Rihanna opened up about being mother to her little boys RZA, two, and Riot, one, as she dished on the stark contrast in their personalities for Harper’s Bazaar Legacy Issue.
The Diamonds songstress – who recently celebrated her 37th birthday this week – discussed a number of topics for the outlet’s March 2025 cover story, such as her relationship with A$AP Rocky and new music.
Rihanna shares her sons with the Everyday rapper – whom she was first romantically linked to in 2020.
In regards to her eldest child, the Fenty Beauty founder expressed, ‘RZA is just an empath. He’s so magical. He loves music. He loves melody. He loves books. He loves water. Bath time, swimming, pool, beach, anything.
‘And Riot, he’s just hilarious. When he wakes up, he starts to squeal, scream. Not in a crying way. He just wants to sing. And I’m like, “Okay, here we go!”‘
She humorously added, ‘He’s my alarm in the morning! He’s not taking no for an answer from anyone. I don’t know where he came from, dude.’
Rihanna, 37, opened up about being mother to her little boys RZA, two, and Riot, one, as she dished on the stark contrast in their personalities for Harper’s Bazaar Legacy Issue
The Diamonds songstress shares her sons with the Everyday rapper – whom she was first romantically linked to in 2020
The star also revealed that RZA had a hard time adjusting to having a little brother in the house, ‘like all [new] siblings do.
‘And at first Riot was understanding that his role was being the little brother. Now he knows he’s in charge.’
Rihanna explained that fellow music artist Pharrell Williams inspired the name of her youngest son. The Happy hitmaker and Rocky notably collaborated on the track titled Riot back in 2023.
‘He gave us this name thinking it was going to be a girl, because he had seen something online. Pharrell is very deep. He’s not surface,’ she expressed.
‘He will never say anything and just leave it there with a full stop. He will have the entire history: the energy, the time, the month that it is.’
The songstress also gushed about her partner Rocky and his close bond with their children.
Earlier this week, the rapper was found not guilty on all counts of his shooting felony trial in Los Angeles.
When the not guilty verdict was revealed, Rihanna – who had been sitting inside the courtroom – erupted into tears as cheers echoed around.
In regards to her eldest child, the Fenty Beauty founder expressed, ‘RZA is just an empath. He’s so magical. He loves music. He loves melody. He loves books. He loves water’
‘And Riot, he’s just hilarious. When he wakes up, he starts to squeal, scream. Not in a crying way. He just wants to sing. And I’m like, “Okay, here we go!”‘ she added
She expressed that watching him be a father is the ‘greatest thing’ and further elaborated with, ‘His pureness. His charm. I’m annoyed because my sons sometimes just live for him more than they live for me.’
‘And I’m like, “Did you know who cooked you? Do you know who pushed you out?” And they love him, but when I see it, oh, it’s the best.’
The couple also tend to stray from Hollywood and enjoy keeping it lowkey on outings in New York – which is Rocky’s home state.
‘We like to eat with people. We like to shop with people. We like to walk the streets with people. I don’t like a private room. I don’t have them shut down stores. I don’t like the Rapunzel life.’
She expressed, ‘It’s very isolating. It’s very lonely. And what am I protecting myself from? I’m actually allowing people to dictate the robbery of the life that I could actually be living.’
While Rihanna is focused on motherhood, the star also gave an update on a possible new album and told Harper’s Bazaar that ‘music is my freedom.’
She released her last LP Anti nearly 10 years earlier in 2016, which she listens ‘from top to bottom with no shame.
‘I used to always have shame. I actually don’t like listening to my music, but Anti – I can listen to the album…’
Rihanna explained that fellow music artist Pharrell Williams inspired the name of her youngest son. The Happy hitmaker and Rocky notably collaborated on the track titled Riot back in 2023
She expressed that watching him be a father is the ‘greatest thing’ and further elaborated with, ‘His pureness. His charm. I’m annoyed because my sons sometimes just live for him more than they live for me’
The couple also tend to stray from Hollywood and enjoy keeping it lowkey on outings in New York – which is Rocky’s home state
Reflecting on her past music has also helped inspire the songstress where she wants to take a new album creatively. ‘I think music is my freedom. I just came to that realization.
‘I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years.’
She also responded to speculation that she was working on a reggae album and told the outlet, ‘Way off! There’s no genre now. That’s why I waited.
‘Every time, I was just like, “No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour.”‘
She added that, ‘After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter.
‘I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.’
Rihanna expressed that the current trajectory of her album ‘feels right’ and revealed that for eight years she has ‘been in the studio.’
She then teased that ‘it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl.’
Earlier this week on Thursday, Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky had the chance to celebrate her 37th birthday during a night out in Los Angeles.
Reflecting on her past music has also helped inspire the songstress where she wants to take a new album creatively. ‘I think music is my freedom. I just came to that realization’
Rihanna expressed that the current trajectory of her album ‘feels right’ and revealed that for eight years she has ‘been in the studio’
The couple were spotted grabbing a bite to eat at The Nice Guy Italian restaurant in West Hollywood.
‘Getting old is s**t, but it’s also a blessing,’ the Love On The Brain hitmaker said while switching to the topic of aging and the kind of legacy she wants to leave behind.
‘My legacy is right now. That’s all I have the most control over. My legacy is what I do with my time at this moment.’
She added, ‘How am I present with the people around me? How am I grateful? How am I making this a happy moment? How am I making a memory?
‘I’m even in the space of not even spending my money on things, but I’ll spend my money on an experience. That’s something no one can take from me.’
The star also expressed that, ‘Somebody could rob me right now of everything I have, [but] they will never take a memory, an experience, a feeling, a scent that reminded me of that moment. There’s just things that mean more when you grow up.’
‘Getting old is s**t, but it’s also a blessing,’ the Love On The Brain hitmaker said while switching to the topic of aging and the kind of legacy she wants to leave behind
Rihanna has been keeping busy and recently posed up a storm as she modeled lingerie for her Savage x Fenty brand earlier this month
Rihanna has been keeping busy and recently posed up a storm as she modeled lingerie for her Savage x Fenty brand earlier this month.
She has also landed a new deal with Dior to become the face of the luxurious brand’s J’adore perfume.
The singer explained that the scent is linked to a special memory – and shared that her own mother ‘used to sell perfume at a duty-free store.
‘She would come home with the testers when they were down to the end and they have to put out a new tester. J’adore was one of those ones that were always there. And that’s where my love for J’adore started.’