‘My Body Is Doing Incredible Things Now’

Rihanna bears it all on the current cover of Vogue magazine, where the singer styles a series of high-fashion looks while prominently displaying the world’s most famous fetus. In an interview with Vogue.com editor Chioma Nnadi, RihRih sat for a series of pics by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz as she broke down what it’s been like to share her blessed news, and bump, with the whole world over the past few months.

“I’m hoping that we were able to redefine what’s considered ‘decent’ for pregnant women,” said Rihanna, who gives a serious look on the mag’s cover, where she sports a body-hugging fire engine red floral patterned Alaïa bodysuit, with matching gloves and shoes for the chat that took place in Paris. “My body is doing incredible things right now, and I’m not going to be ashamed of that. This time should feel celebratory. Because why should you be hiding your pregnancy?”

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She, of course, shows up to the interview in four-inch stiletto heels and tells Nnadi that “as much as it’s happening, it’s also not happening,” patting her belly and adding, “Sometimes I’ll walk past my reflection and be like, ‘Oh s–t!” It’s definitely happening and the singer and boyfriend A$AP Rocky could be parents any day now, though Rihanna said she had no intention of doing things the old-fashioned way.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I thought to myself, There’s no way I’m going to go shopping in no maternity aisle,’” she said in a nod to the series of envelope-pushing maternity looks she’s worn in public outings over the past month. “I’m sorry—it’s too much fun to get dressed up. I’m not going to let that part disappear because my body is changing.”

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She proves her determination in other snaps in the Vogue spread, where she rocks a billowing white Marc Jacobs puffer coat, just a necklace and earrings while floating in a bubble bath, a regal red Rick Owens cropped jacket and long skirt and a gauzy, dark green Jean Paul Gaultier couture by Glenn Martens dress, that, of course, prominently displays her belly. As for that usual third tri staple, maternity jeans, get out of here she said, rolling her eyes.

“I know he loses sleep over it because my measurements can literally change from hour to hour,” she says of her stylist while explaining that if it’s not something she would have worn before she was pregnant there’s not way she’s wearing it now. “In fact I’m sure he’s going to ask for a raise after this!”

Some things you can’t change, though, such as pregnancy cravings, which in Rihanna’s case includes a sudden jones for desserts, which she used to avoid. Now though, get anywhere near her with a chocolate-covered donut and “you’ve got my heart forever,” the 34-year-old singer said, adding that her other cravings include tangerines sprinkled with salt.

She also opened up for one of the first times about her relationship with longtime friend Rocky, who did one of the things she thinks is hardest to do: get out of the friend zone. “I certainly took a while to get over how much I know him and how much he knows me, because we also know how much trouble we can land each other in,” she said, noting that it’s not like they weren’t trying to get pregnant. “I wouldn’t say planning. But certainly not planning against it. I don’t know when I ovulate or any of that type of s–t,” she said. “We just had fun. And then it was just there on the test. I didn’t waste any time. I called him inside and showed him. Then I was in the doctor’s office the next morning and our journey began.”

At another point, she refers to the equally fashion-forward rapper as the perfect style twin, describing their edgy choices as like “iron sharpening iron.” She also revealed the moment that things may have started for the couple, after Rocky joined her for a performance of “Cockiness” at the 2021 MTV VMAs, where, she said, “he grabbed my ass on stage! That was not part of the rehearsal!”

While her team braced for the potential fall-out from the unsanctioned move, