 The music video for " Hard " was directed by Melina Matsoukas and released in December 2009 . It was the first Rihanna video directed by Matsoukas , who would go on to direct videos for " Rude Boy " and " Rockstar 101 " . Before the premiere of the video , Rihanna told Kyle Anderson of MTV News : " It 's couture @-@ military . Everything is surrounded by the whole idea of something military . We have tanks , we have troops , we 've got helicopters , we 've got explosions . [ ... ] Tight gear , lots of cute outfits , lots of bullets . Crazy . " 
