Rihanna
And in her British Vogue March 2023 cover story, she shared her excitement about being a new mom. “Oh, my God, it’s legendary,” she says. “It’s everything. You really don’t remember life before, that’s the craziest thing ever,” she continues. “You literally try to remember it – and there are photos of my life before – but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don’t identify with it because you don’t even allow yourself mentally to get that far, because…. Because it doesn’t matter.” Here are three ways the singer revolutionized what motherhood looks like in her life.
Relationship with A$AP Rocky
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky
Photo by Amy Sussman/WireImage
The cover story photos featured Rihanna with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky and their son. However, the couple faced backlash once the photos began making their rounds on social media. There were many comments about the emasculation of the rapper as he is seen standing behind the pop star while holding their son. If you follow the couple's history, they have been friends for a long time and have always supported each other in fashion and in music.
After giving birth to their child, Rihanna followed Rocky on his European tour and Rocky was captured cheering on his girl during her Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show performance. From the outside looking in, the couple appears to not dim each other's light. Rihanna says that she and Rocky are “best friends with a baby.” And she also says that having a baby only made them closer. While we don’t know if marriage is on the horizon for the stunning couple, the Harlem rapper did have people questioning whether they were already married thanks to his “D.M.B.” music video that stars the Bajan singer and shows them getting married.
Starting a Family
@rihanna hacked
The 35-year-old singer has accomplished so much in her life but one thing she has always said she wanted was kids. And in a past British Vogue interview, Rihanna said that she planned to have kids with or without a man. Last year, however, she gave birth to a baby boy whose name has yet to be made public and now she is pregnant again with her second child with Rocky. In her recent British Vogue interview, Rihanna gushes over the “F**kin’ Problems” rapper’s relationship with their baby.
“I’m just sitting on the sidelines when they’re together,” she reveals. “I’m literally the girl trying to get into the boys club, waiting for my turn. He is obsessed with his father. And I’m like: ‘Didn’t I give birth to you? What is going on?’” She says laughing. “Their connection is undeniable. The second Rocky makes eye contact with him he is on fire. The whole thing they say about sons and moms, it’s a myth. Sons and fathers is crazy. I realized that the validation that you really need as a boy is from your father.”
Maternity Wear
Rihanna.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Riri’s fashion is always a sight to see and her maternity style was definitely one for the books. Luckily for us, we get to witness her maternity looks a second time around. When she was pregnant with her first child, Rihanna told Access Hollywood about redefining maternity style, “I’m trying to enjoy it [pregnancy] as much as I could and fashion is one of my favorite things so redefining what it means to even be pregnant and maternal. It can get uncomfortable at times, so you can dress the part and pretend.”
Now, with her son in tow, she is looking to redefine baby clothes. “One of my favorite outfits he has is a miniature version of one of Rocky’s,” she says in British Vogue. “I like to dress him in things that don’t look like baby clothes. I like to push it. I put him in floral stuff. I put him in hot pink. I love that. I think that fluidity in fashion is best. I always shop in the men’s department, you know.” She describes baby clothes as “sooo boring” and even teased the idea of Fenty babywear. “These kids deserve to be cool,” she says.
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Feature image by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation
Performing at the Super Bowl is just another milestone the mogul can add to her esteemed list of achievements. Since launching Fenty Beauty, the 34-year-old made history as the wealthiest female musician after becoming a billionaire, she also owns the highly successful Savage X Fenty lingerie and Fenty Skin. And in 2022, she became a first-time mom after welcoming a son with rapper A$AP Rocky. With so many major changes in the “Love on the Brain” artist’s life, fans are hungry to see their queen remind everyone why Rihanna is still that girl.
Here are the top things that we are expecting from the iconic singer at the Super Bowl.
