Rihanna Where You At?
I long thought about blogging on how Rihanna’s “Umbrella” is probably the best female pop single since Nelly Furtado’s run of Say It Right and Promiscuous, but I didn’t want to damage my reputation as most Serious 17 Year Old Ever. Well, Dan Drezner has broken the Rihanna Taboo, and asked which version of Umbrella is better – Rihanna’s original or Mandy Moore’s cover.
This isn’t even a question – the original is faster paced, more catchy, more fun and has Jay-Z, higher production values and more energetic vocals. Mandy Moore, on the other hand, is breathy, lame, sad and just has no energy. There’s also little pacing, tempo changes or a dramatic transition between bridge and chorus that defines the last minute of the original. Rihanna’s version is the classic summer pop hit – like Beyonce’s Dangerously in Love, while Mandy’s cover is just so typical and generic – it could easily be a filler track on on of her albums, not a career defining hit. There’s nothing distinctive about it. Not to mention that Rihanna’s video is a Gesamtkunstwerk of black leather, creative umbrella movements, raining sparks, matrix like water dodging, costume changes, Jay-Z and silver body paint while Mandy’s is just some boring clip of her performing the song.
The real Rihanna question is if any of the remixes are better than the original. The remix with Chris Brown, with Lil Mama, or is the original always the best? I think so, and here’s the proof:
