The world needs more music, less makeup from Rihanna

In the column Straight Nonsense, columnist Moises Mendez II takes a queer eye to the insanity of straight culture.

Last week, I wrote about a particular fandom, and not only did they prove my point with the response, but they also tried to act as if I didn’t know ball. I will not invoke their name because the response to my recent op-ed was exhaustingly stupid. I was met with sarcastic messages asking me, “Aw, is this your first fandom?” And, “You don’t know about fandom, you need to get out of our business.” While hearing the criticisms, what do they think the “Fenty” in my handle is for?

I wear my Rihanna Navy badge with honor. I was in the trenches during the early days of Instagram — on any given day, you could ask me, “Where in the world is Rihanna?” And I would be able to tell you where she was last spotted. In fact, I still know the names of all of her best friends, managers, assistants, PR reps, hairstylist, makeup artists, security guard, and family members; I’ve watched every single interview she’s ever done. When people hated the song she did for Black Panther, I sat right by my girl and streamed that song. I have a Rihanna tattoo (it’s just the word “ANTI”), so I’m about that life.

All of that is to say that I’m feeling nostalgic this week because Wednesday marked the 10-year anniversary of Rihanna’s best (and most recent) album, ANTI. It’s her magnum opus, and it seemed like she was going to capitalize on the overwhelmingly favorable critical reception and the commercial success following a world tour that grossed over $110 million. She has released an album almost every year since her debut (there was a two-year gap between Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R, then a four-year gap between Unapologetic and ANTI), but in between those albums, she toured, got into acting, and did philanthropic work.

But once the tour was over, she took a major step back from the public eye and focused on building the Fenty business empire. It started with Fenty Beauty, then her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty, and the now-shuttered fashion brand simply called Fenty. She made history with her fashion brand, becoming the first woman of color to lead a house under the LVMH umbrella and the first woman to create an original brand for the luxury powerhouse. It’s not enough to be a singer or an actor; that’s not sustainable under today’s Hollywood business model. Everyone has to be a multi-hyphenate, and that new reality is clear from all the random businesses celebrities are promoting to their followers — looking at you, Sydney Sweeney.

Rihanna’s success led her to become the first female artist to become a billionaire. I’m all for eating the rich, but I might help hide Rihanna and Beyoncé when the class war revolution starts. Though this mainly comes from my hope that there will be a new album coming soon. However, with every new business venture, and Rihanna being the mom of three kids, back-to-back, the promise of that seems to fade. She is already successful enough without music, and she does tease a musical comeback every now and then; this tactic feels like a way to bait her fans into continuing to support her businesses. I can be a fan and be critical of her marketing tactics, especially when it comes to the thing that everyone is dying to get from her.

Rihanna has never been one to do the thing that is expected of her; she is going to work on her own dime and her own time — one of the things I admire about her. But it’s becoming harder and harder to stay a dedicated fan of hers because she isn’t filling her fans’ cups from a creative perspective. It’s clear that the business empire she’s chosen to build is meant to create generational wealth, especially given that she’s an island girl who immigrated to the U.S. at 16 to pursue a musical career.

I guess, for now, we’ll keep buying her makeup, underwear, fragrances, skincare, and haircare products, since that seems to be all we’ll really be getting from her in the near future. During this anniversary week for one of my favorite albums of all time, created by one of my favorite artists of all time, I’ll wear black to mourn the loss of musical singer Rihanna — and come to terms with the fact that she’s now Avon lady Rihanna.

Moises Mendez II is a staff writer at Out magazine. Follow him on Instagram @moisesfenty.

Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit out.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of our stories. Email us at [email protected]. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of Out or our parent company, equalpride.

This article originally appeared on Out: Straight Nonsense: The world needs more music, less makeup from Rihanna