Fashion
If it’s one thing Rihanna has become known for outside of music, it’s fashion. Whether she’s on the red carpet or on the go, the mother of one always serves a look and she approaches her performances the same way. Who can forget when she won the 2016 MTV Video Vanguard award at the VMAs and performed several times throughout the show? She slayed every look with each performance and we can’t wait to see what she wears during the Super Bowl.
New Music
As I mentioned earlier, the Rihanna Navy is demanding new music from the Bajan beauty and we are hoping that she finally gives in and premieres a new song or announces a concrete date for her upcoming album. On another note, we also can’t wait to see what her set list will be. Rihanna has so many bops from “Needed Me” to “What’s My Name?” and of course the song that made her a household name “Umbrella.” Whichever songs she chooses, I’m sure she will have us singing at the top of our lungs.
(L) A$AP Rock and (R) Rihanna.
Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage
Surprise Guests
Speaking of her songs, there’s also the question of whether she will have surprise guests hit the stage with her. Not that she needs anyone to perform with her, but it would be cool to see her perform with some of the people she has collaborated with over the years like her beau A$AP Rocky or N.E.R.D. (If you're like me then you are also thinking Drake, but we know that’s out of the question.) And while we continue this fantasy, wouldn't it be such a cute moment if she also brought her son on stage?
Tour Announcement
It has been rumored that RiRi will be going on tour following her Super Bowl performance. While nothing has been confirmed yet, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Many artists have announced tour dates after performing at the legendary halftime show, so why not Rihanna? But what we do know after watching the “Diamonds” singer over these years is that no matter what, she marches to the beat of her own drum.
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Feature image by Amy Sussman/WireImage
Rihanna has a catalog going back almost two decades, has won multiple Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, and BET award honors, and has experienced the glow-up of three lifetimes in expanding her reach beyond music into fashion and beauty, to the tune of $1.4 billion.
In anticipation of her Super Bowl LVII performance—and as we all reminisce on why Rihanna is the queen of reinvention and authenticity—let’s take a look at a brief snapshot of her career’s most bossed-up and bankable moments:
2005-2016: Music Career
As a teen, Rihanna earned the chance of a lifetime after she went solo (she was in a group, y’all) and was signed by Jay-Z to a multi-album deal with Def Jam when he was president. Her first album, Music of the Sun, was certified gold just a year later and she’d go on to record more albums with Def Jam before her official departure to join Roc Nation in 2014.
In total, she has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, along with 215 million digital tracks as a music artist.
She has also earned millions on tours, with few notable ones being 2010’s Last Girl On Earth Tour (which promoted her fourth studio album "Rated R”) grossing $40 million, the Loud Tour in 2011, where she reportedly earned an estimated $90 million, and the Diamonds World Tour in 2013, which grossed more than $140 million in sales worldwide and sold out 84 out of the 87 stops on the tour.
2009: Fragrance Launches
She was one of the forerunners in the celebrity fragrance line craze of the early 2000s when she signed a licensing deal with Parlux Fragrances Inc. to get paid in royalties, profit-sharing and Parlux stocks instead of cash. It turned out to be a smart move because by the time her fragrance Reb’l Fleur was launched in 2011, it was projected to rake in $80 million. Two other perfumes, Rebelle and Nude, were launched in 2012, and Rogue, was released the next year. Several of them are still on the market today, proving she had that winning touch in the beauty industry even back then.
2011-2017: Big Steps Into Fashion
In one of her first major breaks in the industry, Rihanna teamed up with Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans to create a capsule collection and was the face of fall 2011 ad campaigns for the lines. In 2013, she signed a deal with British fashion retailer River Island, debuting at London Fashion Week.
In 2014, Puma tapped her to serve as creative director, brand ambassador, and campaign star. She also released her first shoe, the Puma Creeper, which reportedly sold out in three hours.
Reports at the time indicated that her work with the brand helped boost its sales 17.1 percent, with its 2015 earnings hitting almost $975 million.
She went on to design four ready-to-wear collections for the brand, including Fenty Puma by Rihanna, making its debut at New York Fashion Week for fall 2016, and, for her second and third collections, she took on Paris Fashion Week. Her last collection with the brand was launched in New York for spring 2018.
