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Comment by cubano | Hacker News Reader

I think Rihanna's Umbrella takes repetitiveness to its endgame pretty thoroughly...

I wouldn't immediately blame artist dumbing-down for this phenomenon, if it exists at all, but I think it's more a producer thing where looping and morphing cool lyrical snippets, along with deep rhythmic beats, creates a satisfying modern musical experience.

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Rihanna pushes the boundary even farther in "work". I think there might even be a level of snarky self-awareness with the way she just dissolves that one word into a group of repeated noises.

The production is the legacy of max Martin and dr. Luke they have it down to a science.

Repeating the word "work" does has a more poetic utility as a depiction of working. Even allowing the pronunciation to devolve can be interpreted in this way.

I think you are right that it is self aware. It can get quite meta if you read it as her depicting the mundane nature of work as her... work.

Thanks for making me think about that!

I'd be surprised if Umbrella were all that close to the highest. Other Rihanna songs like S&M, Work and We Found Love In A Hopeless Place seem far more repetitive (at least to my intuition of what qualifies as repetitive).

Definitely. Rhythm and beats are more important now, with dance culture, than they ever were years ago. It's a shame that it comes with a dumbing down of lyrical content sometimes.

Have you heard this remix? It's so incredibly catchy...

https://youtu.be/URxzu8EFBVY

I guess it's satisfying if you aren't into thought provoking media.

Point well taken, and of course you are correct...what is more subjective then musical taste?

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