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Robyn Rihanna Fenty
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New York magazine described Rihanna's early look as a cookie-cutter teen queen while stating that she has the ability to shift looks so dramatically and with such ease. This was underscored when in March 2011 American Chronicle writer Arturo Tora termed her “Rihannaissance Woman.” During the release of her sophomore album, many critics felt that Rihanna's sound and substance was too heavily similar to that of Beyoncé. The media even made negative reviews comparing her music, music videos, performances and even her image to Beyoncé, which garnered Rihanna much criticism. Some media even claimed that Jay-Z fashioned her to be a replica of Beyoncé. Since the release of her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna's image has become a sex symbol and set herself apart from other R&B starlets, opting for designer couture over belly-baring crop tops. Sonya Magett of Black Voices reported that Rihanna's style has become quite risqué since she burst onto the scene four years ago. Rihanna's fashion and style landed her on the list of People's 10 Best Dressed Stars of 2008. In 2009, she ranked seventeenth on Glamour magazine's list of the 50 Most Glamorous Women. Tracey Lomrantz of Glamour commented, "If style risks could be measured in miles, Rihanna would have criss-crossed the globe a thousand times over already." She has appeared on Maxim's Hot 100 list for three consecutive years, from 2007 to 2009, listed in positions eight, fifteen, and eight, respectively. In June 2007, Rihanna was named 2007 Venus Breeze's "Celebrity Legs Of A Goddess" by Gillette.
Rihanna's tattoos have drawn much media attention. Her tattoos include a music note tattoo on her ankle, a Pisces sign behind her right ear, a Sanskrit prayer going down her hip, a star in her left ear, the word love on her left middle finger, an Arabic phrase meaning "Freedom in Christ" on her ribcage area, a trail of stars going down the back of her neck, a skull with a pink hair bow, the phrase "shhh..." on her right index finger, the date 11.4.86 in Roman numerals on top of her left shoulder, a henna-style dragon claw including hibiscus flowers, a handgun under her right armpit, a six-word phrase on her chest, and the phrase "rebelle fleur" on her neck, said to mean "rebel/rebellious flower" in French. Her gun tattoo was planned to be just below her shoulders but was ultimately located on her ribcage. In answer to criticism for her violence-themed tattoo, Keith "Bang Bang" McCurdy, her tattoo artist, was quick to explain his opinion that the image simply "represents strength and power". Her thirteenth tattoo which she had was on her chest and reads, "Never a failure, always a lesson". She had it tattoed backwards, McCurdy says, because she wanted to be able to read it in the mirror. When he asked why she wanted it, she said that it was her "motto in life for everything".
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