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Episode 209

Rihanna Is Our Last Global Pop Phenomenon

Rihanna has given us hits, images, and moments that defined an era, but what does it mean to call her our last global pop phenomenon? In this episode of Queue Points, DJ Sir Daniel and Jay Ray sit down to reflect on Rihanna’s impact as an artist, a Bajan cultural figure, and a businesswoman whose reach extends far beyond the charts.​

In this conversation, they explore:​

  1. Rihanna’s journey from Bridgetown to becoming one of the most recognizable pop and R&B artists of the 21st century.​
  2. The Bajan women performers who laid the groundwork before her, including Alison Hinds, Shontelle Lane, Tamara Marshall, Rosemary Phillips, and Shanta Price.​
  3. How Rihanna’s catalog, image, and public persona reshaped expectations of what a global pop star can look and sound like.​
  4. The personal and professional challenges she has navigated in public, and how they inform the way audiences relate to her.​
  5. Rihanna’s evolution into a cultural and business force through ventures like Fenty, and what that says about the future of international pop stardom.​

If you care about Black music history, Caribbean influence, and the changing nature of pop celebrity, this episode offers a grounded, thoughtful look at why Rihanna’s story still matters.

Chapter Markers

00:00 Intro Theme

00:16 Introduction and Welcome

00:58 Rihanna: The Last International Pop Star

01:26 Honoring Bajan Female Artists

02:32 Rihanna's Early Career and Rise to Fame

04:07 Rihanna's Achievements and Impact

05:36 Rihanna's Personal and Professional Challenges

06:53 Rihanna's Cultural Influence and Comparisons

14:43 Rihanna's Business Acumen and Branding

25:44 Conclusion and Call to Action

27:08 Outro Theme

Support Queue Points By Becoming An Insider: https://link.queuepoints.com/membership

#Rihanna, #RihannaNavy, #QueuePoints, #QueuePointsPodcast, #GlobalPop, #PopCulture, #BlackMusic, #BlackMusicHistory, #CaribbeanMusic, #Bajan, #Soca, #Fenty, #MusicPodcast, #PopMusic, #RB, #HipHopCulture, #MusicHistory

Transcript
Sir Daniel:

Greetings.

Sir Daniel:

Welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast.

Sir Daniel:

I am DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray:

And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government

Jay Ray:

as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III.

Jay Ray:

And Sir Daniel, I am so happy to be going on this trip with you.

Jay Ray:

Uh, yeah.

Jay Ray:

This is gonna be a fun show.

Sir Daniel:

It is absolutely going to be a fun show.

Sir Daniel:

We are heading to Bridgetown right now.

Sir Daniel:

We are gonna get us some fish cakes and flying fish and we are going

Sir Daniel:

to have a great conversation about Riot, Rose and Rocky's mom, we are

Sir Daniel:

talking about none other than the jewel of the island of the sun.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

And I will, I'm gonna say this right now, Jay Ray.

Sir Daniel:

Rihanna Robyn Fenty is the last important international pop star of our lifetime.

Sir Daniel:

I'm gonna say that right?

Sir Daniel:

I'm just gonna put that right there.

Sir Daniel:

Y'all could argue in the comments and every and everything, but Jay Ray, we just

Sir Daniel:

want to take this moment and just discuss.

Sir Daniel:

The importance and the impact of Rihanna on the, the pop culture landscape.

Sir Daniel:

And before we go any further, so I will say this, so Rihanna is probably

Sir Daniel:

the, um, most recognizable Bajan female artist, but I want to give a salute.

Sir Daniel:

To some very important people like Allison Hines, who is the queen of Soca music.

Sir Daniel:

Uh, Shontelle Lane, who is also, um, who came along and was also in it, kind of

Sir Daniel:

in the, in the, um, vein of Rihanna as far as, uh, pop r and b, Tamara Marshall.

Sir Daniel:

Rosemary Phillips and Shante Price.

