Not inspired by Rihanna yet? Everything she's accomplished before turning 30

As legend has it, Robyn Rihanna Fenty was spotted in Barbados by record producer Evan Rogers in 2003. Rihanna was 15 years old at the time, and a chance encounter lead Evans to think she had the potential to be the next big thing. "She didn't really get that her daughter had anything special," her mom Monica reportedly told Rogers. "She was like: 'Well, if you see something. I just want her schoolwork to be done. Education is very important.'"

A late 2004 recording session yielded the demo of "Pon de Replay," which made its way over into the hands of multiple record labels, but most notably hit the ears of Jay-Z over at Def Jam. He met her and couldn't see anything else but the potential career she could have, basically ensuring she wouldn't leave until her record contract was signed – and then it was, at the age of 16.

With Rogers co-producing, "Pon de Replay" was Rihanna's first single and her first hit, announcing her to the world with a distinct dancehall sound. The song went double-platinum and eventually topped at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, soon leading the way to her debut full-length, "Music of the Sun." While the album received warm-to-mild praise, there was still no denying the fact that Rihanna was on to something very special.

The record produced only one other single – the less club-ready but still island-influenced "If It's Lovin' That You Want" – but there was little time for anything else, as Rihanna soon was to work on her next effort, and entered a phase of her career where she put out a new album on a yearly basis. If you count the 2008 "Reloaded" re-release of "Good Girl Gone Bad," then that means that Rihanna managed to drop a new full-length effort every year between 2005 and 2012 – a remarkable run in a day-and-age where album/promotion cycles typically last every three years. One could almost say that she puts in the work work work work work...

While her radio dominance and overall popularity are basically unquestioned, many still view Rihanna more as a singles artist than an album-oriented artist, and if we're being fair here, there's some truth to that. However, the Grammys aren't completely immune to artists who manage to shape the pop culture conversation that Rihanna has, and prior to "Loud" earning an Album of the Year nomination, she still had won four awards out of 14 nominations. "Loud" didn't take home the big prize the year it was nodded (it lost out to the mega-smash that was "21" by Adele), but as of this writing, RiRi has nine wins out of 33 nominations. Not bad for someone who's just turning 30.

While music has always been her calling card, Rihanna has shown herself capable at acting as well (and starring in as many music videos as she has no doubt helped prep her for the silver screen). Although with a small part in "Bring It On: All or Nothing" in 2006, she soon graduated to the multi-million dollar budget arena with 2012's "Battleship." Vulture amusingly ran a list of every single line she spoke during the film (the best of which is clearly "Yo, Saunders, ever been in a department run by some kind of Donald Trump/Mike Tyson mutant combo?"), but Rihanna did film roles only occasionally since then, racking up small appearances in the James Franco/Seth Rogen movie "This is The End" as well as a small but memorable comic bit during the film-within-a-film in "Annie", as well as taking lead vocal duets in the DreamWorks animated film "Home." Up next? "Ocean's Eight," where she rubs shoulders with top actresses like Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett. Something tells us Rihanna will more than hold her own.

Even for Rihanna, this is impressive. Per a report by WWD, Rihanna's new Fenty Beauty line is doing incredible numbers right out the gate. Per WWD: "[An] online research firm found that while Kylie Cosmetics, which is coming up on a two-year anniversary, had the highest yearly sales, Fenty Beauty sales in its first month of operation were five times Kylie Cosmetics and 34 percent higher the following month." We're just going to assume that when asked about the competition, Rihanna was unapologetic.

So this one is a little chart-nerdy, but it's an unusual record nonetheless. While her 2016 album "Anti-" was considered by critics to be her boldest artistic statement to date, it was anchored by the absolute monster single "Work." While other singles "Love on the Brain" and "Kiss It Better" had varying degrees of success, it was the slow-burning tell-off "Needed Me" that showed off The Barbados Babe at her most bad-ass. It hit the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 – and then something weird happened.

It never hit the coveted Top Five of the charts, but nonetheless hung out in the Top 10. In fact, it stayed there so long that it made history: it became the longest-running song to stay in the Top 10 but not hit the Top Five for a stunning 16 weeks. At this point in Rihanna's already-historic career, she's breaking records that no one cares about.

Although her singles tend to do better than her albums, make no mistake: Rihanna still puts the time and effort into her full-lengths. To date, she's sold over 13 million albums in the United States. Her lowest selling set is her 2005 debut "Music of the Sun," which only went Gold in the U.S. Her best selling? The way the RIAA counts it, the five-times-platinum status of "Good Girl Gone Bad" incorporates both the original release as well as the "Reloaded" reissue (which makes sense, given that "Reloaded" has the chart-topping smashes "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia" on it). Impressive no matter which way you slice it.

"Don't Stop the Music" is the name of a Rihanna track that incorporates a chant from Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something," and boy-howdy, the music doesn't stop when it comes to Rihanna's historic, 100 million-plus single sales. While she's had a few non-charting dud entries ("Wait Your Turn" from "Rated R", the non-album, confused political rhetoric of "American Oxygen"), virtually everything else she's put her name has been a smash. You can probably guess her highest-selling song, right? That honor goes to a number that was absolutely inescapable when it first came out: 2011's "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris.

Does anyone else remember J-Status? No? It's OK, no one does, but this poor attempt at a 2007-era club banger happened to feature Rihanna in her first-ever guest spot. She does what she can, but as she slowly stacked hit songs atop each other to become a star, her brand strengthened to the point where she became an in-demand, must-have guest to give any track a real chance at becoming a hit. Care to venture a guess as to her best-selling guest spot? That award goes to her era-defining Eminem collaboration "Love the Way You Lie," which went platinum 11 times over – her only song to go diamond (... yet).

