Another VMAs has come and gone and it certainly didn't leave us disappointed. There was the red carpet glam, Jimmy Fallon's impression of Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, and the moment when Chance the Rapper proved he's just like the rest of us to name a few. Naturally the most anticipated part of the night were the performances, this year dominated by girl power – most notably Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears with her comeback to the VMAs since 2007, and the powerful, irreplaceable, magical and surreal Queen Bey.
What also left us with much to fawn about was Drake's heartfelt speech for Rihanna when he presented her with the Video Vanguard Award. Lauding her with praises upon praises, it simultaneously melted our hearts and made us want to run out of the room because it was so intimate and we wished our Chipotle burritos would speak about us in the same way. You could practically see the love coming out of his eyes and could tell that he's felt this way for a very, very long time (age 22 to be exact!).
But stepping away from his undying love for RiRi, here is an excerpt from his speech where he addresses Rihanna as an artist:
What's most impressive is the person. Some artists need to play a character to achieve success; some need to downplay their own natural instincts to blend in. She succeeded by doing something no one in this industry does, which is being herself.
And with this, I realized that Drake is onto something.
Most artists do have some sort of persona or image they like to uphold, some to complement the music they make but others to embody their whole person. Take, for instance, Taylor Swift with her untouchable squad of cool girls, who aims to be your ultimate girl-next-door BFF while writing angst of relationships past into her songs. There's Lana del Rey with her brooding and sultry voice to go along with her consistent '50s and '60s Americana image. Even Beyoncé had her alter ego, Sasha Fierce, for some time because she felt that the entertainer in her had to be separate from who she is. Other artists have created something iconic to their name, like Ariana's high ponytail, Justin Bieber's teenage mushroom/side-swept hair, and Sia's face-concealing wig.
And there's nothing wrong with any of this, wanting to have your career separated as much or as little as possible from your personal self, or having something iconic about you. What Drake is getting at, though, is that unlike many of these artists, Rihanna didn't need to do any of these things. She doesn't have a singular hair style or even a singular musical or lyrical style, singing about BDSM in one instance ("S&M") and lovesick R&B ballads in the next ("Hate That I Love You"). To put it another way, there is nothing physical that sets Rihanna apart – we can only refer to the person she is, which is an amazing and successful artist and a strong individual who doesn't need a man to complete her.
Congratulations again to Rihanna for receiving the Video Vanguard Award. She certainly isn't the only artist to have achieved success by being her true self, nor will she be the last. But in the meantime, indulge yourself in this clip of her killing it on the runway for the Victoria's Secret's Fashion Show 2012. And she ain't even a model.
