I'm not feelin' Rihanna...
One of the top acts going today...I looked up her top 10 hits, and sampled them on YouTube, to see what all the hubub was about. I'm sorry but...maybe I'm spoiled by queens like Whitney, Mariah, Janet, etc...but to me, she can't SING worth a LICK :).
What she does is TALKING with a music track, not SINGING. So it has to be something else. I believe the beating from Chris Brown was the best promotional tool she could ever get :). It made her relatable to young people across multiple demos. Its about relationships gone bad! It could also be the fact that she goes well beyond "wardrobe malfunctions".
Its certainly not talent, because :)...congrats to her, I'm not hatin' :)! I listened to her top selling songs, and all I got was a flat voice over some background music! I'm just being honest!