Rihanna Wants a Word With Us

Seven years. According to an interview Rihanna gave pre-#FENTYBOWL, it’s been seven years since Rihanna was on stage. And then she showed up like she’d been there all day, every day and gave us alllll that goodness during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

I can’t stop thinking about it. About her. About what she channeled and shared up there – She was so comfortable. So sure of herself. So relaxed in her power. This comment from Rachel Rodgers says it perfectly: 

She didn’t let seven years away from the main stage impact her. No ma’am. She just did what she does – one of the many things she’s great at doing – and showed up so sure of herself. No wild dance moves. No guest appearances. No gimmicks. All hits, all her. And even integrated her Fenty Beauty product right into the show (and so gracefully…I didn’t realize the product placement that had even happened until days later).

It was refreshing. Real. Confidence and worthiness operating at frequency that’s rare to find and a stunner to see. 

It was truly aspirational for me. If I was in a similar situation (lolol not like super bowl same same but you get the picture)...if someone asked me to do something major, but there was a big, multi-year gap since I’d last rocked that version of myself…my instinct would have been to prove.

Prove. Prove that I’m worthy. Prove they made the right choice. Prove I deserve to be there. Prove I haven’t lost my edge. Prove that I’m relevant. Prove, prove, prove and more proving.

Or as my wise friend Naomi Powell describes it, I would have been “dog paddling”. I can basically guarantee you that I would have over-worked and over-performed and over-stressed for the approval of others. 

During the Superbow, Rihanna gave all of us another way. She showed us what it looks like to take the world’s largest stage and say…

Here I am. Relaxed. Take it or leave it, I don’t care either way. Your approval isn’t what I seek. I am chosen. I am worthy. And I’m not backing down from embodying that. Let the many versions of myself be front and center: mother, partner, expecting, business executive, artist.

Oooof. Her power, her presence…it was just so good. 

If you listen to the interview she gave in the week leading up (and seriously, listen to it. It’s 17 more minutes of Rihanna gold), there’s insights into how her why ushered her beyond her doubts. 

She said, “It’s important for me to do this this year. It’s important for representation. It’s Important for my son to see that.” She knew why she was saying yes. It was bigger than her, so much bigger, which it sounds like helped her through the challenge of it all. 

I know plenty of people who had other thoughts on the halftime show. For them, watching Rihanna wasn’t quite the religious experience – a masterclass in deep-knowing-womanhood – that it was for me. And that’s OK, even if you don’t agree with me (But honestly you’re wrong. She was amazing. jkjk)

I want you to notice when and where you bend toward proving, and see if you can channel the red bodysuit and arch back towards yourself. You are enough, and you’ve got nothing to prove. Yes, you’ll have to work hard just like Rihanna did to prepare and rehearse. But it will just hit different when you put in that hard work from a place of worthiness, from a place of knowing your why, instead of feeling like you have everything to prove…7 years away from the stage or not.