Sir Daniel:

I just want to give those ladies a nod.

Sir Daniel:

Their Bajan women performers, and they may not get, necessarily get the same

Sir Daniel:

shine that Rihanna has gotten, but they are also very important to laying

Sir Daniel:

the foundation and the blueprint for who we recognize as the pop r and b

Sir Daniel:

princess of the 24th, 21st century.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Jay Ray:

Thank you so much for lifting up the names of those women.

Jay Ray:

I think it's so important to, um.

Jay Ray:

Talk about the people who kind of paved the way.

Jay Ray:

And Rihanna is such a interesting artist because, um, I think if we were

Jay Ray:

to go back in time, if we went into our way back machine into 2005, and,

Jay Ray:

and, and first of all, I don't know if this is true for you, sir Daniel,

Jay Ray:

but this was definitely true for me.

Jay Ray:

Rihanna because she was a teenage girl.

Jay Ray:

Um, she was doing that mid two thousands, pop r and b. That wasn't really my

Jay Ray:

thing, you know what I'm saying?

Jay Ray:

I knew of her existence.

Jay Ray:

So when I first heard Pon D replay, I was like, oh, that's a cute song.

Jay Ray:

You know what I mean?

Jay Ray:

But, you know, it was squarely for a generation that I was no

Jay Ray:

longer a part of, so I recognized.

Jay Ray:

That she was present.

Jay Ray:

I recognized that she was talented, and I'm like, you know what I'm saying?

Jay Ray:

But it wasn't like, oh, I'm a fan.

Jay Ray:

I, what I, I find so interesting about Rihanna is that she, she's interesting.

Jay Ray:

You know what I'm saying?

Jay Ray:

Like it would've been very easy for her.

Jay Ray:

Um, and not to compare her to Janet Jackson because we've

Jay Ray:

talked about this offline.

Jay Ray:

I think Rihanna's comparison is different.

Sir Daniel:

absolutely.

Jay Ray:

You know, but I, I think in the same way that, um,

Jay Ray:

Janet Jackson had a very clear.

Jay Ray:

Vision that emerged about what her career was going to be.

Jay Ray:

Rihanna did that exact same thing of like, I am going to have this

Jay Ray:

particular career and when we just run down the numbers, this is fascinating.

Jay Ray:

Um, so first and foremost, Rihanna is.

Jay Ray:

In the top five of biggest selling artists of all time for women.

Jay Ray:

She's ahead of Whitney, she's head of Madonna, which is crazy

Jay Ray:

when you think of how new she is compared to those women, um, and

Jay Ray:

how groundbreaking those women are.

Jay Ray:

Right?

Jay Ray:

So 14 number ones.

Jay Ray:

It's crazy.

Jay Ray:

Nine Grammys.

Jay Ray:

12 Billboard Music Awards,

Sir Daniel:

Jesus.

Jay Ray:

13 American Music Awards, including an ICON Award.

Jay Ray:

This sister right here,

Jay Ray:

see we be talking about, uh, uh, uh, people are, are legends and I

Jay Ray:

think sometimes we throw this, uh, that word around really loosely.

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

Completely.

Sir Daniel:

Yes.

Jay Ray:

when it applies to re, when it, when it, when we say this

Jay Ray:

with Rihanna, it's actually true.

Jay Ray:

She has seven diamond singles.

Jay Ray:

That means that is the equivalent of 10 million

Jay Ray:

units of a song.

Sir Daniel:

So, and she's only got eight albums.

Jay Ray:

And she's only got eight album and she's, and she's, she's

Jay Ray:

still young and she's still,

Sir Daniel:

She's still, she's still here?

Sir Daniel:

No, um, only eight albums, the last of which dropped 10 years ago.

Jay Ray:

let's sit with that.

Jay Ray:

Which means she was killing it.

Jay Ray:

She was just releasing album after album after album, and I don't know if

Jay Ray:

she's ever talked about this, but I am curious about what was that pace like?

