Live Review: Rihanna at Twickenham Stadium (Day 1)

There is no denying the fact that in recent years Rihanna has been a hit magnet. She has racked up more hit songs that her predecessors and peers alike, and it is these countless hits that she brought along to her tour stop at London’s Twickenham Stadium.

If a Rihanna concert could be compared to anything, ‘a CD with a parental advisory label’ would suffice. With her use of profanity, seductive gyrations, and ‘crotch patting’ – the pop provocateur was sure to have parents of her younger audience in attendance turning in their seats, or if they were standing, rolling their eyes.

Her first 5-song set included a mixture of gritty urban cuts from her last three albums which included ‘Talk That Talk,’ ‘Pour It Up’ and the patois laced ‘Man Down’ as she lazily pounced across the stage, basking in cheers from the crowd.

It is debatable as to how much singing was actually done but particular soaring moments came when she performed her biggest hit till date ‘We Found Love,’ and then some others including ‘Umbrella,’ ‘Only Girl in the World,’ and ‘Where Have You Been.’

Six wardrobe changes, electrifying jumbotrons and a stage big enough for her to sashay across – this concert was not an opportunity for pop’s bad girl to show off her musical prowess and showmanship but an opportunity for her to host a glorified fashion show and a celebratory event of her hits.

To end the show, she performed ‘Stay’ and ‘Diamonds’ back to back as the audience sang along – her performance of the latter in no way recaptured her soaring delivery of the song on X Factor last year.

Unlike Beyoncé, this was not a vibrating or satisfying evidence of live performing. Instead, what Rihanna can rely on is the fact that she has enough hit songs that are captivating enough to keep her audience interested and overlook her shortcomings as a credible performer.

Music Album: Side Effects of You by Fantasia

After the unexpected success of her last studio album, Back to Me – the American Idol alum has been shown in many media outlets for mostly negative reasons. In the midst of all the negative press and views on her, there is one particular thing in her famous life that remains positive – and that is her impressive musical growth. With every album she releases, it seems like she only gets better. The musical direction she embarks on this time around make it a special album, and what makes Side Effects of You even more special, is the fact that she plays an active part in the song writing and production process, and she explores new musical territories like she never has before.

On the funk-inspired ‘Change Your Mind,’ she sings about doing things to her love interest that would make him reconsider the direction of their relationship – the arrangement of the song makes for a bouncy retro anthem. The reggae-tinged ‘Ain’t All Bad’ makes for an empowering and uplifting listen, the mid-tempo ballad is a brilliant song but certainly worth more than being an album-filler. She recruits Kelly Rowland and Missy Elliott for the sassy female anthem ‘Without Me’ armed with vengeful lyrics, Fantasia opens the song with “you’re really gon’ make me expose you for exactly who you are,” before declaring on the chorus “where would you be without me.” The soulful songstress offers us heartfelt ballads that we have become accustomed to hearing from her as she evidences on the album’s title track, ‘End of Me’ and ‘In Deep.’

With the success of her last album, one would have thought that it would be hard for Fantasia to top herself – but delivers a rare gem at a time when one could have assumed that the r&b genre had sadly passed on, but with this, she provides hope of a resurrection and gives us glimpse of just how much the genre can evolve to become mainstream once again. Great body of work from a genuine artist and singer.

Live Review: Alicia Keys at London's 02 Arena (Day 2)

Having recently lost out on bagging tickets for Beyoncé’s sold out shows at London’s 02 Arena, I was fortunate to secure tickets for the tour of an equally talented and mainstream superstar. Alicia Keys is a 14-time Grammy award winner who has built a critically acclaimed career with her brand of classic, modern soulful r&b.

Ms Keys has proved herself to be a true performer, so I was not expecting an over-the-top Katy Perry-type show, or a performance as glamourous as Beyoncé’s, hell, not even a show as raunchy as Rihanna’s. I was expecting a true r&b singer to deliver her hits to an audience that was in attendance to hear her do just that, and she did in pure elegance.

After being treated to an intriguing opening performance by r&b star, Miguel – Alicia appeared in all her glorious beauty, opening with her empowering yet vengeful hit, ‘Karma’ – backed by her bevy of male dancers, she delivered it with exceptional stage presence and vocal ability, before transitioning into her endearing ballad ‘You Don’t Know My Name,’ even re-enacting the telephone conversation in a Broadway play-styled fashion.

With limited stage theatrics and simple choreography, the r&b songstress delivered her catalogue of hits with impressive standards of crowd interaction, stellar vocals and her incredible piano playing skills. A particular soaring moment came with the performance of her breakout hit, ‘Fallin’ – but the surprises only just began as she brought out UK singer and producer, Labrinth who warmed up the crowd with a medley of his hits ‘Express Yourself/Earthquake’ while Alicia provided some form of backing vocals.

Another surprise and probably the highlight of the night came when she began to play the opening piano notes of John Legend’s ‘Ordinary People’ before welcoming the man himself to the stage for them to perform the song as a duet, she even went as far as admitting that he plays the piano better than she does. She set a glittery back drop by asking the audience to wave their cellphones in the air as she sang biggest hit till date, ‘No One.’

