4 July 2007 - 8:32am

Rihanna: "Umbrella"

Femtique's picture

Rihanna Umbrella

Jay Z begins the song with a little intro jingle. In it, he brags about how his music company is making a lot of money, and how Rihanna is part of his "stacked chips" for a rainy day. In other words, just when people might have thought Jay Z slowed down on introducing new talent, he comes back on top of his game.

Stacked chips for the rainy day
Jay, Rain Man is back with little Ms. Sunshine
Rihanna where you at?

Sad to say, Jay Z could not even let Rihanna flaunt this song all on her own. He introduces "little Ms. Sunshine" as if she needs his popularity to give her a "boost" of juice if you will. In this regard, Jay Z steals the spotlight of the song and renders Rihanna powerless at the intro. Think about it. The first thing a listener hears is not Rihanna, but Jay Z.

For the rest of the music video, Rihanna subjects herself to utter objectification. It is the sexual fantasy all men are wanting . . . a "good girl gone bad" -- that's the name of her entire album, by the way. The snapshot above is one of the most sexually submissive posses she performs in the video. There are many parts of the video in which she dances around the umbrella as if the umbrella was some phallic sculpture to be worshiped. While she dances around the umbrella in between her legs, she taunts and chants to the video watcher by saying "Baby come into me" repetitively.

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella

The lyrics alone could be interpreted as a love song, but the video itself changes the meaning of the words. The video transforms the love song into a celebration of a "good girl gone bad" worshiping a penis, and letting her male lover know that when times get rough, to "come into me".

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