Rihanna

The accompanying music video for "Rude Boy" was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who also directed the video for Rihanna's previous single, "Hard". The video relies upon the use of green screen, and contains strong references to critically acclaimed famous artists, including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Salt-n-Pepa, M.I.A. and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In an interview with Carson Daly on his radio show, Amp Radio, Rihanna described the video as "completely different from any other video" she had done before and "pretty freaking cool". She explained its artistic qualities, and said, "A lot of my videos are really dark and edgy and tough. 'Rude Boy' is more playing along the lines from my roots. We used a lot of colour, but also the costumes were very Jamaican dance-hall-queen type." This is the type of fashion and styling Rihanna uses but it is different to other music videos she has done as it uses a more fun a vibrant side to it.

The video features Rihanna in a multitude of vibrant, brightly coloured, Caribbean inspired scenes. In the opening scene, Rihanna approaches a drum kit, which she plays as the song progresses. During the rest of the video, Rihanna engages with and plays with a variety of props, including a male extra, a zebra, a motorcycle and a stuffed lion; these scenes are inter-cut with scenes of Rihanna playing the drum kit. Rihanna wears a variety of outfits in the video, including a gold net bodysuit and a black and white zebra print catsuit, which she wears while sitting atop a stuffed zebra. Rihanna performs various 1990's dance-hall dance moves, such as the Bogle.