Beyonce vs. Rihanna

[HeavyCapiLover 3,980]

As an artist, Beyonce. As a person, Rihanna.

Beyonce also has much better albums, but Rihanna has better singles.

[datlastfam 5,321]

I prefer Bey's live performances over Rih, we all know Bey sings live better.

But the fact that Rihanna is still pulling 9 songs that has over 1 million daily streams... is a GAG 

[NUTELLA 13,320]

1 hour ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Honestly, that’s when Beyoncé at least became the most interesting 

I feel like their names began to precede everything else about them around this time & took over for both the quality & the quantity of their actual musical output.

Not saying they began to rest on their laurels, but they both became.... hyper-aware of themselves & let their reputations do most of the heavy lifting.

The music also became much less pop-focused, for better or worse.

At the end of the day, you know how I like my noodles, ghoulfriend

[Ladle Ghoulash 29,062]

10 minutes ago, NUTELLA said:

I feel like their names began to precede everything else about them around this time & took over for both the quality & the quantity of their actual musical output.

Not saying they began to rest on their laurels, but they both became.... hyper-aware of themselves & let their reputations do most of the heavy lifting.

The music also became much less pop-focused, for better or worse.

At the end of the day, you know how I like my noodles, ghoulfriend

Honestly couldn’t disagree more, but I get that it’s not to your taste, diva 

[RAMROD 111,199]

I like and enjoy both. 
 

Rhenna obviously made more pop bops. But her live shows are not stable, when she's good then she's good, but when she's not she's terrible. 

 Yoncè is someone I heard since her DC days, and she is also getting better with her artistry since the self titled albums. Her tours offers more experience and that's why public responds with sold out stadiums dates. 

Edited Thursday at 04:33 PM by RAMROD

[Economy 50,727]

Both as performer and vocalist - Beyonce

 

Music wise - Rihanna

[JustTea 6,386]

Only listenable songs from Bey are Telephone and Cuff It, Rihanna has few too, but I hate some of her songs so I had to go with Bey. Bey is way more talented too. 

[Ziggy 12,213]

ill be honest and say that while rihanna's hits are better (except for drunk in love; all timer), it bothers me that she just coasts on them now without even being retired from music formally. i appreciate that beyonce not only has more ambition, she just tries much harder to put on a good show. Rihanna is a vibe, but i find it offputting in a performer when they clearly put in almost no effort. and with that said, beyonce's *albums* blow rih's out of the water and it's not even a contest.

[Ziggy 12,213]

4 hours ago, NUTELLA said:

I feel like their names began to precede everything else about them around this time & took over for both the quality & the quantity of their actual musical output.

Not saying they began to rest on their laurels, but they both became.... hyper-aware of themselves & let their reputations do most of the heavy lifting.

The music also became much less pop-focused, for better or worse.

At the end of the day, you know how I like my noodles, ghoulfriend

Beyonce may be aware of her name, for sure, but does that really do the heavy lifting when the music is at the quality she's put out? I would hard disagree there. I think she actually uses her awareness of her name and status as basically her only real artistic entity to draft off of. She aint wrong that she's 1 of 1 in this modern era of music and I think she wants t one up herself constantly. And that's actually the big difference between her and rihanna who i definitely think is aware of and rests on her name for things these days without really trying to do anything new or interesting with it. I think usually the Bey vs Rih competition comes down to people either thinking beyonce works and tries too hard in a good or bad way and Rihanna being wayyyyyy more chill, again good or bad.

[Roughhouse Dandy 12,108]

Both amazing. Both icons. 

It's Beyoncé for me. Rihanna has a lot of incredible singles, but only 2 of her albums as complete projects work for me (her first and last ones). Beyoncé has put out incredible full packages back to back to back to back. 

Both great performers, but Bey is more trained and disciplined and I appreciate that she has her hands in so many aspects of what she presents. 

[Ladle Ghoulash 29,062]

11 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

Beyonce may be aware of her name, for sure, but does that really do the heavy lifting when the music is at the quality she's put out? I would hard disagree there. I think she actually uses her awareness of her name and status as basically her only real artistic entity to draft off of. She aint wrong that she's 1 of 1 in this modern era of music and I think she wants t one up herself constantly. And that's actually the big difference between her and rihanna who i definitely think is aware of and rests on her name for things these days without really trying to do anything new or interesting with it. I think usually the Bey vs Rih competition comes down to people either thinking beyonce works and tries too hard in a good or bad way and Rihanna being wayyyyyy more chill, again good or bad.

