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Music

A New 'Vogue' Cover Confirms that Rihanna Is an Utter Delight

From taking control of the swipes on her interviewer's dating app to giving news of her next record, Rihanna affirms that she's on top of her game in a new profile.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB
Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images

This weekend, Rihanna—musician, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and world-renowned style maven—will host the 2018 Met Gala. So it makes sense that ahead of that, the biggest fashion publication in the world, Vogue, might see fit to catch up with her. In a new profile with the magazine, between swiping left and right on a dating app on behalf of interviewer Chioma Nnadi and discussing her pride in her inclusive makeup company Fenty Beauty ("What I didn’t anticipate was the way people would get emotional about finding their complexion on the shelf, that this would be a groundbreaking moment, she told Nnadi), Rihanna hit on a few hot button issues. The most burning? That question of new music:

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With her next record—her ninth—Rihanna is moving the needle on her creative output all over again: She plans to make a reggae album. Though it’s too soon to name a full list of collaborators, one early influence may be Supa Dups, the Jamaican-born record producer who has worked with such dancehall greats as Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and Elephant Man.

Rihanna also detailed her love of her "favorite" reggae artist Bob Marley, noting wryly, "I’m gonna sound like a real tourist when I tell you my top Bob songs,” before naming “Three Little Birds,” “No Woman, No Cry,” and “Redemption Song.”

Elsewhere, she addressed another much-discussed topic, her relationship with Drake. Referring specifically to the self-indulgent speech he made when presenting her with her Video Vanguard award at the 2016 VMAs ("She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old,") Rihanna said:

The VMAs is such a fan-focused awards show, so having that energy around me, and knowing the people who had received the award in the past, made it feel like a big deal. Waiting through that speech was probably the most uncomfortable part. I don’t like too many compliments; I don’t like to be put on blast.

Asked by Nnadi about her current relationship with Drake, Rihanna said "We don’t have a friendship now, but we’re not enemies either. It is what it is."

The interview also addresses Rihanna's upcoming role in Ocean's 8, her feelings about turning 30, and her plans for her upcoming lingerie line. It's great; you can read it in full here.

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