As we all know, Coachella is one of the biggest music festivals of the year. As a pretty dedicated music festival go-er, I envy everyone who is able to journey to the valley and be care-free for the weekend. However, since I am not there, I look forward to re-caps of all the performances and seeing the looks of my favorite celebrities that attend. This year, Coachella weekend one was filled with so much hype about both Beyoncé and Rihanna. What was even greater was that Rihanna was seen sitting and living her best life during Beyoncé’s iconic performance. This is iconic because with both of them being top tier artists in our generation for 10 plus years, they are for some reason always compared. It is frustrating to me because as a heavy fan of both, I will never understand why people try and put these two innovative artists against each other.
Why is there a disconnect of women supporting women in a time where that is all we should be doing? Adding another element to that, it is being within the minority that makes me wish the support was there. In previous waves of feminism, second wave specifically, there was a huge disconnect between women of color and their counter-parts. This “division” has continued even in recent movements with women of color feeling as though their voices were not and are not being heard. Though Beyoncé and Rihanna comparisons do not seem like a big deal when presented since it is in the innocence of comparing celebrities, it still somehow digs deeper to me. I think being an African-American woman, it is disappointing to see two very successful and impactful women of color in the music industry constantly compared to each other. People are constantly trying to compare their talents, appearance and style when they are just too different to even do that. Both Rihanna and Beyoncé are successful and unique in different aspects, and that should be extremely respected. Seeing them at Coachella both shining made me the happiest. It was awesome to have Beyoncé as the first African-American woman to headline Coachella in the festival’s 19 year-history. Meanwhile, Rihanna was not on the lineup, but she killed Coachella with her infamous looks weekend one.
As for Bey and Rihanna, I am not sure if they are aware of the beef that is constantly swarming whenever either of them does a great thing – though it was so amazing to see the overwhelming support of Rihanna over social media for Beyoncé’s iconic performance. It was also nice to see many other celebrities, magazines and fashion designers praise Rihanna for the looks she served all weekend long. For once, the two artists were able to stand as individuals and be praised for being them. This analogy seems simple, but I think it is still something to really think about. Empowering women should go beyond those we know and it should also be noted in the industry. If you are a fan of either of these women, both, or neither, it should still be respected that they are both doing great things.