Rihannas karibiske røtter

I dag må du sjekke ut min coversak om Rihanna i D2, og her er en liten bonussak. Et minintervju om Rihannas karibiske røtter, med Sonjah Stanley Niaah, som er intet mindre enn Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies.

Og her er mine anmeldelser av RiRis tre første album.

ØH: How has Caribbean music influenced Rihanna’s music?

SSN: Rihanna is Barbadian, and it is important to acknowledge this, because Barbados has no distinct music of its own that has received regional or international recognition. Its citizens are however heavy consumers of Trinidadian soca and Jamaican dancehall is a staple. No doubt Rihanna grew up with these influences and they show in her music.

– The track «Man Down» on the Loud album is a prime example of the fusion of Jamaican music with her pop music style influenced by rhythm and blues and hip-hop. Rihanna is also very forthright about her love of Jamaican music especially artists such as Bob Marley, Sizzla and Beres Hammond.

ØH: And how has Rihanna’s music and success influenced Caribbean pop music?

SSN: This question is a bit more complex. It is hard to say, because musical production in the Caribbean is overwhelmingly in the dancehall genre, with soca and calypso being seasonal outputs geared at carnival.

– Rihanna’s influence here is to be seen more in terms of the inspiration for success she provides for up and coming artists who may even perform her tunes. However the artists that rise to a measure of success have mostly been dancehall acts such as Tifa, Ce’cile, and Etana. I really can’t say that Rihanna has had any major influence on Jamaican music.

Men sjekk ut neste generasjon popstjerner fra Barbados, jeg vil påstå at en viss Rihanna-påvirkning er både hørbar og synlig: