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Rihanna at 30 is the best Rihanna: 3 reasons why she’s gotten better with time

Today, the 8-time Grammy winning recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and actress, Robyn Rihanna Fenty turns 30 years old.

Rih has always been adored. Ever since she Pon’d the replay in 2005, the Barbadian princess captured the hearts of millions and was donned as pop’s next superstar. Over a decade later and she’s been nothing short of that.

Rihanna is the only female artist to have 4 US Hot 100 number 1 singles in a calendar year, she has the most digital number 1 singles in US history with more than 100 million [RIAA] gold & platinum song certifications, making her the best selling digital artist of all time. She’s a business woman with multiple entrepreneurial ventures, a brand, and fashion icon. She’s more than lived up to her expectations.

Hearing Rihanna and thirty feels oddly appropriate, though. When celebrities age (especially music artists), you imagine them, perhaps, leaving their prime. It’s like the older they get, the farther away from the public’s conscious and interest they become.

But it’s different with Rihanna. There’s no worrisome eye-brow rising at her inclining age — no one’s fearful she’s leaving anything behind. If anything, it seems as if she’s come into her own now more than ever.

I’d even dare to say that Rihanna at 30 is the best Rihanna.

Poise

It could be from observing the king of cool and the man who signed her, Jay-Z, or possibly how she’s decided to move after the public and nasty Chris Brown debacle in 2009, but Rihanna has mastered public relations.

We see Rihanna when Rihanna wants to be seen. She doesn’t do interviews, she doesn’t overshare her life on social media — despite having 60 million and 86 million followers on Instagram and Twitter respectively —  and you never know who she’s dating, despite who you see her with.

She navigates fame’s choppy waters with the best of them.

What’s to be admired here is that she manages to maintain relevance without giving too much of herself. It can’t be coincidence that every time she’s caught out she’s in a look that sends blogs and fans fawning.

Rihanna’s poise has a presence artists twenty-plus years in the game aim strive for. That balance of being able to do what you want to while staying lowkey is rare, and 30-year-old Rihanna has it down to a T.


Hustle

30-year-old Rihanna is the best Rihanna because it’s the most mature Rihanna. Rihanna is a global business, and it’s something she had to grown into.

Between Puma, Dior, and the many designers Rihanna has worked with, it’s clear that entrepreneurship is something she’s always wanted to pursue.

Among the sponsors she’s partnered with, in 2017 Rihanna launched her own beauty line, Fenty Beauty. Besides being a Black woman launching her own business, the inclusion of her product was groundbreaking for the fashion world.

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During the launch party for Fenty Beauty, Rihanna emphasized the importance of inclusivity in the beauty industry. “There needs to be something for a dark-skinned girl, there needs to be something for a really pale girl … you want people to appreciate the product and not feel like: ‘Aw, that’s cute, but it only looks good on her,’” she told editors.


Confidence

Beyond the looks, talent, and money, everyone envies Rihanna’s confidence. No matter where she is or what she’s wearing, it always looks like Rihanna is doin’ whatever the hell she wants. It seems simple, but a lot of people, celebrities or not, have trouble being themselves.

Rihanna might have been the first non-rapper, pop, media darling to openly smoke weed. It’s like she decided she just didn’t give a f*** anymore, and she didn’t lose an endorsement or lose fans in the process. It’s almost as if doubling down on herself, her individuality, and her brand created a niche that millions wanted in on.

Her poise and hustle are the only things Rihanna answers to. As long as she’s taking care of business and moving how she chooses to move, why does anything anyone else says matter? It’s an attitude she’s clearly grown into, and one the looks great on her.

Last year, fans were speculating that Rihanna was pregnant because she started looking noticeably bigger in photos. She wasn’t pregnant, just healthier. And it’s safe to say the world was happier because of it.

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Whether it’s happily gaining weight, smoking weed, or partying it up in a club, Rihanna doesn’t compromise for anyone. I’ll take that Rihanna any day.

Rihanna is worth $75 million and counting, she was Harvard’s 2017 Humanitarian of the Year, she’s appearing alongside Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, and Mindy Kaling in Ocean’s Eight this summer, and she’s just starting. Who wouldn’t love Rihanna at 30?

While we’ll never be able to see who Aaliyah, Left Eye, and Selena would have blossomed into, it’s important to appreciate the pop princesses who we still have. So happy birthday to Robyn Rihanna Fenty.