"HARD" TO HANDLE

I love dark Rihanna. If only the rest of the world saw her like I do. Then "Hard," her fantastic current single, would be outperforming Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (basically a bad rewrite of "Poker Face") on the charts. Gaga wishes she were this cool.

Aparently, 1992smoothcriminalBK on YouTube begs to differ:

"She is trying to be like Lady Gaga! Its not happening Rihanna! Don't like her, dont like her music and she CANNOT sing or perform! Am not hatin' am stain facts! Shes just Jayz's money makin' puppet! The music industry is shocing lately there are only a few artists left with true raw talent! And yes Beyonce and Alicia Keys are two of them! Anyway she looks like a cheap slut in this video!"

Everyone's entitled to their (poorly spelled and punctuated) opinion. Interestingly, I read 1992smoothcriminalBK's comment after I wrote the above sentence about Gaga. I had no idea that everyone has been comparing Rihanna's street makeover to Gaga. Meanwhile, Gaga seems to be undergoing a transformation of her own. Last night a friend of mine commented that Gaga finally is beginning to get the style thing right. I agree (see below). Perhaps it's the influence of her recent video partner Beyonce.

Personally, I prefer my Gaga with a dash of glamour and my Rihanna with a little thug on the side. Maybe the two of them are merging into the same person. Whatever they are doing, I think Rihanna is doing it a whole lot better.

GAGA THEN

GAGA NOW

Rihanna "Hard"