Though considered to be the weakest songs on her latest album (Girl on Fire) - her fiery performances of ‘New Day’ and ‘Girl on Fire’ resonated well with the audience and proved that she still had a bit more energy in her after an hour plus set. After a brief break and her only wardrobe change – she returned to deliver the ode to her home town ‘Empire State of Mind’ and paid homage to the city she was in by switching the lyrics to “we’re in London, concrete jungle where dreams are made of.”

After reading positive reviews about her sold out show the night before, day two seemed to offer an equally impressive, if not better opportunity for Ms Keys to prove the artistic genius that she really is. She might not have commanded the stage like her contemporaries would have but she put on a show that only Alicia Keys could.

Music Album: The 20/20 Experience

Though it has only been six years, it feels like lifetime since we have had new music from Justin Timberlake (not considering his collaboration with Timbaland, Carry Out, in 2009). After taking time to relinquish his status as boy band member turned solo superstar to focus on his acting career, business endeavours and personal life; he gives us the much anticipated follow-up to his ground breaking sophomore album. This soulful and artistic new album is solely produced by Timbaland – which is a testament to the fact that the musical relationship between them produces solid, electrifying music, the end product being the 20/20 Experience.

In many parts, this new album picks up from where FutureSex/LoveSounds left off, in terms of similar musical arrangements, lyrical content and production. While ‘Sex produced edgier cuts like ‘SexyBack’ and ‘What Goes Around’, ‘Experience delivers more soulful, sultry and demure songs. ‘Suit & Tie (Featuring Jay-Z)’ is the album’s first single, a eclectic mid-tempo love song with an underlining toast to dapper fashion and finer things in life, though it could be considered to be 2013’s ‘My Love’ – the song is an important glimpse into how fresh the new album sounds. ‘That Girl’ and ‘Let the Groove In’ follow the same eclectic sound. Where Mr Timberlake shines most are on his poetic deliveries on ‘Blue Ocean Floor’ and ‘Spaceship Coupe’, and his more upbeat and hip hop-laced songs on ‘Don’t Hold the Wall’ and 'Dress On’.

Without a doubt, Justin delivers yet another money-worth album, his vocals remain powerful and he sounds more mature than ever – you can actually hear the growth in his voice. Ignoring the similarities, while his last album had a more playful sound, this new one sounds more artistic and solid – a sound that seems to work into the next step of his evolution as a singer and songwriter. What is even more surprising is that he did not jump on the EDM sound wagon that his peers like Usher, Enrique and Nelly have experimented with in the past few years.

Sasha who? She is... Baddie Bey

For the past few weeks there has been divided chit-chat on the internet over the release of a mash-up of two brand new songs from Beyoncé titled “Bow Down/I Been On” – on the earlier part of the song, an over-confident and aggressive Bey sings “I know when you were little girls, you use to think of being in my world…” On listening to the first half of the song, the first question that came to mind was, who the hell pissed Bey off?

I have seen the “Irreplaceable” singer exude confidence in many ways through her art form – whether it is performing on stage or singing about upgrading her equally confident husband. On the new song (or songs) the singer displays a confidence that has never been heard from her before.

She has had her own share of criticism (but is that not the case of any successful pop star) and as far as I have known - her peers and predecessors have always had positive things to say about the singer as a performer and even as a person, so it begs the question, what is she really hoping to achieve with this new sound and musical direction? This is a woman who has inspired girls and women to be comfortable in their own skin (Bootylicious), commanded them to stay strong and independent (Survivor, Independent Women) and has even made them believe that they the rule the world (Run the World (Girls)) – the new songs are far left from what her legacy is and entails.

Beyoncé has built a career based on female empowerment and independence – so it is no surprise that her audience and critics question the motive of her new music. A few months ago, I watched her sing her empowering ballad “I Was Here” at the UN assembly to celebrate World Humanitarian Day – only to hear her sing about b****** bowing down and smacking tricks today. In a world where Rihanna and Taylor Swift seem to be ruling mainstream pop airwaves, could this be her way of saying that she remains unmatched? Or is it a thirsty attempt for her to fit into a pop world where you can say what is on your mind, be criticised for it but still manage to rack up a couple of #1 records? In my honest opinion, I think the answer is no to either.

This 17-time grammy award winner has conquered the music world, the movie world and judging by the viewers she pulled in for her HBO documentary ‘Life is but a Dream’ – the TV world is next on her agenda. Her talent, showmanship, business acumen and philanthropy are the aspects of her career that has won her much fanfare. With an envy-worthy career and a stable personal life as mother, wife, daughter and sister – there is no reason for her to feel like she is losing her place in the pop world.

Beyoncé has earned her right to sing about whatever she wants, her successes as a member of Destiny’s Child, as a solo artist and as a person have given her the audacity to feel as confident as she desires to be – she could sing about Blue Ivy’s diapers and critics will still have something to say about it. As evidenced by how quickly her Mrs Carter world tickets sold out – Jay-Z’s wife has nothing to else to prove because it is clear that her artistry speaks for itself. She is still very much a desired commodity in an ever changing industry – her ability to evolve, move with the times and personalise her ideas will ensure that she remains so.

With the release of her rumoured new single ‘Grown Woman’ (a snippet can be heard in her new Pepsi commercial) looming and its host album to follow – I expect to hear her like we never have, I expect to hear a grown, cocky and ultra-confident woman – goodbye to Sasha Fierce and let us welcome ‘Baddie Bey’ or ‘Ibbaddie’ as she is now known on instagram.