Rihanna Flops Out Of Top 20 With New Single: She’s No Taylor Swift
There is some awful news for Rihanna this week on Billboard’s Hot 100: Her new single “B*tch Better Have My Money” dropped out of the top 20 after only three weeks. While other singers would kill to have a top 20 hit these days (are you listening, Mariah Carey and Madonna?), the failure of Rihanna’s single, which some consider the true first single off of her upcoming album R8, could mean that Rihanna’s career is on its downslide stage.
“B*tch Better Have My Money” has been almost universally derided on social media sites, especially Twitter.
Is there a reason Rihanna has decided to go from averagely bad to worse? W t f is her new song! #awful #bleedingears
— Nicolle Jermaine (@NicolleJermaine) April 16, 2015
To be fair, Rihanna is still charting at No. 13 with “FourFiveSeconds.” However, that song also has some help from two huge artists: Kanye West and Paul McCartney. If this can be considered the first single from R8, which some debate, it also may be seen as a failure since every first single Rihanna has launched from an album since 2008 has gone straight to No. 1. What is happening here?
While it’s true that Rihanna’s latest single hasn’t been well received, there is also an issue of her image to the general public. A new video of Rihanna surfaced where she was alleged to have been using cocaine. However, according to Us Magazine, RiRi denies all allegations.
“N—a your lame ass got some f—g nerve!!! Any fool could see that’s a joint that I’m basing with cigarette! Who snorts tobacco??!! FOH witcho ‘never been to a rodeo so someone squeezing their nose means they’re doing coke’ lookin a**!!”
Perhaps the way Rihanna responded to the allegations is also a turnoff. In order to save her career, some have suggested that Rihanna should take tips from Taylor Swift. Although Swift is also a target of social media hate, she works with a top-notch PR team in order to overcome the hate. Unlike Rihanna, Taylor Swift is producing music that has general appeal. In fact, Swift’s single “Style” is still in the top 10 after several weeks, and her two previous singles, “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space” have both hit No. 1. 1989 is the biggest selling international album in several years.
Unlike Rihanna, Taylor Swift is also making some bold moves in the industry. One of those moves is bypassing Spotify, something that would be way too risky for Rihanna to even consider. Right or wrong (and some say possibly racist), Taylor Swift is considered empowering to women while Rihanna is seen as living up to sexual stereotypes of women in pop music. Let’s hope Rihanna can overcome the backlash and produce future No. 1 hit singles.
[Photo Credit: Us Magazine]
