Rihanna: Tall, talented and with the world at her feet

You certainly take notice when Bajan princess Robyn Rihanna Fenty walks into the room.

- More Rihanna videos in our artist of the month feature.

Standing at nearly six-feet-tall, the R&B sensation turned up at the Sessions studios dressed in a black-and-white-striped midriff blouse, studded black shorts and high-heel boots!

A fan of Destiny's Child and Mariah Carey, Rihanna has eclipsed both acts with her sensational debut album Music Of The Sun, A Girl Like Me and now Good Girl Gone Bad. Discovered by producer Evan Rogers when he was holidaying on her home island of Barbados, she was whisked off to the US to an audition with Jay-Z, who signed her to Def Jam records on the spot.

Both debut album Music Of The Sun and its follow-up A Girl Like Me were huge successes, thanks to killer tracks such as Pon De Replay, SOS and Unfaithful. However, for her 2007 album, she's breaking from the formula to create a diverse collection covering ballads, techno-driven dance tracks as well as some familiar sound for the new Good Girl Gone Bad.

That diversity comes as a natural result of where she grew up and where she lives now: "Growing up in Barbados has influenced me a lot musically. I used to listen to a lot of reggae music and it's still in there, and when I moved to America, I was exposed to so [many] different types of music. It made me want to try everything and that's why my songs now [are] such a fusion of so much," she says.

At the age of 19, Rihanna has the world in the palm of her hand but she still enjoys the simple and quiet things in life, which prompted her to move to Los Angeles from New York, as she sought more down time - when it's possible!

The three years since Music Of The Sun have flown by for Rihanna and she's grown a lot in that time: "When I listen to Music Of The Sun, I almost don't even recognise myself. It's just a total different world. I've grown so much. Then I listen to A Girl Like Me and I could see the growth there but the growth from [that album] to Good Girl Gone Bad was just tremendous. I went into it knowing what I wanted back and it worked. I had a great time in the studio with this," she says.

Justifiably proud of her new album, Rihanna explains the title: "I would say the title is very reflective of the sound of the album. The sound is really, really edgy. Lyrically, we have some songs on there that are just very rebel-like and bad girlish and we wanted a title that suited the music, the new Rihanna. It's the perfect title because I have a little more attitude on this one."

Check out her sensational new songs and great new band in Rihanna's AOL Session.

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- More on Rihanna from AOL Music
- Visit her official website
- Search: Rihanna

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