Being Honored as One of “The Greats” Rihanna sat down with NY Times’ Style Magazine, T Magazine, to discuss all things Riri.
Rihanna continuously sets the record high for her stylistic image and personable skills as an artist and T Magazine’s, Miranda July, experienced no different.
Miranda July, a filmmaker and author, interviewed the Barbados singer on everything from controlling her own Instagram account, dating, googling childbirth, to her reflecting on her ethnicity through a business point of view.
July starts off her story anticipating Rihanna’s presence as she gathers her thoughts on other public opinions she’s asked people about what makes Rihanna great, and how no one was able to depict what she truly said or have done to be great, but her as aura overall was what made her such an astonishing person.
July takes an the top luxury Uber rides to meet the unapologetic singer in Malibu, California when coincidentally she finds out that her Uber driver, who was born and raised in West Africa met Rihanna and her best friend, Melissa Forde a while back. He showed July a picture of Rihanna and him and then mentioned to the interviewer to not be nervous because she’s really nice and down to earth.
The Uber driver even got a chance to have his questioned answered by Rihanna as he awaited patiently for July to be finished with their interview. He wanted to know when will Rihanna be coming to West Africa and thanks to July, Rihanna politely answered the question by her being open to do a free concert Bob Marley style.
Back tracking to the beginning of the interview, Rihanna first compliments the July’s eyes and then her outfit following, as she was wearing a vintage Yves Saint Laurent attire. Rihanna on the other hand of course came looking trendy as usual, as July described her look as vibrant and intriguing sporting bright red lips, long matte lavender colored nails and black and white mixed mascara.
The first questioned asked was do you surf the web, and Rihanna answered saying, ’‘Oh, random things. Like I will be sitting around Googling childbirth.’’
Don’t fear. Rih Rih isn’t thinking of conceiving any time soon, but she is just being curious like most of us who do or don’t have children. The two then decide during the interview to google what it means to have a “generalized fear” of having children as July describes Rihanna’s opinion on giving birth.
‘‘ ‘Phobia of a big vagina.’ … ‘Deep.’ … This is awful. I can’t believe I’m typing this in.’’
‘‘Wait,’’ I said. ‘‘Deep’s not an issue. It’s wide.’’
‘‘Deep is an issue, hello!’’
‘‘Huh. Cause I feel like the — I always feel short-vaginaed.’’
Rihanna laughed. ‘‘Trust me, if they can’t feel the end, it’s like, Cannonball!’’
They begin to discuss how she left Barbados to move to New York once she was a teenager to start her career in music.
‘‘That’s something I don’t think I could ever do,’’ Rihanna said. ‘‘Send my only girl to another random country to live with people she’d just met. It had to be God that paralyzed Monica Fenty’s emotions so that she’d say, ‘Yes, go.’ To this day, I don’t know how that happened. But thank God it did.’’
You can tell that during July’s interview with Rihanna their likeness of each other grew fond in a matter of seconds, literally. They even share a likeness in being far ahead of the future as they both realize when people are just falling into trends, and are celebrating others success, that doesn’t mean your grind is put to a halt.
’’You’re a ‘next-moment’ person,’’ Rihanna surmised. ‘‘Not an ‘in-the-moment’ person.’’
‘‘I’m the same way. Only now are things hitting me, like I’m feeling them emotionally. I used to feel unsafe right in the moment of an accomplishment — I felt the ground fall from under my feet because this could be the end. And even now, while everyone is celebrating, I’m on to the next thing. I don’t want to get lost in this big cushion of success.
Rihanna brings up her time for dating and it is definitely limited due to her focus on her music, endorsements and family.
‘‘Guys need attention,’’ she explained. ‘‘They need that nourishment, that little stroke of the ego that gets them by every now and then. I’ll give it to my family, I’ll give it to my work — but I will not give it to a man right now.’’
If Rihanna was to have a man or even be dating she wants to be able to learn from him, be cultured, and he has to be funny she mentions during the interview.
Rihanna’s race started to play a major part in her life once she started doing business meetings.
‘‘You know, when I started to experience the difference — or even have my race be highlighted — it was mostly when I would do business deals, Rihanna insinuated.’’
July asked her in a way to try to not offend her belief on racial subjects, but in a way that particularly opened her eyes since she has came from a Caribbean background to moving to America where culture may seem to play a role on standing up for one’s self and being able to change the dynamic of the entertainment/pop-culture society being of color.
‘‘And, you know, that never ends, by the way,” Rihanna continues. “It’s still a thing. And it’s the thing that makes me want to prove people wrong. It almost excites me; I know what they’re expecting and I can’t wait to show them that I’m here to exceed those expectations.’’
‘‘But I have to bear in mind,” as Rihanna raps up her thoughts, ‘‘That those people are judging you because you’re packaged a certain way — they’ve been programmed to think a black man in a hoodie means grab your purse a little tighter. For me, it comes down to smaller issues, scenarios in which people can assume something of me without knowing me, just by my packaging.’’
From that very moment July was finally understanding Rihanna Navy. In the beginning of her story she can’t quite understand why opinions of other people on Rihanna are great, but can never be fully elaborated. It’s quite simple, it’s just her pure soul.
“Souls are funny things,” July says. “They stay constant even when the outside changes, or when the heart makes mistakes. Souls don’t really care about good or bad, right or wrong — they’re just true. Everlasting. It makes you sound dumb to talk about this stuff, which is why no one could tell me exactly what it was about Rihanna. But millions of fans don’t seem to need it explained to them. A soul just knows a soul. I never told you she was pretty because that’s not what I experienced. My understanding, from the moment she sat down, was that we were in love. We were the most in love any two people had ever been.”
T Magazine we’ll release the issue on October 25, along with five other inspiring icons that have landed on the cover as one of “The Greats.”
TSR Intern: Charise W.!! Instagram: @planet_reese
Sources Sited: NY Times
