Family love on the brain: Rihanna praises motherhood, ‘great’ ASAP Rocky romance

Alexandra Del Rosario April 9, 2024 Rihanna

had plenty to say about raising her two young sons and her high-profile romance with rapper

ASAP Rocky

in a recent interview. About new music? Not so much.

The “Love on the Brain” pop superstar,

36

, gave off big mom energy as she got candid about her personal life in a new cover story for Interview magazine. In conversation with Interview editor and her former stylist

Mel Ottenberg

, Rihanna dished on raising sons

RZA

and

Riot

from the staples in their YSL duffle-turned-diaper bag to the

the

nursery rhymes that get them up and dancing.

“I cant believe I have two babies,” she said.

The Super Bowl baby has arrived: Rihanna and ASAP Rocky welcome their second child

The singer and makeup mogul’s cover story went live six months after she welcomed baby Riot with ASAP Rocky in August 2023. Rihanna revealed her pregnancy during the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, which at the time was her first live show in seven years.

Rihanna and her

Fashion Killa

rapper boyfriend welcomed their first child, RZA (named after

the

Wu Tang Clan founding member) in May 2022. The Fenty Beauty creator and ASAP Rocky’s (

whose

real name is

Rakim Athelaston Mayers

)

welcomed their sons nearly back-to-back, buttheir

romance was a bit touch-and-go, literally, Rihanna told Interview.

She said she first met the would-be father of her children,

35

, at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2012 where “he grabbed my a!”

Rihanna’s baby’s name revealed a year after his birth and it has a backstory

“When he grabbed my a that night… my team was worried that I wanted to have his head on a f mantle,” she recalled.

She added,before adding,

“Thats why everybody was like, ‘Oh my God. She likes him.’

The “Diamonds” singer and Rocky were

both

in the same social circles, but did not seriously begin dating until the end of 2019, she revealed. Even then, they took things slowly and with “a lot of caution” as they understood “we can make or break each others hearts.”

Then the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020 and accelerated their relationship, Rihanna said.

“Had it not been for COVID, we wouldve taken a lot more time to get comfortable with each other, to even know that we were ready,” she said.

Rihanna plays the hits and introduces a surprise guest in Super Bowl halftime show

The

nine

-time Grammy winner added: “I mean, we didnt even really talk about [starting a family]. There was no denying it. It was the best thing that ever happened to us. It just happened.”

Before Rocky, Rihanna was previously linked with businessman

Hassan Jameel

, rappers

Drake

and

Travis Scott

, R&B singer Chris Brown and others. Things were different with Rocky, she said.

“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 Savage X Fenty boss continued. “I felt the same about him. I knew he would be a great dad.”

Despite sparking engagement rumors, Rihanna and ASAP Rocky are not betrothed and have not said their “I Do’s.” But, they did partner up for a Fenty Beauty lip balm in February. In her Interview chat, the billionaire poked fun at her partner’s card game tactics, and praised his “shirt up over the nose” diaper-changing strategy.

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The cover story saw the singer muse on a variety of topics including “Real Housewives” drama, plastic surgery, keeping her inner social media troll at bay, her L.A.-based gynecologist and her

own

family.

“The only thing that I knew I wanted [10 to 15 years ago], or that I could imagine, was motherhood,” she said. “I didnt know how it would come, but it is the best part of my journey so far. Everything else was a surprise.”

The “Umbrella” hitmaker, who said she’s open to having as many kids as “God wants me to have,” also addressed queries about new music. Her most recent solo album was

2016

‘s “

Anti

.” Hesitant to share too much about what’s in the works, Rihanna said “my brain is working backward right now.

“I usually have the music first, and the music leads me into all of these visual opportunities, and now Im having all of these visuals, and I dont have the songs for them yet,” she said. “Maybe the visual ideas are leading me to the songs that I need to make.”