Unlike the (relatively) realistic, charming collaboration with Drake that was "What's My Name," Rihanna decided it was time to release a music video in which she struts in thigh-highs, a leather cap, and little else, snapping a pink bullwhip and strewing both candy hearts and signifiers everywhere. It's hard to tell what Rihanna herself is setting out to do: parts of the video play as parody of "sexy" videos (she eats a banana languorously) and parts seem annoyingly self-serious (she wears a dress covered in fake newspaper headlines while ball-gagged reporters smother her in cellophane. Huh!).

Then again, Rihanna has always been a singles artist, not a woman who can sell albums. To get another #1 record and stay viable, she's going to have to grab the attention even of those who only watch a music video when it's a Gaga-style spectacular. But now that she's walked Perez Hilton on a leash (really), how can she top this? May we suggest the shock of the demure?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_