Released on its own with no album behind it, "FourFiveSeconds" was the result of Kanye West working with Paul McCartney on some song ideas. None of it really translated onto his subsequent albums, but a few standalone moments did see light of day, and best of all was this acoustic/bass/organ/voice number that was just McCartney, Rihanna, Kanye, and a few guitar strums. It was catchy, immediate, and eventually, a triple-platinum hit. McCartney still performs it solo live these days, even singing some of both Kanye and RiRi's parts. Think about it: a Beatle is singing your part on stage. And you haven't even turned 30 yet.

Although it came out in late 2017, it was the year following when "Lemon," her in-your-face, rapping collaboration with N.E.R.D., hit the Top 40, meaning that Rihanna has racked up no fewer than 50 appearances in that most treasured of chart echelons, outpacing (for now) Madonna and tying The Beatles. The cast of the TV show "Glee" has 51, followed by Taylor Swift with 55 and Elton John with 57. We're placing bets that she'll be able to best them both. 

If you were surprised to hear that Harvard was granting Rihanna the Humanitarian of the Year Award, then you haven't been paying attention. Outside of her support of a Barbados-based breast cancer screening and treatment center, she also created the Clara Lionel Foundation Scholarship Program, supported the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project, and has done so much more. Back in 2016, she even went to get an HIV/AIDS test with Prince Harry in Barbados to help spread awareness for World AIDS Day. Glamorous as her life may be, she has never forgotten where she's come from and will continue to support Barbados in every way she can.

That's 11 solo  – "SOS," "Umbrella," "Take a Bow," "Disturbia," "Rude Boy," "Only Girl (In the World)," "What's My Name? [ft. Drake]," "S&M," "We Found Love [ft. Calvin Harris]," "Diamonds," and "Work [ft. Drake]," and three where she was a featured artist; ("Live Your Life" by T.I., and her two Eminem collaborations: "Love the Way You Lie" and "The Monster."

As most people know by now, Rihanna reps her home country extremely hard, and Barbados gives her the love and respect right back. In fact, in the fall of 2017, the Barbados Ministry of Tourism made quite the proclamation: "The Government of Barbados will on Independence Day, Thursday 30th November 2017 officially change the name of Westbury New Road located in St. Michael to Rihanna Drive in honour of Barbadian superstar Ms. Robyn Rihanna Fenty who grew up in Westbury New Road." Rihanna showed up the following month to be there in person for the ceremony.

The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award has been given out usually whenever the MTV Video Music Awards feel like it, sometimes skipping years like 1999 or 2002 or 2010. However, they've been on it pretty consistently as of late, recently honoring the likes of Kanye, Beyoncé, and Britney Spears – all artists who have released music videos that have become a part of the pop culture zeitgeist. Rihanna is no exception , and joins the esteemed company of past recipients like Janet Jackson, George Michael, and Peter Gabriel. If the "Anti-" campaign has shown us anything, her knack for making visually arresting music videos isn't going to wane anytime soon.

Being Rihanna takes a lot of work, and sometimes that work can pay off with great perks, like having 86 million Twitter followers. That number of followers means that you can also have sway, which is why she once tweeted to France's President Emmanuel Macron to see if France would pledge support for education for girls, all tying back to her Clara Lionel charity foundation. Amazingly, the gambit worked, and the President of France met with the reigning Princess of Pop Music to discuss Rihanna's education initiatives. Per RiRi, the meeting went very well.

It started a joke: one fan tweeted out a photo of Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o at a 2014 Paris fashion week event. "Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and Lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans" another one responded. "I'm down if you are" tweeted Lupita. Rihanna said "I'm in" a few days later. Then acclaimed director Ava DuVernay stepped in saying she'd direct. Then "Insecure" star Issa Rae joked about getting ready on the screenplay. Then the idea was shopped around. Then Netflix bought the rights to the whole endeavor. And now it's happening.

Admittedly, this happened before he became the President of the United States, but the perpetually outspoken Donald Trump once cast great dispersion upon Rihanna for her relationship with Chris Brown. His advice doesn't seem to sync with his current handling of the West Wing staff, but it also goes to show something that most people have learned by now: never second-guess Rihanna. She knows what she's doing.

Starting "SOS" from "A Girl Like Me" in 2006, Rihanna has scored at least one number one hit from each other albums – a feat that no one has been able to match on a consecutive basis. Again, this falls into the category of Rihanna breaking records that no one cares about anymore, but nonetheless, digging through the chart data is a thrill . The only other artist to come close? Mariah Carey with six consecutive non-holiday No. 1 hits to match with six respective albums. Something tells us this is a record that RiRi is just going to keep extending. 

While Rihanna stunned a few people by laying down some hard verses on her N.E.R.D. collaboration "Lemon," true fans know she's been working on her bar-spittin' for years. While she started off a bit slowly with the New Orleans-indebted number "Lemme Get That" from "Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded," she's slowly incorporated her mic-rocking asides into each new release, peaking with the excellent "Cockiness (Love It)" from "Talk That Talk," moving between rapping and speak-singing to actually singing at various points. However, few can deny the power of her non-album single "Bitch Better Have My Money," a pointed, powerful, aggressive number whose impact was so immediate that it wasn't long before Kelly Clarkson covered it for BBC's Live Lounge because – well, why not? When Rihanna raps, the world listens.