The Real Reason Rihanna Hated 'Pon De Replay' At First

Fans may have instantly loved "Pon De Replay," but Rihanna herself wasn't feeling the track when she was first played it. In an interview with Vulture, songwriter Evan Rogers told the publication that the aspiring star was unsure about releasing the song. "I played it for Rihanna over the phone. She was like: 'Uncle Ev, it sounds like a nursery rhyme. I like it, but I don't know'," he said, adding, "She had just gone back to Barbados. We said, 'Well, we're gonna fly you back up because we think this could be huge.' She was like, 'Okay, I trust you.'"

And huge, it was! Aside from the millions of copies it sold globally, "Pon De Replay" also earned Rihanna a trophy for Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan and a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards for Teen Summer Song. As of this writing, "Pon De Replay" has more than 380 million streams on Spotify, while its music video has been watched over 152 million times on her official YouTube channel. We're sure RiRi doesn't hate those royalties.

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