Rihanna: 'I Didn't Want to Be Like All the Other Artists'

Rihanna definitely doesn't blend in with the crowd now -- just look at her hair! -- but the pop star says she only began to stand out in a career sense after her third album Good Girl Gone Bad. She says that album set her apart from the typical pop star formula.

She said: “I had a ridiculous schedule. It was kind of unfair. But I kept going. I was focusing on getting people to respect me as an artist, making my stamp in the industry. I wasn’t 100 percent or even 75 percent in control of my image or my sound.

I said, ‘If you guys keep this perfect image of me, people will never notice me.’ I kind of blended in. It was safe, the blonde, curly hair. It was a formula. I didn’t want to be like all the other artists. I wanted to stand out. And the only way I could do that was by taking charge of my image and sound. And it worked. ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ was a big turning point for me.”

Despite her problems, the "Only Girl (In the World)" hitmaker believes she would still advise her younger self to continue working hard to achieve her goals. She told Britain’s GQ magazine: “I’d tell her to go for it. Nothing in life comes easy. Everything comes with a sacrifice. If this is what I love to do most then I have to put up with the s**t that I don’t love that comes with it. And I have to work.”