Rihanna to be honored with President’s Award from NAACP

Feb 4, 2020

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Rihanna is already a titan of several industries including music, cosmetics, and apparel. Now the NAACP has decided to present the business savvy singer with their highest honor, the President’s Award.

Tuesday, the NAACP announced that the singer turned mogul would be presented with this prestigious award by NAACP president Derrick Johnson during the 51st NAACP Image Awards which will be held later this month.

“Rihanna has not only enjoyed a groundbreaking career as an artist and musician but has also distinguished herself as a stellar public servant,” Johnson said in an official statement. “From her business achievements through Fenty to her tremendous record as an activist and philanthropist, Rihanna epitomizes the type of character, grace, and devotion to justice that we seek to highlight in our President’s Award.”

According to a press statement from the NAACP, the President’s Award is presented “in recognition of a special achievement and distinguished public service.”

Previous award recipients include: Jesse Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Lauryn Hill, Soledad O’Brien, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and JAY-Z.

Fashion designer and pop superstar @rihanna will be given the award during the Feb. 22 ceremony that will be televised for the first time on BET https://t.co/N4IPrcQxdp

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 4, 2020

Please don’t stop the music

Rihanna’s last album was 2016’s Anti and her fan base has grown increasingly antsy as she works on her long-awaited ninth album, which is tentatively titled R9.

In January, reggae veteran Shaggy claimed that he was asked to be on Rihanna’s upcoming album, but turned the opportunity down. Now Riri’s team is coming forward to saying it was all a lie.

“They approached me for the Rihanna project, yeah,” Shaggy told British tabloid the Daily Star, explaining why he would be absent from Rihanna’s long-awaited “R9” project. “There’s a lot of great people involved, but, for me, I didn’t need to audition to be on the record. I’ll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear it should be good.”

But Rihanna’s representative pushed back on the account, saying Shaggy must have gotten his wires crossed because no request for him to audition was ever made by them. In fact, the rep is denying they reached out to him at all.

“After Rihanna had already gathered all the material for the album, Shaggy contacted her to ask her to be part of the album,” representative reportedly told the Jamaica Irie FM morning show, according to entertainment website theJasmineBRAND. “However, she invited him to send some materials to see if it fit the flow of the album,” the statement noted. “In no way was she asking for an audition.”

The 51st NAACP Image Awards will be broadcast on Feb. 22. on BET at 8 p.m. ET.