At 4 p.m. PST, Rihanna, who recently surpassed Eminem as the most popular person on Facebook with a staggering 62 million likes, gave a live and clearly uncensored interview to Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen via Facebook Live. Eleven days away from the release of her seventh album, Unapologetic, she was playful, engaged, and maybe kinda sloshed.
When Cohen asked her to name her favorite Rihanna song is, Riri (who likes her nickname, by the way) took a long pause, and then responded, “It used to be ‘Umbrella’ before ‘Diamonds.’ That’s a real powerful song to listen to… it sucks you in, even if you’re in the club, it fucks with your head.” She laughed. “This is deep, I know. I’m too drunk for this shit.”
Naturally there’ve been some questions floating around ever since news arrived of her new collaboration with ex-boyfriend and former assailant Chris Brown, titled “Nobodies Business.” While we’d probably start with a grammatical inquiry, Cohen went for the obvious: “Are you guys together?” Rihanna answered with a curt, “No.” So what’s it about then?
“‘Nobodies Business’ is basically the way I look at everything regarding my personal life,” she said. “[While I have to accept that it’s being] documented at every second, it still is mine. And when it gets to my music, I’ll give and I’ll give and I’ll give, [but] I feel like I need to keep a little bit for me that I get to decide.” Probably smart to make a pop song about it then.
Since SPIN sat through the 30-minute video chat, which gave fans a chance to ask questions from home, you might as well get the highlights — from the inane to the insightful:
How does she deal with gossip blogs? “It’s like, ‘Ugh, typical.’ And you brush it off. Some things hurt more than others, or [it’s like] this is so messed up because somebody’s going to read it and believe it… but you can’t even get caught up in that.”
Where does she want to be in 30 years? “I wanna be skinny. I wanna be fierce. I hope my tits are still sitting up. That’s what I really want at 54. Nothing else will matter at that point.”
Does she get nervous before shows? “Absolutely. Every time. Yesterday before the Victoria’s Secret show, I was shitting bricks. [Luckily] there was lots of tits and ass to distract me.”
Does she still want to be “the black Madonna”? “[She] was very self-expressive, very bold, and very fearless. As a young woman I looked up to that. I wanted to be those things, to be myself and feel free to express myself and not be afraid of what people think about it. But there will never be another Madonna. Point blank. At this point, I’m so good with being Rihanna.”
Who inspires Rihanna the most? “My grandma, still, because she’s just, like, a complete woman and if I can even make it to half of that, I’ll be in great great great hands.”