Jay Ray:

Why that pace?

Sir Daniel:

So look, music of the Sun.

Sir Daniel:

2005. A girl like me, 2006.

Sir Daniel:

Good girl.

Sir Daniel:

Gone bad.

Sir Daniel:

2007 rated R 2009.

Sir Daniel:

Loud 2020 10.

Sir Daniel:

Talk that.

Sir Daniel:

Talk.

Sir Daniel:

2011 Unapologetic.

Sir Daniel:

2012. And then she gave herself a break.

Jay Ray:

For a few years,

Sir Daniel:

and dropped anti in 2016.

Sir Daniel:

That.

Sir Daniel:

That needs to be studied.

Sir Daniel:

That is either a brilliant and a brilliant, um, work ethic or it, or

Sir Daniel:

it could be exploitive, something that

Jay Ray:

or I'm trying to get outta this deal.

Jay Ray:

I need to get outta this deal.

Sir Daniel:

all, you know what, you know, what we love to say on, on Queue Points.

Sir Daniel:

Two things could be true, at the same, at the same time.

Sir Daniel:

It could all be true at the same time.

Sir Daniel:

And I think that it has worked in her favor.

Sir Daniel:

Um, I will say, um, so you mentioned Madonna.

Sir Daniel:

I have to say Rihanna is the direct descendant of Grace Jones

Sir Daniel:

and Madonna, in my opinion.

Jay Ray:

I no hands freaking down.

Jay Ray:

Agree.

Jay Ray:

When we talk about comparisons, those are the two that I would come with.

Sir Daniel:

Right.

Sir Daniel:

And, and it has to be said.

Sir Daniel:

So you, you made me think about the first time, the very first time I laid eyes

Sir Daniel:

on Rihanna was during her, it was a MTV, um, musical awards performance of, um,

Sir Daniel:

girl like me.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel:

Was that a No, it wasn't a girl like me.

Sir Daniel:

It was from the Music of the Sun album.

Sir Daniel:

It was her very first single,

Jay Ray:

Oh, uh, PON D Replay or SOS was the other big one.

Jay Ray:

Was it?

Jay Ray:

SOS?

Sir Daniel:

No, it wasn't.

Sir Daniel:

It was more, it was that it had the, the BDP Ooh, sample in it.

Jay Ray:

Oh, I can't remember.

Jay Ray:

Child.

Jay Ray:

I don't know.

Jay Ray:

You know, I wasn't listening to Rihanna back then.

Sir Daniel:

so she's performing on a beach and she's got the Trident,

Sir Daniel:

which is featured on the Bejan flag.

Sir Daniel:

And immediately, well, duh.

Sir Daniel:

I immediately was like, is she Bajan?

Sir Daniel:

Hold up.

Sir Daniel:

up.

Sir Daniel:

She's be now that I was like, oh, wait a minute.

Sir Daniel:

Okay.

Sir Daniel:

Let me, let me, let me hear her out.

Sir Daniel:

Because as somebody who was also born in Barbados, we didn't, bajans don't,

Sir Daniel:

aren't in the conversation a lot, especially when it comes to international

Sir Daniel:

pop stars or, or even in, in the, the conversation about international music.

Sir Daniel:

Beins are kind of on the.

Sir Daniel:

Kinda on the low.

Sir Daniel:

Everybody likes to talk about Jamaica.

Sir Daniel:

Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica.

Sir Daniel:

But Barbados, Barbados is that girl as well.

Sir Daniel:

And you, and we find that out when we're introduced to Rihanna.

Sir Daniel:

And even though she's not really, this is squarely r and b pop, there's no,

Sir Daniel:

there's little tinges of, um, her ness.

Sir Daniel:

I'll say that, that pop up.

Sir Daniel:

In her visuals, her videos, and um, clearly when you hear her talk

Sir Daniel:

during her interviews, you can hear that chopped up Bejan accent.

