Rihanna covers the new issue of the New York Times’ T Magazine. It’s an issue with multiple covers, devoted to “The Greats,” including Quentin Tarantino, Karl Lagerfeld and more. Miranda July wrote the profile and the piece is written in a gushy, girl-crush-OMG style. Apparently, Rihanna hasn’t been giving many interviews for a few years (although she just gave an interview to Vanity Fair, so it’s not like this piece is super-exclusive). You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
What she Googles: “Oh, random things. Like I will be sitting around Googling childbirth… Childbirth is putting it the not-gross way. I was searching the size of certain things, and how much they expand, and then what happens after. …”
Being a next-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.’’
Why she doesn’t have a boyfriend right now: “Guys need attention. 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.”
Her turn-ons: “I’m turned on by guys who are cultured. That’ll keep me intrigued. They don’t have to have a single degree, but they should speak other languages or know things about other parts of the world or history or certain artists or musicians. I like to be taught.”
Human sexuality: “Well, there’s always this human instinct about that, even from a very, very young age.. But by like age 11, girls were talking about what they had and hadn’t done. I hadn’t even kissed a boy yet, so it always made me feel insecure, like I was never gonna be good or ready or know what to do — I didn’t even have boobs.’’
How she’s experienced racism & racial issues in America: “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… And, you know, that never ends, by the way. 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 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.”
When Rihanna is talking about men needing their ego stroked, Miranda July says that it took her a while to find a guy who wasn’t threatened by her power, and Rihanna says she’s still dealing with that issue. As for the childbirth thing, apparently July asked her point-blank if she is pregnant and Rihanna “laughed and assured me she wasn’t having a child anytime soon; her fear was generalized.” As in, she’s afraid of what will happen to her lady parts during childbirth.
Photos courtesy of T Magazine, Instagram.
