Amerie produces and writes however, she does not have a good voice, her dancing is average, and her performances are average. I think the main reason she isn't very successful is because she lacks appeal! She's sort of boring. I loved her very first song "Why can't we fall in love" and "One thing." Other than that I think her material lacks tremendously. It has no depth. Now as far as comparing her to Rihanna, Rihanna has something about her that attracts people to her, and it's not just her looks because Amerie is gorgeous herself. Now granted Amerie is more talented than Rihanna (dancing and performing), being at the top requires good (catchy) music and appeal nowadays.