According to Jayson Rodriguez of MTV, the video is “a mix of goth bondage-esque voyeurism, complete with Rihanna’s gyrating moves and a raging band that features Travis Barker on the drums”.[29] Shortly after the video was released, Slash said that he was “flattered” that Rihanna had impersonated him in the video, saying “The video is way better with her being me than with me being me …all things considered, it brings an element of sexuality to it that I probably wouldn’t have been capable of. I think it’s hot. Everything works out the way it’s supposed to.”[30]

Although Slash is featured on “Rockstar 101”, he does not appear in the music video. Instead, Rihanna pays homage to him by impersonating him by presenting herself wearing a skull-laden top hat, wig, leather jacket, dark glasses and toothpick:[29] Rihanna can be seen strumming a guitar Slash’s style.[29] Rihanna is seen in eight different scenes and settings, one of which showed an almost nude Rihanna covered in black body paint wearing only a spiked crown and jewelry chains, which were created by designer Fannie Schiavoni.[31] In other scenes, Rihanna smashes a black electric guitar and can be seen wearing an outfit made from parts of a guitar. Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker makes a cameo appearance and is featured as one of the drummers in Rihanna’s rock band.[32]