It feels as though the 1990s have only just ended, but the decade’s pop culture revival is firmly in place. On Sunday night, when Rihanna debuted her new single Bitch Better Have My Money live at the iHeartRadio Music awards show, she channelled full-on 90s rap aesthetics. The pop star wore a green fur coat, green and black patent thigh-high boots and oversized sunglasses, all from Versace’s autumn-winter 2015 range. If you squinted out of the corner of one eye, you could have been watching 90s rappers Lil’ Kim or Foxy Brown in action.
Making her grand entrance in a helicopter, Rihanna also dropped in key references to other legendary female pop stars. Her backing dancers, in their belted all-black outfits, recalled those from Janet Jackson’s militaristic Rhythm Nation music video in 1989. There was even a touch of the feminine and masculine styling from Madonna’s performance of Express Yourself during the 1989 MTV Video Music awards.
From experimental pop artist FKA Twigs referencing 1980s’ Harlem ballroom culture in her recent Glass & Patron video, to rapper Azealia Banks mining the voguing scene for inspiration during her live shows, and Iggy Azalea paying homage to the film Clueless in her Fancy music video, it seems no part of the 80s and 90s are safe from a spot of imitation. Take a look at Rihanna’s rap theatrics and let us know what you think.