2017: Fenty Beauty Is Born
Fenty Beauty was launched in 1600 stores in 17 countries, and the brand’s products reportedly sold out “almost immediately” both online and in Sephora stores. “Makeup is there for you to have fun with. It should never feel like pressure,” she says via parent company LVMH’s website. “It should never feel like a uniform. Feel free to take chances, and take risks, and dare to do something new or different.”
Rihanna has a 50% stake in the brand (valued at $1.4 billion), which earned her billionaire status on the Forbes list. She also became the youngest self-made billionaire with the success of the brand, her earnings from music and performances, and other investments.
The brand, which includes makeup, skincare, and fragrances, is loved for its inclusivity and embracing of all lovers of cosmetics, was named one of Time magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2017,” and generated $550 million by the end of the first year of operation.
2018: Savage x Fenty
In 2018, Rihanna introduced her line of lingerie to the world with an immersive experience during New York Fashion Week. Continuing the message of inclusivity, power, and fluidity, the show and line became a viral sensation on social and in the media. Her stake in this brand is now worth an estimated $270 million.
2022: Retail Stores & Going Public
After the brand saw major success with online sales, the first brick-and-mortar Savage x Fenty location was opened in Las Vegas in January 2022. This year, the company has reportedly raised $125 million in a recent funding round. There are reports that the company is edging toward going public, which could bring the company’s value to at least $3 billion.
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Feature image by Karwai Tang/Getty Images
The Harlem rapper is Bajan on his father’s side and since he began dating Rihanna, he has been spending more time on the Caribbean island. In the new issue of Dazed, Rocky opens up about his new music, how he plans to navigate fatherhood and his relationship with RiRi. The interview took place before the Fenty Beauty owner gave birth.
Here are some of the highlights:
A$AP Rocky on Spending Time In Barbados with Rihanna
“It was honestly so unbelievable. I had family there that only came up [to New York] once every five years, family I only spoke to over the phone my whole life. You remember those one-dollar, five-dollar phone cards? I was raised to know about my heritage, but I was missing the actual experience. I didn’t get to experience it until I was an adult. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve encountered in my lifetime.”
A$AP Rocky on His 2013 “Fashion Killa” Video That Predicted His Future with Rihanna
“I was just on tour with my lady, you know? We wanted it to feel like a love story, a fairytale with a street twist. I expected my core following to be receptive, but with Virgil in the mix, its success was a no-brainer. I was living in New York at the time, too.”
James Devaney/GC Images
A$AP Rocky on His and Rihanna’s 2021 MET Gala Looks
“I didn’t know what she was wearing, she didn’t know what I was wearing. I went to Eli’s spot – Eli Russell Linnetz, he owns the label ERL – and when I walked in there was this quilt just sitting on the couch. I was like, ‘Can I have that quilt?’ And he was like, ‘Well, I actually just thrifted it.’ He had picked out a few looks for me, but I was on his ass about that quilt. And so he stitched it together and made it a custom piece. That’s how I decided to wear a quilt to the Met Gala.”
A$AP Rocky on He and Rihanna Matching Each Other’s Fly
“I think it’s just natural. We happen to look good together naturally. You know, it would take a lot of work to have us forcefully match before we leave the house. Sometimes we match to a T, or we just wear the same clothes. If I buy a shirt that she likes, I expect to get it stolen... but then I gotta steal it back.”
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
A$AP Rocky on What Type of Father He Wants to Be
“I will always remind my children to never lose their imagination, even as adults, no matter what. I actually love to watch cartoons – I’ve watched like Teletubbies, Blue’s Clues, Yo Gabba Gabba, Peppa Pig, and Baby Shark. I hope to raise open-minded children. Not people who discriminate. And I’m not trying to describe a saint, but realistically, I just want a cool child with cool parents.”
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Featured image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
