THE 
February 28, 2008 Before The World Knew Rihanna…
Check out the high school performance that I saw posted on TMZ of Rihanna singing her cover version of Mariah Carey’s hit song “Hero”. Love Muffins, what do you think? Is it fair to judge someone by an early performance on how successful they can be in the music industry?
amkjr85
February 28, 2008 at 3:44 am
DAMN!!!! Poor baby!!! I saw this a couple of weeks ago and the comments weren’t pretty. But she’s doing it up now so who cares.
ashanti
February 28, 2008 at 5:07 am
She didnt sound that bad really, we all know in the industry now days you dont have to be the best vocalist (ex. ciara, ashanti, cassie, Janet)So I cant hate on the girl she is making a name for herself and has everyone blogging about her.
gottabetheflyest
February 28, 2008 at 6:31 am
Lord HAM mercy…why try to sing a song like that when u KNOW u can’t hit those notes?? Not a MARIAH song!!! Anywhoo..it started out alright..but fell off. The sad thing is…she had terrible stage presence then and she still has it now..lol
samysung
February 28, 2008 at 6:57 am
There are so many more deserving singers out there.There’s no doubt in my mind that she made it because of her looks…. such a bloody shame.
bei
February 28, 2008 at 7:19 am
*gottabethebest* I2I. Half the time I’m admiring the girls or should I say her stylists good fashion sense I forget she’s a singer. The girls beautiful but she has no stage presence and with a voice like hers she gotta bring more to the table than just looks. I wish her the best though cause clearly shes doing something right *goes to listen to Tamia*.
bei
February 28, 2008 at 7:22 am
sorry i meant *gottabetheflyest*
ladyrazor
February 28, 2008 at 7:29 am
she wasnt that bad till the end…but i mean she was younger then and well she didnt have the proper training to grow her voice to what it has become now….even from her first album till now u can see that her voice has grown…it just shows u with a little work and dedication u can improve..more props to her…
honeybfly
February 28, 2008 at 7:59 am
Ummm where was her voice bad? I think people equate good singing with screaming at the top of your lungs. she has a nice voice
GossipChick
February 28, 2008 at 8:17 am
can someone please explain to me how she is still around? GRANTED the Umbrella song was a good addition to pop culture but damn she is still riding on that song…she CANT sing and she ISNT even a good entertainer!
those who love her, please explain the appeal!!
Smallworld03
February 28, 2008 at 8:26 am
She gave me a fuckin’ head ache. I mean really and truly… what was she thinking. She sounded like she was singing out of the jungle book honey. Her CD is hot but what makes her famous? She can’t dance… She can’t sing? I mean – what?
My Mood is Music
February 28, 2008 at 8:57 am
She is straight singing out of her nose.
http://www.mymoodismusic.com
MissParker
February 28, 2008 at 10:05 am
I am only like 25 seconds in, and I love it!!! Class and Grace personified.
fatblkboy
February 28, 2008 at 10:28 am
Actually, this isn’t half bad…SUPRISINGLY *giggles*. She’s not the most talented “singer” out there but she does get alot of unfair criticism.
alauryn04
February 28, 2008 at 10:52 am
she sounds absolutely terrible. TERRIBLE. but somewhere along the line someone or someTHING straightened it out. listening to her now, i would never have guessed she sounded like that back then. and i don’t think you can judge that early because if you go youtube the video of when lauryn hill was on showtime at the apollo she sounded a MONKEY DOODLE MESS. LOL. but listen to her on her album, when she was with the fugees, or back when she was on sister act II. the way she sounds now you would never know how busted she used to sound. so moral to the story, i love both artist. we can all talk sh*t about how bad the early performances were but look at where they are now. in lauryn’s case look at where she got to back in 1999
Brandyfan
February 28, 2008 at 11:47 am
yeah its not that bad, dont get it twisted, she isnt that good of a singer, but I have heard worse. so kudos
E.
February 28, 2008 at 2:26 pm
People need to lay off of her. She was probably only 15 or 16 here.Come on, even some of the best singers have rough performances.She was a child.Her voice has obviously matured since then.Even on this tape you can hear her talent. It wasnt perfect but it was there. I’m sure she has a ton of great performances from when she was younger on tape as well but will they be made available? Probably not.Why? because we seem to like to keep people down in this country, not bring them up.