Sir Daniel:

You know, she's, you know, she's from Barbados and I think automatically

Sir Daniel:

you've got all the bes on your side.

Sir Daniel:

Girl.

Sir Daniel:

All of us are automatically, we're clocked in like.

Sir Daniel:

She just on the strength that Robyn, that she, her name is Robyn and from Barbados.

Sir Daniel:

We're all clocked in already on her side, but I, I, I'm thinking

Sir Daniel:

about her cultural impact.

Sir Daniel:

J um, Jay Ray, because she's come up.

Sir Daniel:

One, she's come up in the social media area era, which I think had a

Sir Daniel:

huge impact on how we, um, digested Rihanna as not only as a performer,

Sir Daniel:

but also as a personality because

Jay Ray:

She has a lot of personality.

Jay Ray:

That girl.

Sir Daniel:

tweets were super, super, super spicy with hot sauce

Sir Daniel:

all over them back in the day, and she was also brilliant at becoming

Sir Daniel:

the face of unapologetic women with complete agency over her bodies.

Sir Daniel:

It was very clear from the beginning that this girl is here to party and

Sir Daniel:

she wants you to party with her, which leads to her cultivating.

Sir Daniel:

Community.

Sir Daniel:

So she changed fandom into community because I think that's where we start.

Sir Daniel:

Hearing people calling their fan bases by specific names.

Sir Daniel:

So we have the invention of the Navy

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

and I automatically, you know, you and I know people who were

Sir Daniel:

clearly Navy and who were clearly beehive, ba beehive at the time.

Sir Daniel:

So this leads me to my question to you, Jay Ray.

Sir Daniel:

Why were Rihanna and Beyonce immediately pit against each other when they

Sir Daniel:

clearly made different types of music?

Jay Ray:

Oh, definitely the Jay-Z connection.

Sir Daniel:

Oh,

Jay Ray:

It, it was the, it was, it was definitely the Jay-Z connection, like.

Jay Ray:

I'm sorry I cut you off, but I'm like, oh,

Sir Daniel:

You said that's it.

Jay Ray:

that's really it.

Jay Ray:

Like, because when you go back and you look, 'cause there's two things

Jay Ray:

that were happening at the same time.

Jay Ray:

One, shout out to Jay-Z for this too, because I do, I do think being, 'cause

Jay Ray:

Jay was fairly new to Def Jam when he signed Rihanna, so she was kind of like.

Jay Ray:

This had to work for him, right?

Jay Ray:

So signing this girl who, for all intents and purposes.

Jay Ray:

There were other girls, and there's performances of this

Jay Ray:

at the time that Rihanna was a part of, there were other girls,

Sir Daniel:

Tiarra

Jay Ray:

Tiarra, Marie Amarie,

Sir Daniel:

Hey Marie.

Jay Ray:

right.

Jay Ray:

That she was on stage with.

Jay Ray:

And if you put and, and she wasn't the girl, like she wasn't the pick, but

Sir Daniel:

Supposed to be yes.

Jay Ray:

be the pick.

Jay Ray:

Right.

Jay Ray:

Then of course she was like, now because we're talking about her

Jay Ray:

as an icon, she absolutely was.

Jay Ray:

So what was strategic though, is Jay understood.

Jay Ray:

What his then girlfriend slash fiance, what her fandom was, and Brianna

Jay Ray:

was in a completely different lane.

Jay Ray:

She was doing international pop r and b at a time when black women

Jay Ray:

didn't have opportunities like that.

Sir Daniel:

You know what?

Sir Daniel:

Not When you put it in that perspective, I, you're absolutely right.

Sir Daniel:

I get it.

Sir Daniel:

And to your other point, we hadn't seen a black female performer

Sir Daniel:

connect with an international audience like that since Tina

Jay Ray:

Since Tina Turner.

Jay Ray:

Yep.

Jay Ray:

Exactly.

