Rihanna is back. Well, she never really left. She’s been one of the world’s most prominent and adored pop singers of the decade. Her fans love her. They’re obsessed with her, and she caters to them. She does all she can to give them what they want. More. Amidst a massive world tour, Rihanna found time to shoot music videos and begin work on new material.
On Friday, Nov. 15, she dropped the music video for her single “What Now.” The video, filmed and directed by Darren Craig, Jeff Nicholas and Jonathan Craven of The Uprising Collective, is unlike most Rihanna videos, often filled with suggestive images and high production values, but it hits home harder than most. You can see the angst and tension in her contorted motions, which match the songs theme. She’s stuck in limbo, unsure of where to go in a faltering relationship, begging the question “what now?”
In addition to her eerie twists and turns, the ‘demented’ video features dark imagery, including silhouettes of dead trees, a smoking cross and dragging chains. Although it’s uncharacteristic of most Rihanna videos, its a breath a fresh air from the recent trend in pop videos where clothing is optional and twerking is encouraged. It showcases Rihanna’s true talent. Her voice.
Before its debut, she told MTV News that “It’s going to be kind of eerie, very creepy because ‘What Now’ is one of those songs that you can get really boring with the visual.”
“Everybody’s probably expecting narrative type video, a love story of some sorts or something really soft and pretty,” she said. “It is pretty and kind of soft, but it’s really a little demented.”
Check out the video for yourself below.