Rihanna is NOT African-American.

I’m a stickler for that here because African-American Music Month is an official proclamation from the office of a United States president. I’m a stickler for that across ALL of my projects because Black ≠ African-American, and our perspectives and identities vary across the global African diaspora.

But today, proud Bajan Rihanna is my exception to the rule, because as a foreign citizen, the message she delivers in “American Oxygen” only rings louder.

That her visuals weave in Senator Robert F. Kennedy announcing the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and images from his funeral solidifies her place on Side B | DAY 1.

All of that being said, there’s so much symbolism to unpack in “American Oxygen” that I hope you brought time, tissues and a healthy respect for RiRi because this song is proof that she’s more than a pop star.

“American Oxygen” is a political protest, and it took its inspiration from Bruce Springsteen’s iconic “Born in the U.S.A.” One of the song’s writers explains, “Springsteen gets that there’s pride to living here in this country. This country is great and has the potential to be something really, really incredible, but there are a lot of problems that we don’t acknowledge and it’s important to shed light on both those things. And if you can do that in a song, that’s the best.” Rihanna, her co-writers and the creative directors nail that dichotomy in lyrics and video. And the best part about it is how they do it. The lyrics are super simple, the visuals are a montage of scenes you’ve seen before. But together, they might just knock the wind out of you.

While Rihanna and her team were composing this song, Eric Garner died at the hands of police over a loosie. Just two years earlier, Barack Obama had been elected to his second term as the first Black president of the United States. Footage of his inauguration flares into a screen burn effect as Rihanna begins:

“Breathe out / Breathe in / American oxygen, whoa / Every breath I breathe, chasing this American dream.”

It’s a heavy place to start and it only goes deeper. Rihanna tackles the idea of American exceptionalism, showing scenes of pride, patriotism, and capitalism in action, alongside footage of the literal other side of the coin: homeless veterans and weapons of war, protests and police brutality, environmental destruction, burning crosses, and desperate border crossings. It calls into question who and what has value in America, but more importantly, WHY. All of this is spliced against Rihanna herself struggling against a parachute, forcing us to consider our American reality: under these circumstances, we will never get ahead.

It’s HEAVY. Especially when you consider that after 7 years, her song might hold even more truth today than it did when it was released. In light of recent events, one protest sign in particular will break your heart: “We owe our children a just society.”

But remember: Rihanna is an immigrant too. And in her America, the “new America”⁠—or rather, the one that was promised⁠—we are better, we carry each other, and there is always hope. Here’s to that America. One where we can all breathe.

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