Sir Daniel:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

And there's just a, which points to an other worldliness.

Jay Ray:

Mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel:

That you have to embody, um, to, to, to be palatable by every man.

Sir Daniel:

You know what I'm saying there?

Sir Daniel:

There's just, there was just something about her.

Sir Daniel:

I'll never forget when, um, breakfast Club host and media All star.

Sir Daniel:

Charlemagne the God back in the day, he, every Friday, Charlemagne

Sir Daniel:

would ask the question before you head on into Friday, remember to

Sir Daniel:

ask yourself, what would Brianna do?

Sir Daniel:

it was just, and that, that just meant that she was the standard of what, um.

Sir Daniel:

Reckless abandon

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

and, and partying and, and having a good time and expressiveness.

Sir Daniel:

She was the standard of what that was without having to where I think

Sir Daniel:

people were still holding, um, Beyonce at a level they were trying to put.

Sir Daniel:

Like how we used to do it, Whitney,

Jay Ray:

Yes.

Jay Ray:

Pri

Sir Daniel:

Whitney in, in that prim and proper princess mode.

Sir Daniel:

Rihanna came in and was like, you know what?

Sir Daniel:

After that, after that, that she got rid of the bundles and got that, that

Sir Daniel:

blunt jet black bob, it was it from,

Jay Ray:

A

Sir Daniel:

was up from there.

Sir Daniel:

It was up from there.

Sir Daniel:

Everybody should just completely cut that off and, and wink.

Sir Daniel:

Bur on the charts and in people's minds because she lived free in people's minds.

Sir Daniel:

And let's face it, she did have a, a really huge machine behind her.

Jay Ray:

I so glad you went there.

Jay Ray:

This is the perfect segue 'cause I'm, I'm thinking a lot about this and, and,

Jay Ray:

and I'm going back to something you said earlier and Rihanna has never said

Jay Ray:

this, but I will be curious 'cause I'm sure we'll get an, an autobiography

Jay Ray:

from her at some point in the future.

Jay Ray:

But, um, potential exploitation, um, is, is, is, is coming up in my brain

Jay Ray:

for, for a couple of reasons, right?

Jay Ray:

So, one, this woman, to your point is working at this incredible pace.

Jay Ray:

Two, um, this woman is still a young girl navigating this intense international

Jay Ray:

fame, I'm sure with a lot of, of, uh, foolishness going on around her.

Jay Ray:

Um, but.

Jay Ray:

Also having to navigate being this incredible, this this public figure

Jay Ray:

that is also a, a woman who's been go, who goes through stuff.

Jay Ray:

You know what I'm saying?

Sir Daniel:

Yeah, I mean, could, so what she's able to do is she

Sir Daniel:

still needs to heal, but she's still, she's healing in luxury.

Sir Daniel:

It's a luxurious healing right.

Jay Ray:

It's a luxurious healing.

Sir Daniel:

But it's healing nonetheless.

Sir Daniel:

It's going, it's getting away from everything.

Sir Daniel:

Um, putting clean to her family, surrounding herself with her family.

Sir Daniel:

Um, I know she spent a lot of time in Barbados, built a, a huge

Sir Daniel:

home for her, a compound for her family, mom, all of that stuff.

Sir Daniel:

And I think that.

Sir Daniel:

Lent to her healing and putting things into perspective to where she could

Sir Daniel:

navigate the rest of her career and say, you know what, um, I only, I only have

Sir Daniel:

what, two more records on this contract.

Sir Daniel:

This is what I'm going to do.

Sir Daniel:

This is how I'm going to approach it.

Sir Daniel:

Because we saw that, it's like we saw after that incident and the, the

Sir Daniel:

things that took place after it and the strategic moves, I, I really believed

Sir Daniel:

it was like, well, I'm looking at.

Sir Daniel:

The end game here.

