marked her first performance in seven years, so I was psyched to see her.
I kept telling myself that no matter what, I’d have my TV on the designated channel, ready to check out Rihanna’s show. However, as fate would have it, my Mom and I went out for Sunday dinner and by the time we got back, the game was on the third quarter. I missed Rihanna. Dammit.
I was able to watch the performance about two hours after it initially aired, and I have to be honest…it didn’t wow me. The following Monday morning, I re-watched Ri-Ri doing her thing with two intentions in mind: first, I felt that I needed to see the show a second time to write this review, and secondly, I was hoping my opinion would change after viewing it again. It didn’t.
I know Stephen A. Smith is somewhere laughin’ his ass off right now. Lord…
Now, before y’all drag me by my 4C edges, let me just be clear about something. I’m not trying to put Rihanna down, and I can even understand why the show wasn’t as explosive as I hoped it would be. It’s now public knowledge that Ms. Ri-Ri is having another baby (yay!), so it makes sense that she had to take it easy and couldn’t do too much dancing around that stage. Shoot, my monthly never fails to whup my ass, so I can just imagine what it’s like to perform while carrying a whole human. On a side note, I hope she has a little girl. 👶🏽
Also, the halftime show wasn’t horrible. The dancers did the damn thing, and I liked the floating platforms, although seeing Rihanna and her dancers on them made my heart jump (thankfully, they were strapped in a harness). However, given this was Rihanna’s first performance since 2016 and all the media hype thrown at us, I was expecting more. The spectacle wasn’t bad, but it was definitely low energy and underwhelming. Again though, I get it.
My girl Lovelyti—who also was a tad disappointed in the halftime show—felt like Rihanna’s pregnancy shouldn’t have hindered her performance, seeing as both Beyoncé and Cardi B put on shows while “in the family way” and both brought the house down.
I totally get what she’s saying, but I have to disagree with her to an extent. Everyone’s pregnancy is different, and not only does it vary from woman to woman, but it can also vary from kid to kid. I’ve seen some women breeze through their first pregnancy and struggle through the second. I’ve also noticed that a lot of people are saying that Rihanna’s show may have lacked excitement simply because she’s no longer into music as she once was. I didn’t rule that out at first, but just today, I came across this clip of Ri-Ri saying that she’s open to making new music, so there’s still hope (especially for y’all that think she’s done with the studio thanks to the new baby 😂).
Nonetheless, Ri-Ri is still my girl, and although her Halftime Show wasn’t one of my faves, I’m happy to hear that she and A$AP Rocky are extending their family. I hope that she continues her businesses and does more music, because I miss hearing new songs from her. One thing I know for sure…when it comes to Super Bowl performances, Prince* and Bruno still reign supreme.
—Written by Nadiya
*Please forgive me, y’all. I wanted to post the videos of both Rihanna and Prince doing their thing at the Super Bowl, but the NFL wanted to be stingy. Surprisingly, they allowed me to post Bruno’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. Don’t ask me why that is (and I know what some of y’all are gonna say, “It’s because the Bruno video wasn’t from the NFL YouTube channel!” Well, neither was the Prince one, but for some reason, they’re not allowing me to post it 🙄).
What did you think about Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance? Was it everything you hoped it would be or was it on the lackluster side? Are you excited about Rihanna’s new baby? Do you want Ri-Ri to release new music or would you rather her focus more on her other businesses? Let me know in the comments section!
Insights from a Southern Girl 