Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, and their adorable nine-month-old son graced the cover of British Vogue’s March 2023 issue. In a cover shoot styled by Editor-in-Chief Edward Enniful and Matthew Henson, the expanding family showcases their love and baby boy, whose name has yet to be revealed. Dressed in a Chrome Hearts diaper cover, the sweet smiles given by the couple’s infant son are heartwarming — as his internationally famous mother noted, he is “giving poses” in his first official pictorial.
In tandem with the intimate beach cover shoot, Rihanna sat down with writer Giles Hattersley during what the star calls “rockstar hours,” meaning she invited the Vogue reporter into her apartment at 3 a.m. After a long evening of rehearsing for her now-viral Super Bowl performance, Rihanna reflected on motherhood and entering a new era of life.
“Oh, my God, it’s legendary,” the new mother shared with Vogue. “It’s everything. You really don’t remember life before; that’s the craziest thing ever. You literally try to remember it — and there are [countless] photos of my life before — but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don’t identify with it because you don’t even allow yourself mentally to get that far, because … Because it doesn’t matter.”
After experiencing a whirlwind of emotions post-delivery, the Grammy-award-winning star and Oscar nominee ultimately describes the transition into motherhood as a beautiful “head-f**k.” Like most new parents, A$AP and Rihanna experienced parental paranoia and numerous sleepless nights. Even now that her son sleeps through the night, the star, who announced her second pregnancy during Sunday night’s performance, remains a night owl, now describing her baby-free moments as her hours.
Despite being tucked away with her family, Rihanna remains the multi-industry mogul we all know and love. Just six months after giving birth to her baby boy in May 2022, the Fenty brand visionary released and starred in the fourth volume of the Savage X Fenty show. As both her beauty and lingerie brands continued to flourish, Rihanna stayed connected to her musical roots, but the artist admits some hesitation in participating in Super Bowl LVII. After declining the NFL’s invitation to perform in 2019 as an act of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, Rihanna took her time before accepting the 2023 invitation.
“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes, but it’s powerful to break those doors and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level,” she shared when reflecting on the changes she’s seen within the NFL. “Two Super Bowls back-to-back, you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.”
Ultimately, it was motherhood and the now very present reality of raising a young Black man in today’s society that shifted Rihanna’s perspective — and unlocked a level of fearlessness within her. Despite feeling like she can now do anything, the “Anti” artist confessed to putting an immense amount of pressure on herself when it comes to music.
“There’s this pressure that I put on myself. That if it’s not better than [her 2016 album ‘Anti’] then it is not even worth it. It is toxic,” she said. “It’s not the right way to look at music because music is an outlet and a space to create, and you can create whatever. It doesn’t have to even be on any scale. It just has to be something that feels good.”
So, as she tentatively (if temporarily) reenters the music scene, ‘Bad Gal RiRi’ says she just wants to “play” and have fun creatively.
“ I realized that if I keep waiting until this feels right and perfect and better, maybe it’s going to keep taking forever, and maybe it’ll never come out, and no, I’m not down to that,” she says when asked about releasing new music. “I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
As the artist continues to step into this new era and prepares for baby number two, it’s clear Rihanna is open to whatever the future holds.
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