Sir Daniel:

And I, um, I think I've done what I want to do and I think, which is

Sir Daniel:

huge for a performer because a lot of performers, because of fame and we,

Sir Daniel:

we all know how intoxicating fame is.

Sir Daniel:

A lot of performers aren't able to walk away from that

Sir Daniel:

and say, I don't, I'm cool on.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Sir Daniel:

This aspect of being famous, the, the amount of, she's probably

Sir Daniel:

burnt out from being in the studio.

Sir Daniel:

She probably has oodles of music that hasn't even been heard yet.

Sir Daniel:

So if she wanted to drop a project, there's probably some stuff in the can

Sir Daniel:

right now that she could just release and say, here y'all t take that, you know,

Sir Daniel:

and, and, and have, and have fun with it.

Sir Daniel:

But I think life and what I referred to, um, earlier about her.

Sir Daniel:

Understanding the agency that she has over herself and modeling that for other women.

Sir Daniel:

Um, I kind of lifted her up in respect to the way other women viewed her, but

Sir Daniel:

also made her a target and made other women that came after her targets as well.

Sir Daniel:

Because if you notice the vitriol for women who present

Sir Daniel:

like a Rihanna who present.

Sir Daniel:

Unapologetic and outspoken.

Sir Daniel:

Now, the vitriol has kind of raised, has risen for women like that.

Sir Daniel:

Uh, Allah, Meg Thee stallion, who, you know, who had her own run in

Sir Daniel:

with a man from, with Bejan lineage, but we're not gonna, um, acknowledge

Sir Daniel:

him anyway, so, but, um, yeah, so.

Sir Daniel:

I think she, she, it's a double edged sword.

Sir Daniel:

She's this face, she's become the face of empowerment, but she's also set the

Sir Daniel:

stage for, um, for the women that come after her that say, you know what?

Sir Daniel:

This is the blueprint of how I wanna present.

Sir Daniel:

I'm a badass.

Sir Daniel:

I'm, she's, she literally has introduced us to baddie culture.

Sir Daniel:

I would say Rihanna is, Rihanna probably created baddie culture in her own way.

Sir Daniel:

Oh, uh, the best part of baddie culture.

Sir Daniel:

I'll say that because baddie culture has also turned into

Sir Daniel:

evolving into something else.

Sir Daniel:

Um, wild.

Sir Daniel:

But, um, let's not negate.

Sir Daniel:

The, the, the, the business acumen you had mentioned before.

Sir Daniel:

Jay Ray, I just wanna go through the fact, I wanna say that Rihanna

Sir Daniel:

is, university is a university level course on the global impact of

Sir Daniel:

branding, on global branding impact.

Sir Daniel:

So you're talking about these people had to believe the fact

Sir Daniel:

that she would, that she could, um.

Sir Daniel:

Um, not only relate to but entice people that they've already,

Sir Daniel:

that they've created their brands for these major luxury brands.

Sir Daniel:

They're looking at her as luxury.

Sir Daniel:

She is the standard of luxury and will attract people to those brands.

Sir Daniel:

And that there's not a whole lot there.

Sir Daniel:

There's not a whole lot of black women.

Jay Ray:

mm-hmm.

Sir Daniel:

In pop culture that can say that they have been a part of that.

Sir Daniel:

So I think I, I just had to shout her out for that, for that part of, for that

Sir Daniel:

dimension of her, her business acumen.

Sir Daniel:

And I think because of those in endorsements and, and being a, a, a.

Sir Daniel:

A, a, a, a ground investor, an early investor in Uber.

Sir Daniel:

And, um, t which, you know, a lot of people does, can be debated,

Jay Ray:

some people like their title.

Sir Daniel:

Some people still like Title, um, and the New York Liberty,

Sir Daniel:

you know, she's at the ground level of those things in investing in them.

Sir Daniel:

So I think those are important because it, it gave her the freedom

Sir Daniel:

to step away from the music.

Jay Ray:

Abs,

Jay Ray:

it is refreshing

Sir Daniel:

Mm-hmm.