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel tbh. I think 2013-present day is actually Beyoncé’s best era musically (Renaissance is one of my all-time fave Beyoncé albums, along with self-titled). Also agreed that she’s become much more ambitious musically, as a performer, aesthetically etc. 

[NUTELLA 13,320]

32 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

Beyonce may be aware of her name, for sure, but does that really do the heavy lifting when the music is at the quality she's put out? I would hard disagree there.

(...)

I think usually the Bey vs Rih competition comes down to people either thinking beyonce works and tries too hard in a good or bad way and Rihanna being wayyyyyy more chill, again good or bad.

I have questionable (& often basic) taste lol

I haven't been excited by a single song from Beyoncé (save Formation) since before Self-Titled. Her talent & work ethic is undeniable, but I can't feel/relate to the hype for the music itself from 2013 & beyond.

With Rihanna, the only songs I clicked with from Anti were Pose & Same Ol Mistakes- but that album is apparently her masterpiece.

Overall, I think Bey is more talented but Rih has more hits

[StrawberryBlond 14,997]

Rihanna's good for party music but Beyonce's far more artistic and diverse. She's also the better singer and performer. Rihanna was totally manufactured and marketed to be a younger, edgier, more fun version of Beyonce for the youth market and she's never truly grown out of that. Beyonce's grown into a more serious artist for an older demographic and diversified and is now a totally different artist to who she started out as. Yes, that's helped a lot by writing camps but Rihanna has that too. They both have massive help with their artistic direction but I appreciate that Beyonce takes so many more risks and pushes her talents so she can be the best she can be. Rihanna has just cruised on the same level for a long time.

On 11/12/2025 at 6:49 PM, Magneto said:

The one that still has a relevant music career tbh.

The chokehold Rihanna has on Dutch club music must be studied. It's the same damn songs for 10 years and people still lose their **** when We Found Love gets played (like it does every night). I love her music, but I really wish we could move on. Lord knows she has.

*end rant*

I think the rumoured huge demand for her comeback is blown out of proportion just because people still love spinning her old hits. Make no mistake, demand has dimmed considerably and now that we're about to hit the decade mark with years of teasing that didn't come to fruition, demand for new material is at an all-time low and she isn't relevant to gen z and younger anymore. Make no mistake, people love her old stuff the same way that they still blast Katy Perry's old songs but yet they have no interest in her new work. Same with Christina, Madonna and any other act who had their peak years ago. 

[Ziggy 12,213]

3 hours ago, NUTELLA said:

I have questionable (& often basic) taste lol

I haven't been excited by a single song from Beyoncé (save Formation) since before Self-Titled. Her talent & work ethic is undeniable, but I can't feel/relate to the hype for the music itself from 2013 & beyond.

With Rihanna, the only songs I clicked with from Anti were Pose & Same Ol Mistakes- but that album is apparently her masterpiece.

Overall, I think Bey is more talented but Rih has more hits

I agree with that! I just meant that I think while both are aware of who they are and the sway they hold, I think Beyonce is actually hyper-conscious of that and wants to fight at every turn from being labeled a legacy act so she has made it her mission to keep on making relevant pop cultural art that—if it doesn’t one up her last project—at the very least introduces some sort of conversation or moves a needle.

i genuinely don’t think Rihanna’s ever cared that much, by contrast and that makes her a lot more appealing to people who love how carefree her music makes them feel. She matches the music as someone who is chill and sexy and fun but can also feel. And unquestionably she’s got more hits imo even if I would never listen to a Rihanna album again (personally). The hits are hits.

[AVeryGagaHolyDick 26,809]

Beyoncé is much more talented. That said, I think her success is way more artificial and I rarely enjoy her music. Like everything about her seems fake to me. She’s still a once in a generation talent vocally though.

Rihanna’s albums sound more like random compilations but I still think they’re much better musically. Like, Unapologetic is a hot ass mess, and yet pretty much every song is great.

Also, Rihanna usually can’t sing amazingly (and that’s an understatement) but she’s still way more versatile. There’s just something about her attitude that gives her the right to do every thing  (except releasing songs like her last one, omg…)

So yeah, I’ll vote for Riri but she could’ve kept singing and improve her singing skills as well