Robyn Rihanna Fenty, part-time singer and part-time lyrical genius, displays her tremendous abilities in her hit song "Work," a brilliantly crafted expedition into the English language that pushes the boundary of what it means to make sense. Never before had the world been blessed with such a grammatically ambitious work of art, as evidenced by the song's immediate success. However, Rihanna's lyrics seem to point to something more urgent at hand.
Speculation aside, even Rihanna's opening line, "Work, work, work, work, work, work," is masterfully designed to reflect what thrilling content listeners should expect later in the song. In case it's not totally clear just how much work Rihanna is referring to, here's an artist's rendition to demonstrate:
That is undeniably a tremendous amount of work. Rihanna's insistence that she does indeed do work, and a lot of it at that, might make listeners pause their iPods to wonder: Why is Rihanna doing so much work? Is it so that she can continuously deliver her fans with great songs? Thankfully, she clarifies in the next line, singing "He said me haffi work, work, work, work, work, work." The usage of the term "haffi," a word in Jamaican patois meaning "have to," implies some unknown entity, hidden in the shadows, demanding that she do work. How spooky!
Rihanna follows up with "He see me do mi dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt," clearly hinting not only that this aforementioned "work" likely involves some form of digging, but also that the unknown entity commanding her is watching her as she works. Here's a visual to better showcase this spooky scenario:
How utterly terrifying. If this were true, one would only assume her next words would be some sort of unintelligible cry for help. "Dry… Me a desert him! Nuh time to have you lurking" seems to confirm our suspicions and suggest that she is being held hostage in some sort of desert. In fact, the entire verse is filled with these subtle hints, with phrases like "Him ah guh act like he no like it" and "Nuh badda, text me in a crisis." We would certainly text you right away Rihanna, if you had given us your cell number.
The next lyrics that can be made out come in the next verse when Rihanna sings "Don't leave me stuck here in the streets, uh huh." Perhaps she's not in the desert, but in the streets somewhere. Rihanna seems to be giving us conflicting reports, perhaps to confuse her captor. Here's another visual:
The next verse, sung by featured artist Aubrey Drake Graham and complete with lines like "You need to get done, done, done, done at work," suggests that her captor is none other than the rapper himself. Even deeper, Drake's line "Sorry if I'm way less friendly" suggests that he is not the first to hold Rihanna hostage, but instead is a part of some organization of Rihanna smugglers. Perhaps he is part of the Illuminati, an organization known for communicating cryptically through pop songs. To illustrate this creepy scenario, here's a visual:
It's all starting to make sense now. Even Drake's name supports the idea:
Now that the pieces have all fallen perfectly into place, we can fathom the real reason why Rihanna wrote "Work," and why it became so popular. Through her thought-provoking lyrics and vivid imagery, Rihanna evokes a profound sense of concern among her listeners, who to this day are praying for her release.