Jay Ray:

to.

Jay Ray:

Know that there is the possibility, Rihanna is the possibility for what

Jay Ray:

happens when you work hard and do your things, and you have the ability to

Jay Ray:

just say, I. I'm gonna do this now.

Jay Ray:

And in her case, she is a mother.

Jay Ray:

She is a partner.

Jay Ray:

She is not pressed about giving us what we think we need.

Jay Ray:

Meanwhile, anti is.

Jay Ray:

A brilliant album, if that is her last album ever.

Jay Ray:

The Woman Won.

Jay Ray:

The Woman just outright won by giving us an incredible

Jay Ray:

classic period of albums, right?

Jay Ray:

But the freedom, watching a black woman who is able to say, you know what?

Jay Ray:

I've been there, I have done that.

Jay Ray:

I worked my behind off for this.

Jay Ray:

I'm gonna go be a mama to these babies and a partner to my man, and I'm just

Jay Ray:

gonna live my life with my family.

Jay Ray:

That that right there is the message.

Jay Ray:

Do the work, and if you wanna step away from it, be cool you,

Jay Ray:

she doesn't owe us anything.

Sir Daniel:

you know, I'm glad you said that because that leads to my final point.

Sir Daniel:

I think we just have to, I want to express to you, listener, watcher, I want you

Sir Daniel:

to sit in this moment of acceptance.

Sir Daniel:

We all, I think we, I think, Jay Ray, think you and

Jay Ray:

it in your body and you need to embody

Sir Daniel:

had enough time to, we we're settled with it.

Sir Daniel:

We're good.

Sir Daniel:

We're, we're sitting in it.

Sir Daniel:

We're sitting in this acceptance.

Sir Daniel:

I think the rest of you all that still bring, and I think y'all are

Sir Daniel:

coming around, but the rest of you all that still want to ask questions

Sir Daniel:

about music and new music is that.

Sir Daniel:

Listen, this lady gave us a Super Bowl performance

Jay Ray:

Which was amazing all up in the, in the thing, pregnant, pregnant.

Sir Daniel:

and she gave us a performance of a lifetime.

Sir Daniel:

I don't care whether she was lip syncing or not, that

Jay Ray:

She sounded amazing.

Jay Ray:

That performance went off.

Sir Daniel:

Listen, but so hear me out guys.

Sir Daniel:

I think we just need to sit in this acceptance and lean on those memories,

Sir Daniel:

cleave to those memories and the music, the catalog that she has left for

Sir Daniel:

you all for us, and just sit in that.

Sir Daniel:

And also, like Jay Ray said, look at her.

Sir Daniel:

Um, look at her as, as a, not, not necessarily a blueprint or inspiration,

Sir Daniel:

a direct inspiration for you, but just look at the possibility Rihanna

Sir Daniel:

is, Rihanna is the embodiment of the possibility of what can be achieved

Sir Daniel:

when you just have the gumption and a whole lot of attitude and are able to.

Sir Daniel:

Put it, put it in and make it work for you succinctly.

Sir Daniel:

So, yeah, I, I, that's just the girl.

Sir Daniel:

She really is.

Sir Daniel:

She truly is that girl.

Sir Daniel:

I mean, again, like I said, at the top of the show, at the top of this

Sir Daniel:

episode, y'all could argue about it.

Sir Daniel:

I think she's probably one, one of the last important international

Sir Daniel:

pop stars of our lifetime.

Jay Ray:

Yeah.

Jay Ray:

Nope.

Jay Ray:

Absolutely agree.

Jay Ray:

And, um, what I love about this conversation too, sir Daniel,

Jay Ray:

is we, and we, we, you know, we talked about this Rihanna.

Jay Ray:

I. Is outside of the generation that we typically talk about on this show.

Jay Ray:

But what I love about her is she definitely stands direct in the

Jay Ray:

lineage of folks that we do revere and talk about, and we also revere,

Jay Ray:

uh, the work that she has done.

