Days after delivering an iconic Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show performance, Rihanna appeared on the cover of British Vogue — posing on the beach with her partner, A$AP Rocky and thei son, who was born in May 2022.
The couple has been very private since the birth of their son and are yet to reveal his name. In the accompanying interview, the singer and Fenty founder says she understands why people are fascinated by her life and want to know about her first child, but she and Rocky feel firm about protecting their son from exploitation.
“Throw me to the wolves. Do what you want with me. But he doesn’t have a say in any of this,” she said. “We’ve been protecting him thus far and you don’t have any consent to be posting photos or selling photos of my child, a minor.
“As parents, it just feels so icky, like a violation,” she added.
It’s clear that Rihanna loves to be a mum. You could argue that the foreshadowing with her incredible pregnancy looks made it inevitable that she would slay motherhood. But the way she talks about becoming a mum in this interview is beautiful.
“It’s everything,” she says of being a mother. “You really don’t remember life before, that’s the craziest thing ever. You literally try to remember it — and there are photos of my life before — but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don’t identify with it.”
The gorge family’s cover photo shows them on the beach, at either dusk and dawn, looking sultry and comfortable. Rihanna wears a slinky back dress with a high thigh slit, walking ahead of A$AP Rocky, who cradles their son in his arms, kissing the top of his head. The couple is a few steps apart, but holding hands.
We love that Rihanna is front and centre — the matriarch queen we know her to be.
One of the shoot’s sexiest images shows A$AP Rocky holding Rihanna from behind, touching her torso with both hands.
The photo has more meaning to it after the “Diamonds” singer revealed her second pregnancy during her Super Bowl performance, with a rep confirming the news to NBC news shortly after the Half Time show.
Obviously, the couple is stronger than ever, growing their family and aligned with their morals, values and what they want in the future.
Previously, Rihanna has described her relationship progression with Rocky as starting off as friends and then falling in love, a narrative she echoed to British Vogue.
“We’re best friends with a baby,” she said, laughing. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”
A new era begins – and for @Rihanna nothing will be the same. As she emerges from her most seismic reinvention yet – becoming a mother – she talks to @GilesHattersley about her new confidence, new music and her new life as a parent alongside A$AP Rocky. https://t.co/FrwXqtuZi8
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) February 15, 2023
She also spoke about the connection between father and son — raving about Rocky’s love for his son.
“Their connection is undeniable,” she added. “The second Rocky makes eye contact with him he is on fire. The whole thing they say about sons and mums, it’s a myth. Sons and fathers is crazy. I realised that the validation that you really need as a boy is from your father.”
We’re loving this era of Rihanna, mum of one and mum-to-be, in a healthy relationship with a life partner, looking as beautiful and radiant as ever.
And we’d be lying if we said we weren’t looking forward to her pregnancy looks 2.0.
The March issue of British Vogue hits newsstands on February 21.
