Melanie Martinez's creative drive and talents have always distinguished her from other musicians. After releasing her platinum-certified 2015 debut album, Cry Baby—which reached No. 1 on Billboard's alternative albums chart and has amassed over two billion streams worldwide —she conceived and directed a video for each song on the album. These mini-movies traced the traumas and insecurities experienced by the album's character, Cry Baby.
 
Melanie’s sophomore album and film, K-12, is another ambitious triumph. K-12's music is a vibrant and singular melting pot of low-key hip-hop, soulful pop and indie-leaning electro. K-12's universe is an expansion of the one introduced in Cry Baby. Using lyrics rich with metaphor, songs address the struggle to find a place to belong—including within friendships, the physical world and romantically—even when fitting into society feels like an uphill battle.
 
To accompany the album, Martinez wrote and directed a 90-minute movie (also called K-12) that incorporates the album's music and mirrors the themes and characters introduced. Filmed on location in Budapest, Hungary, the movie focuses on Cry Baby (portrayed by Martinez) and a class of students who find themselves trapped in a horror house-like residential school. As they experience the usual grade school rites of passage—a lunch room food fight, the embarrassment of gym class, a romance with nefarious intentions, courses taught by checked-out teachers— they have to figure out a way to escape.

Rihanna is an Academy Award nominated and Grammy winning artist, philanthropist, and businesswoman, recognized as one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She holds the record for the most Diamond-certified RIAA singles by any female artist. All of her studio albums have achieved Platinum or Multi-Platinum status, including Good Girl Gone Bad, Loud, and Anti, cementing her legacy as a music industry legend. Beyond her musical achievements, Rihanna is celebrated for her humanitarian involvement, entrepreneurship, and fashion industry influence. She established the Clara Lionel Foundation in honor of her grandparents, focusing on investing in community-led solutions across the Caribbean, East Africa, and the US South. She is also one of the most influential moguls in beauty, cosmetics, and fashion, with her trail blazing and culture shifting companies: Fenty Beauty, Fenty Hair and Savage X Fenty.

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