Jay Ray:

Um, so go y'all and play y'all some Rihanna.

Jay Ray:

Go and find your Rihanna playlists and put them on.

Jay Ray:

I,

Sir Daniel:

Play the performances.

Sir Daniel:

Play the YouTube, YouTube, the performances that MTV performance where

Sir Daniel:

we, um, I think Kit Fury recorded to it as the pasta, pasta performance, what she

Sir Daniel:

was wearing, uh, she just had on a durag.

Sir Daniel:

My, there wasn't like a whole liquor, there wasn't a whole lot

Sir Daniel:

of choreography for her to do, but.

Sir Daniel:

To me that speaks to the power of performance.

Sir Daniel:

She has the right amount of music, hits that stick, like grits and the,

Sir Daniel:

the attitude and, and and gravitas to come out there and just have

Sir Daniel:

people behind her and just have a good time and, and do her songs.

Sir Daniel:

And people are like, that was the best performance of the evening.

Sir Daniel:

And I'm not just saying that because she's Bajan and I too, but go ahead.

Jay Ray:

So some things that y'all need to do, if you can, uh, hear

Jay Ray:

our voices, see our faces, uh, go ahead and subscribe to Queue Points.

Jay Ray:

Go one step further.

Jay Ray:

Um, you can subscribe and become a member.

Jay Ray:

Uh, Queue Points Insider, and you can do that on our website.

Jay Ray:

We would appreciate that.

Jay Ray:

So insiders help us to be able to keep this thing going.

Jay Ray:

Keep this thing running.

Jay Ray:

The way that it run, it keeps that website going.

Jay Ray:

It keeps.

Jay Ray:

All of these things that we're able to do, it allows us to be able to do them.

Jay Ray:

So your support would be greatly appreciated.

Jay Ray:

Uh, check us out on Substack.

Jay Ray:

We got a whole bunch of, um, content on Substack for you to

Jay Ray:

check out in addition to the show.

Jay Ray:

And you can shop our store@store.queuepoints.com where you

Jay Ray:

could pick up t-shirts and, and hoodies and, and mugs and all the things.

Jay Ray:

Uh, we just appreciate y'all and we love y'all.

Sir Daniel:

We sure do.

Sir Daniel:

What would Rihanna do?

Sir Daniel:

Rihanna would drop a bag on that donation button you see right now

Sir Daniel:

on Queue Points podcast, that's exactly what Rihanna would do.

Sir Daniel:

But what do I say?

Sir Daniel:

What do I always say?

Sir Daniel:

At the end of every episode in this life, you have a choice to donate.

Sir Daniel:

Now in this life, you have a choice.

Sir Daniel:

You could either pick up the needle or let the record play.

Sir Daniel:

I'm DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray:

And my name is Jay Ray, y'all.

Sir Daniel:

And this is Queue Points podcast, dropping the

Sir Daniel:

needle on black music history.

Sir Daniel:

We will see you pond play.

Sir Daniel:

All y'all peace.

Jay Ray:

Peace.

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About the Podcast

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Queue Points

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About your hosts

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DJ Sir Daniel

DJ Sir Daniel is a DJ/Selector and part of Atlanta's, all-vinyl crew, Wax Fundamentals. Co-host of the Queue Points podcast, he is an advocate for DJ culture and is passionate about creating atmospheres of inclusivity and jubilation from a Black perspective.

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Jay Ray

Johnnie Ray Kornegay III (Jay Ray) is a podcast consultant and co-host and producer of Queue Points, the Ambie Award-nominated podcast that drops the needle on Black music history. In addition to his duties at Queue Points, he is the Deputy Director of Strategy and Impact for CNP (Counter Narrative Project). A photographer, creative consultant and social commentator, Jay Ray's work is centered around a commitment to telling full and honest stories about communities often ignored.