As promised, Rihanna did a Day Drinking segment with Seth Meyers that aired last night. If you are a Rihanna fan (who ISN’T?!), this is worth your time. Because they do, indeed, drink. A lot. And they do get drunk, very. But not sloppy – just fun.
There are many things I like about this, beyond getting to watch Rihanna for 12 minutes. Like the fact that it happened at all. This is a big get for Seth Meyers. Previous Day Drinking guests have included Retta and his family and also Kelly Clarkson. All due respect to Retta and Seth’s family, and Kelly is the sh-t, we love her. But Rihanna is on a whole other level. And still… accessible.
But she has to be. She’s an empire now with makeup and lingerie and high end clothes all on the market and the performance of all of these products depends on her connection to the consumer. How do you do that, though, when you’re Rihanna? There’s a fine line between effectively marketing what you’re selling and cheapening your own brand, your status as one of the biggest stars in the world. That’s why the decision to do Day Drinking is so smart. Day Drinking isn’t played out like, arguably, Carpool Karaoke. And Day Drinking is less … wholesome than Carpool Karaoke. James Corden isn’t quite Rihanna’s vibe. But seeing her doing shots and playing bartender/counsellor and role-playing bar-side pickups, and rejecting anyone who dares invoke Battleship in her presence – this is 100% in line with what we all want out of a Rihanna late night talk show segment. I’m particularly fond of the way Rihanna checks Seth for not making eye contact with her when they toast. The woman knows her way around a drink and a party. Of course a party.
Wouldn’t you want to party with Rihanna? At the end there, when Seth is singing her song to her, and she’s filming him on her phone as she chimes in here and there, and drinks more, and makes him drink more, it’s exactly how I picture her with her friends, at 2am in her apartment, when they’ve finished work and put away all their world domination plans, they turn the music up… and GO. I could have watched a whole day of this.