Melissa
February 28, 2008 at 2:28 pm
A little shaky, but she wasn’t that bad.
BeautifulBoy
February 28, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Well she hasn’t grown into her voice yet anyway. People put too much pressure on these young women. You don’t really get into your singing chops until you’re about 35. Not to mention she didn’t have a live band backing her or a sound engineer like everyone else we admire. So, she’s good enough.
KR
February 28, 2008 at 5:37 pm
The ending was not good but this is called singing songs out of your range. She tried to tackle a song that someone should of told her not to do. However she has stage presence and she wasn’t afraid of the audience since she walked toward them.
Fast forward…..with a vocal coach and songs in her range she is a superstar. She always had the stage presence, the IT factor, she just needed fine tuning.
But it was nothing she needed to be stoned for.
Dablkberry
February 28, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I must admit i am the Rihanna superfan. I thnk she was a lil off but it was not horrible. she has def grown as a singer. keep growing ri ri
incognegro
February 28, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I must concede the fact that I am not the biggest Rihanna fan. But I have to give credit where credit is due. This performance is definitely not a stellar-grammy-nominated performance; but what high school performance is? Her notes for the most part were on key and for all intensive purposes the girl can sing. So my question for all those who are criticizing her…if you could do better, I’m sure that you would be where she is. But given that most of us aren’t, we have to respect her gangsta – whatever that may be…
msqdixon
February 28, 2008 at 9:36 pm
well, i have to say, as an artist myself, that she didn’t sound too bad! i am NOT a huge rihanna fan; i friggin LOVE umbrella. but i have not yet purchased and have not intentions to purchase an album of hers. she’s not talented enough for me to support
i don’t do ashanti, cassie, janet, etc. you can only be envious of the hustle because somebody somewhere took a gimmick and turned into a millions of dollars – which these women and benefiting from – yes, there’s a little hater inside all of us cuz we work 9 -5 and they get to shop in milan! LOL no really, she’s a gorgeous young woman, but she is not very skilled vocally. she doesn’t sound much better now than she did back then… sorry guys… gotta keep it real
tanyetta
February 28, 2008 at 9:42 pm
she is so beautiful.
I never knew that was her real name.
Bird
February 28, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I expected it to me much worse. While the execution left much to be desired it’s not like she has nothing to work with. I think her voice is as good as Beyonce. With continued voice lessons and experience I think she can evolve into a good singer much like Mary J. Blige did and I think Keyshia Cole is well on the way to doing.
jade
February 28, 2008 at 10:27 pm
She did wonderful until the end but we are not at all perfect I loved it she really had talent B4 the deal and it is just going to get better with time
Ms.NeeCee
February 28, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Sounds exactly like she does now……..
tiana
February 29, 2008 at 4:34 am
damn this computer.
i cant hear a thing.
but im guessing by her hairstyle
and your comments she did sound pre-mature.
to answer your question..
yes, and no.
yes because we gotta see the orginal quality of the performer. their natural ability.
no because that performer could be good enough to grasp what they have to do to be even better.
Why you gotta be anonymous??
February 29, 2008 at 11:47 am
Actually yall that wasn’t that damn long ago, she’s only 19 now. I kept thinking “Damn her head is big a hell”
emme
March 1, 2008 at 4:58 pm
she was pretty good for a 15 year old. I think the important thing to remember is that a lot of girls assume that having a good voice means hitting high notes and all that. But i think, if she modified it to fit her range, it would have been better. Otherwise good job
JCain
March 2, 2008 at 7:28 am
Right, it wasn’t that long ago! LOL
Yet and still, when you sing ANY Mariah Carey song (Or Whitney), you bets believe you better have a somewhat decent voice to back it up.
And Rhi-Rhi doesn’t, and that’s the problem. Not that she’s a bad singer, but that she picked the wrong song.
AND THANK GOD SHE WAS COVERING THAT FOREHEAD UP BACK THEN!! lol
crisjean
March 11, 2008 at 8:41 am
Why people..why must you HATE?? Spread some loooooooove. That’s what the world needs now;) Go Ri-Ri! You was still a bad chick way before you made it. I think she sounds cute..and better than most chicks in the game right now.
Monice
March 29, 2008 at 11:43 pm
she wasnt that bad, actually i liked parts of it…at least it was real singing, instead of commercialized stuff she does now! (was that spelled rite??.lol)