Exclusive Interview With Rihanna

Caribbean queen Rihanna chatted with PEPSICO.com about her musical youth, her sudden success, and her relocation to New York City.

It seems like the winter was just not cold enough to chill the fiery Caribbean breeze that Rihanna generated last summer. In fact, it has been less than a year since Rihanna's Music of the Sun delivered the scorching dance floor hit "Pon de Replay." This summer may prove to be another one spent sweating to Rihanna with the release of her latest album, A Girl Like Me. Fortunately, the young star was able to chat with PEPSICO.com about her musical youth, her sudden success, and her relocation to New York City.

PEPSICO: Hello Rihanna.

Rihanna: Hey.

PEPSICO: Hey. So my first question would be, considering how busy you appeared to be in the last year, when exactly did you find time to record this new album?

 Rihanna: Funny that you ask that, because unlike the first album, where we had three months set aside to get the album recorded, the second album, we had no time. We were still promoting the first album, still promoting the first singles, and we just had to fit it in where we could, like at the end of the day, like at 11:30 at night we would start recording. Producers had to fly all over the world and come record with me and work with me. It's crazy. It was crazy. So we got it done, but I'm still amazed because we had no time.

PEPSICO: So A Girl Like Me, what moments on the album do you feel truly represent you?

Rihanna: Let me see, "SOS" for sure. "Unfaithful," "Dem Haters," "Break it Off," "Girl Like Me," which is one of the songs. Let me see. Let me see. Oh, I've got it right here in front of me. Yeah, those are the ones.

PEPSICO: I know that you cowrote many of the songs on Music of the Sun.

Rihanna: Yeah.

PEPSICO: Did you do the same for this album?

Rihanna: The same.

PEPSICO: I'm surprised by how eclectic and varied the songs are on the album. How much creative control are you given in song selection and in the studio?

Rihanna: A good amount actually. But--as much as I want, really. But I don't like to be too much in control and too dominant. I like to hear other people, get other people's opinion, because I respect other people's opinion, especially in the creative world, and you know, like I get advice from producers...sometimes we go back and forth trying to figure out what's best and sometimes we just collaborate and make it the best.

PEPSICO: A Girl Like Me has had a pretty stunning debut on the Billboard charts.

Rihanna: Thank you.

PEPSICO: Yeah, you're welcome. Were you or are you at all surprised by the sort of instant success of this album?

Rihanna: Oh, my god, it hit me so hard my career is like a whirlwind, like it's just going and going and going--it never stops. And I'm in the middle watching everything happen around me. But nothing really affects me, do you know what I mean? Nothing is really affecting me yet. Like "SOS" right now is the number one song, the number one most downloaded song on iTunes--and people calling me, and like, congratulating me and stuff. And I still like, "Thank you." Just, you know, nothing--it still didn't hit me yet, really. So to see my album go to the Top 5 in the first week, that was so unexpected. I just tried to work my hardest and make the best that I could, out of everything.

PEPSICO: Yeah. Does it make you feel at all uncomfortable how quickly your career is growing?

Rihanna: It's weird. I don't know if uncomfortable is the right word. But I try not to get comfortable at all because I don't want to be satisfied at any success that I get. To me it's all working harder and trying to strive to get to the next level.

PEPSICO: And what do you think the next level will be for you musically?

Rihanna: Right. The thing is, I don't like to put a title on it. I just try to work hard, the hardest I could. Like, I try to be a workaholic and try to do the best I can to get better.

PEPSICO: Your rise to fame was very quick, and I'm curious, how did you initially become involved in music?

Rihanna: Oh, well, I was brought up in Barbados living a very normal, simple life, going to school and stuff. And then one of my friends introduced me to an American producer, and we started working at his studio, and then finally we put a demo together and sent it out to a few labels, and Def Jam was the first label to call back. They were the most enthusiastic about everything. So I had to go and meet with Jay-Z, and after I auditioned for him, he kept me in the office. He didn't let me leave until I signed the deal. And that's how it all got started.

PEPSICO: That's very fast.

Rihanna: It was very fast. Very fast.

PEPSICO: That doesn't happen for a lot of people.

Rihanna: I feel very privileged. I'm very grateful that it happened that way, but I still, you know, that was just the beginning for me. As quick as it was, it didn't mean success. It meant that I just got my start quicker…

PEPSICO: Being from Barbados and obviously growing up closer to Trinidad and South America than the United States, what types of music and sounds were you really exposed to in your youth?

Rihanna: I was exposed to a lot of reggae music. Reggae was the biggest thing in Barbados, still is, but hip-hop was always huge too. R&B was huge, and it was huge there. Hip-hop and R&B is now very big in the Caribbean as well as Barbados. But that's the kind of music I used to listen to, reggae and R&B and hip-hop here and there.

PEPSICO: There's a little bit of rock on your new album. Is that something that you were familiar with or comfortable with?

Rihanna: I wasn't familiar with it at all. Growing up in Barbados we aren't exposed to rock music at all. So when I moved to America and I started listening to all these different types of music, I was introduced to rock music, and, well, one of my favorites...that's another one of my favorite types of music. I really enjoy listening to like all Fall Out Boy and Gwen Stefani. And I decided I wanted to be creative and put some rock and reggae together and create a song with rock and reggae, and it's called "Kisses Don't Lie." But the album is not overall a rock influence. No.

PEPSICO: Right.

Rihanna: Just that one song.

PEPSICO: Which actually leads me to my next question. How important is it for you to breathe a spirit of your youth from Barbados into your music?

Rihanna: Oh, very important, because I express myself in my music, so, and I am a young girl from the Caribbean, so, it's very important for me to, you know, breathe youth into my music.

PEPSICO: So you relocated to New York last year, is that correct?

Rihanna: Yes.

PEPSICO: How are you adjusting to life in not only New York City, but, you know, the United States in general?

Rihanna: I like it. I like it because I used to come here every summer to visit my grandparents. So you can basically put me anywhere in the world to do this. I'm here for a purpose. It doesn't matter where I am, but I really enjoy the United States.

PEPSICO: What do you feel that your purpose is ultimately?

Rihanna: I mean, to do music the way I love to do. You know.

PEPSICO: Fantastic. Will you be touring this year?

Rihanna: Definitely, I'll be touring all through July and August. Right now we are working on who we're going out with, but we're definitely going to be out there. Both domestic tours as well as European tours. So, I can't wait for that.

PEPSICO: Great. Well, that's all I have for today.

Rihanna: Well thank you.

PEPSICO: Yeah, thank you very much, and congratulations on your success.

Rihanna: Thank you. Bye Chris.