When it comes to love and relationship advice, ever been told “It’s best to be friends first?”
Well, it’s something Rihanna and her boyfriend A$AP Rocky tried. Now look where they are today.
In a new cover story for Interview Magazine, the 36-year-old global megastar and business mogul opened up about her relationship with her children’s father, revealing that she had known him for years before their whirlwind of a romance began to take shape.
As the “Work” singer tells it, they first met when Rocky, 35, hopped on the remix of her 2012 single “Cockiness (Love It)” and performed the song at the MTV Video Music Awards, during which he grabbed Rihanna’s behind.
“So when he grabbed my [expletive] that night, everybody thought I was about to — my team was worried that I wanted to have his head on a [expletive] mantle.” She said with a laugh. “But I was like, ‘Ah, nah.’ That’s why everybody was like, ‘Oh my god. She likes him.’”
A year later, the two worked together once more when Rihanna appeared in Rocky’s “Fashion Killa” music video. But the two weren’t dating at the time, contrary to popular belief. But while the couple didn’t officially become a couple until late 2019, there was a strong connection between the future parents of 23-month-old RZA and 8-month-old Riot.
“We saw fashion the same. We saw creative the same. We ended up in the same circles a lot,” Rihanna said to Interview’s editor-in-chief, Mel Ottenberg. “And past that, when we grew up, we ended up supporting each other’s brands and products and creative all the time. I would wear his [expletive], he would show up to my launches.”
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” she continued. “I’ve seen him in relationships. He’s seen me in relationships. We’ve seen each other outside of relationships. We knew what we’re capable of, and the trouble that we could bring to each other’s lives. We can make or break each other’s hearts. And so, we started dating with a lot of caution.”
“I just let whatever was supposed to happen, happen. It was just, ‘This is a flower. It’s either going to die or blossom. But I’m going to let it decide itself,’” she added.
The two confirmed their relationship in November 2020 and when the pandemic hit, the relationship took off and never bothered to slow down.
“COVID sped up our relationship, which I felt like God knew we needed because we were going to start a family,” the Fenty Beauty mogul told the magazine. “And had it not been for COVID, we would’ve taken a lot more time to get comfortable with each other, to even know that we were ready.”
We all saw relationships crumble because of being confined together due to quarantining during the pandemic, but it was the exact opposite for the beloved singer and the “Fashion Killa” rapper.
After spending a lot of time together, she said “there was no denying” the two were it for one another, adding, “It was the best thing that ever happened to us. It just happened.”
“I let God lead and just let go,” she revealed. “Because in previous relationships, I tried and tried and tried my best, and you still feel like it’s not enough.”
“So when someone sees you completely, and believes in you, and thinks you’re worthy of being the mother of their kids, it’s a great feeling,” the singer gushed about Rocky. “I felt the same about him. I knew he would be a great dad.”
When it comes to the possibility of having more children, Rihanna didn’t have a set number in mind.
“As many as God wants me to have,” the “Wild Thoughts” singer said. “I don’t know what God wants, but I would go for more than two.”
“I would try for my girl. But of course if it’s another boy, it’s another boy,” she added.