It’s been three years since “the incident” left Rihanna bloody and
fearing for her life. Since then she and ex-flame Chris Brown have made
amends, and records, and have both seemed to move on from that fateful
February night.
Despite their willingness to let bygones be bygones, the media—and
their fans—just can’t seem to let it go. Although it’s been three years
since the pop stars split, rumors of reconciliation have continued to
persist and only grew stronger when the pair teamed up for two songs,
one of which seemed to indicate they were getting it in (or wanted to).
Recently, during a recent interview with
Esquire UK for the
June issue, things got a bit dicey after the interviewer asked Rihanna
about her now infamous collaboration with Chris Brown. Although many may
have wanted the backstory of how they came to work together, let’s just
say RihRih was
not happy to be talking about her ex yet again.
Esquire: What has been the Twitter response to the Chris Brown remixes?
Rihanna: Some love it, some hate it, some love it but hate that we did it. But the response in the end has been incredible.
Esquire: Was that [the recording session] the first time you’d seen him in a while?
Rihanna: When would we have seen each other? We’ve both been working and touring. [changes the subject]. This is really good food.
Esquire: It proved quite a controversial thing.
Rihanna: Well…definitely. Definitely. It caught
me a little off-guard to be honest…especially the amount of…negative
attention. Because it never occurred to me how this was a problem, you
know. It really didn’t.
Esquire: Because enough time had passed that it was OK?
Rihanna: I thought people were gonna be
surprised that we finally did a record together, but I didn’t see how
people could think it was a bad thing, you know? In my mind, it was just
music.
Esquire: Some people felt it sent the wrong message.
Rihanna: [Angrily] What was that? What message would that be?
Esquire: You’d gone back to someone who put you in the hospital.
Rihanna: [Getting angry] Oh really? Did I?
Esquire: Well… yes.
Rihanna: Did I? Did I? Did I?
Esquire: You went and recorded with him, yes.
Rihanna: Okay. In a completely professional
environment. And on a complete professional note. I mean, if I went back
to him [as a girlfriend], then that’s a whole different discussion. And
if I ever do, then that’s something that y’all have to talk to me about
when – if – that ever happens. Until then, look at it for what it is. I
think a lot of people jumped to an assumption that was incorrect and
they ended up looking stupid.
Esquire: The assumption you were dating again?
Rihanna: Because of a song. How stupid. If I was together with every collaborator I worked with… f-ck my life.
Esquire: Still, the lyrics didn’t do much to
dispel that impression. His opening line is “Girl I want to fuck you
right now/been a long time/I’ve been missing your body”. You reply:
“Remember how you did it/If you still want to kiss it/Then come and get
it”.
Rihanna: That was the tone before he was even on the record. You think it was going to be about hopscotch or jump rope?
Esquire: So neither of you for a minute thought “This is going to put the cat among the pigeons”?
Rihanna: I could never see anything wrong with making music.
Esquire: Maybe the thing is that as an artist
your personal and private life are intertwined, and you’ve already
played on this. The first song you put out after the beating incident
was “Love the Way You Lie”, about domestic violence.
Rihanna: Absolutely. But Love The Way You Live
was me as an artist working with Eminem as an artist, telling our
stories individually. On a track together. I’m lost. I’m confused as to
what you’re trying to get at.
Esquire: That it’s hard
to separate the person who’s been the victim of domestic violence and
the pop star singing about domestic violence.
Rihanna: I know. And that’s how f-cked up
society is. There’s a lot of sh-t y’all can’t get over. Y’all holding
your breath on a lot of stuff that doesn’t matter. When you realize who
you live for, and who’s important to please, a lot of people will
actually start living. I am never going to get caught up in that. I’m
gonna look back on my life and say that I enjoyed it – and I lived it
for me- and God. This is turning into a tacky interview. What do you
really want to talk about? I’m not here to [talk] about messy sh-t.
Esquire: It’s just what’s been making the headlines recently.
Rihanna: OK! So do you want to talk about
everything on Google? Or do you want to talk about stuff that my fans
want to know? Let’s get to the real stuff. The stuff that’s important.
Esquire: What do your fans want to know?
Rihanna: You tell me, as a journalist. You’re asking the questions and I give you the answers. I can’t give the questions too.
Esquire: I’m sorry it’s upset you.
Rihanna: It hasn’t upset me. It upsets me that
you keep asking the same kind of questions about stuff that’s trivial.
What’s there to talk about? Are all your questions like that? Let’s move
onto the next one.
Esquire: It’s just that you haven’t given an interview for a while. A lot has happened.
Rihanna: You think I haven’t given an interview for a while? I did four this morning.
Esquire: Did they go any better than this?
Rihanna: We’ll see [when they come out] tomorrow
As a writer, I understand asking artists tough questions. Although
both claim they have moved on, Rihanna and Chris Brown used the “Cake”
collaboration to garner buzz and stoke the rumors that they were
reuniting.
