LOS ANGELES -- It's dark. Shar Jossell waits blindfolded inside a black bus headed to an unknown destination. The windows are covered in black drapes.
But unlike Rachel Roberts, the damsel in distress whom Rihanna kidnaps and tortures in her bloody "Bitch Better Have My Money" video, 27-year-old Jossell is safe.
All Jossell knows is that she and a few dozen other Rihanna fans are en route to a secret event called #TidalXRihanna. The speakers reverberate with "BBHMM," "Run This Town" and "Diamonds" as the bus glides east from West Hollywood to Historic Filipinotown.
By the end of the rowdy 8-mile bus trip Wednesday night, Jossell wins a stack of 112 $1 bills for correctly answering a question about Rihanna. She can't text her excitement just yet because nobody has a cell phone; security took them all away before the ride.
[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/tidalxrihanna-bus.jpg" caption="Fans "kidnapped" for #TidalXRihanna repeatedly yell "Bitch better have my money!"" credit="Jason Kempin/Getty Images" alt="tidalxrihanna-bus"]
Eventually, the riders reach Bob Baker Marionette Theater, a children's theater near Dodger Stadium, where they're herded into carnival-esque room with a stage.
The theater's namesake used to perform with puppets globally, even on Navy ships -- which is fitting, since the theater is now filled with a fanbase known as the Rihanna Navy.
After a long wait, with people speculating about whether they'd only see "BBHMM" or also get to listen to her new album, the stage curtains open. There's a big screen.
"Yayo, yayo, moola-la," Rihanna wails at the beginning of her "BBHMM," cuing the first time anyone in the room will get to watch the full music video. People cheer madly.
The cinematic project, based on the singer's real-life financial woes with her former accountant, features explicit nudity and violence, taking the kidnapping theme from her Saturday Night Live performance of "BBHMM" to another level.
"F-ck, I love her so much," one male fan moans midway through the clip.
The video ends, and Rihanna emerges from stage right to surprise everyone: "Hello, hello, hello, hello" Rihanna says, with her familiar grin. "Thank you for allowing me and Tidal to kidnap you and bring you here to see an exclusive premiere of my new video, 'Bitch Better Have My Money.'"
The video, co-directed by Rihanna and Megaforce, premiered simultaneously on Tidal and YouTube/Vevo -- instead of exclusively on Tidal, as "American Oxygen" did in April. On Tidal, the video is available for both members and non-members.
Next, confetti cannons blast dollar bills into the air and fans' hands rise to the universe, flailing frantically to grab as many bills raining down as they can.
Rihanna tosses a few bills in the crowd, too.
A photo posted by Brian Anthony Hernandez (@bahjournalist) on Jul 2, 2015 at 7:03am PDT
Rihanna starts to leave, but turns around to tell her fans one more thing: "I'm coming to mingle with you, by the way, so you better stay."
Everyone heads back to a waiting room filled with drinks and snacks, with some fans lining up by the entrance to secure a front-row spot for Rihanna's entrance. Rihanna enters, and begins signing dollar bills and even fans' arms.
A woman trails Rihanna to capture everything for Rihanna's Snapchat story, which becomes the lifeline for her rabid fans keeping tabs on the event remotely. In its way, the Snapchat story gave a more intimate look at #TidalXRihanna than the event itself did for the 80 fans here in person -- and not just because everyone was blindfolded. The story shows Rihanna getting ready, heading to the event, waiting backstage, interacting with fans and leaving. For fans in attendance, it's a nice recap and then some ... once security returns their phones.
"We definitely got a special treat," Jossell tells Mashable at 2 a.m. after the event. "I really enjoyed being in Rihanna's company tonight. She is literally everything I imagined she would be. An all-around fun girl."
That treat came courtesy of Tidal's "Tidal X," a series of events that put fans in intimate situations with their favorite artists. The events help build buzz for new songs and albums as well as for Tidal, which counts Rihanna among its 16 celebrity stakeholders. Jay Z launched the app in March and its desktop version in June.
"I honestly didn't give Tidal too much thought," Jossell said when asked about Tidal. Why? "I was already settled in on Spotify, and as a consumer it's a tad overwhelming now that everyone is trying to offer music streaming services."
"After this event, I'm definitely signing up for Tidal [because] no competitor is offering incentives to their subscribers like Tidal is."
Social media posts about #TidalXRihanna
Looking flawless @ her #TidalXRihanna event ... #BBHMMNowOnVEVO pic.twitter.com/iYAICfnzHu
— SaDe (@SadeS2RiRi) July 2, 2015
Rihanna X Tidal event was lit tonight!!! Thank you to everybody for actually showing up and letting me kidnap you to take you to our private screening of #BBHMMvideo on behalf of @tidal Follow me on snapchat for all the behind the scenes: rihanna A video posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Jul 2, 2015 at 1:20am PDT
Evento #Tidal #TIDALXRihanna #BBHMMvideo pic.twitter.com/FNcliIyghY — ☆Rihanna México☆ (@RihannaMexicoo) July 2, 2015
More #TidalXRihanna madness! This was after @Rihanna kidnapped us by bus to watch #BBHMMvideo at a secret location. pic.twitter.com/3EOsk6YexX
— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) July 2, 2015
Rihanna at the #TidalXRihanna event in Los Angeles last night pic.twitter.com/N2TYVKpZWc — Rihanna News (@TeamOfRihanna) July 2, 2015
#TidalXRihanna is over. pic.twitter.com/IFsdDmMLXk
— Kee. (@MrMouthAlmighty) July 2, 2015
We are officially on Snapchat. Follow tidalhifi to see the #TIDALXRihannaBBHMM story unfold. pic.twitter.com/VTZ7RjzaUQ — TIDAL (@TIDALHiFi) July 2, 2015
BONUS: Carrie Underwood raps the 'Fresh Prince' theme song
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