While Rihanna might have had the last laugh on proving that women aren’t so “frivolous” in terms of having the power to forge billionaires, she’s brought to light that no human is immune to the “temptation” of “transcending” into a money-hungry pig. Once upon a time, we might have been taught that to be a “mere” millionaire was enough to achieve the capitalist dream that we’ve all been indoctrinated with since time immemorial. But in the present climate (dystopia), we’re somehow receiving the messaging that the truly “aspirational” goal is to become a billionaire. That’s the way to unmitigated power. And who doesn’t love power? Even someone as “chill” as Rihanna.
More prophetically than she imagined, Rihanna cultivated an image of herself in the “Bitch Better Have My Money” universe as a woman who suffered no fools when it came to anyone trying to get between her and her bag. A woman who was happy—determined, even—to get blood on her hands if it meant securing her wealth. Thus, the now iconic scene of Rihanna inside of a giant chest filled with money, lying on the cash nude as she smokes a (special) cigarette while unbothered by the blood that is spattered all over her, is too real. Blood on one’s hands—or entire body—is all in a billionaire’s day’s work, after all.
Despite what any billionaire claims—even the chic non-white, non-male kind—there is no ethical way to reach that echelon. That tier of wealth. Not without building your empire the same way the Romans did: on slave labor. The implications of that analogy when placed on the shoulders of a Black person becomes a bit “uncomfortable.” But then, it was the Black Africans themselves who sold their own kind to the whites. White Europeans, after all, needed a Black middleman to get them what they wanted. Perhaps we’re all capable of selling our “own kind” down the river (literally) when the price is right. But some would contest: leave Rihanna alone, Black women more than anyone deserve to ascend to these heights. But is it ascension, or merely playing in to a white patriarchal system that should be dismantled altogether?
Others still would proffer: is it unfair to say this at the exact moment Black people are grabbing a little more power for themselves? Probably. Yet it has to be said that the Black lust for capitalist glory (another term for “being respected and seen”) stems in large part from being kept down at heel for so long, which is perhaps why it becomes such a big deal—to the point of propaganda—to talk about materialism (e.g. spouting the names of designer brands and braggadocio about bank accounts) in just about every rap song ever released. It’s all a way to say: look at me now, respect me. But it’s difficult to have respect for someone who values money in this way. Because Gordon Gekko was categorically wrong: greed is not good.
Rihanna’s rise to this financial stratum will surely only encourage other women of color to follow her lead. Motivate them to aim just as “high.” Yet doing so panders precisely to the exploitation that white men have forged the entire fucked up world “order” on. Why would anyone who has been part of a marginalized, abused group want to perpetuate this system? Unless Rihanna’s secret master plan is to fuck it up from the inside. But that seems unlikely based on some of the actions of her fellow Black billionaires, including Jay-Z, who, that’s right, betrayed his own by going into business with the NFL—an institution he once openly balked at until, apparently, he felt it was better to work with oppressive systems than against them. Colin Kaepernick, too, was once supported by Jay-Z and, yes, Rihanna (one of many Black musicians to refuse playing the Super Bowl Halftime Show due to the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick after he took a knee, as well as being a generally racist entity). Now Jay-Z is in bed with the enemy.
As Al Sharpton once said, “You can’t fight against Jim Crow and then go sit in the back of the bus.” But you can get to the proverbial front of the bus (even if said bus in this metaphor should be burned altogether) if you’re willing to say, “Bitch Better Have My Money” and mean it. To the point where the sight of bloodshed—ranging from the forms of worker exploitation to environmental havoc—is no problem. Not if it gets you the riches necessary to acquire power, to look the average white male CEO in his face and say: your jig is up. The problem is, so is all of ours if we keep elevating monetary wealth as something to be worshipped rather than disdained.
