Rihanna worried she "blended in" when she first started her music career.

The 22-year-old singer says she had little control over her early image and insisted things changed when she released her third album, `Good Girl Gone Bad`, in 2007.

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 per cent or even 75 per cent 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."
sections: Celebrities