That Pitchfork article honestly set her up to fail because the moment they started pushing this whole "new Rihanna" narrative, they placed an unrealistic amount of pressure on her to live up to standards that were never hers to begin with. Now everything she does is being compared to Rihanna, from her music and numbers to her cultural impact and overall career trajectory. The problem is that you can’t manufacture another Rihanna just by putting that label on an artist. Rihanna became Rihanna organically, over years of hits, iconic moments, massive cultural impact and a career that was uniquely her own. Trying to force a new artist into that same mould only creates impossible expectations, and now that she isn’t meeting them, people are acting like she’s somehow failing. She’s not necessarily failing. She’s just being measured against a standard that was never realistic in the first place. Her label should’ve allowed her to build her own identity instead of constantly selling her as the "next Rihanna". Because once you put that comparison in people’s heads, every move becomes a test she’s expected to pass. And right now, she’s struggling to keep up with a standard that the industry itself created for her.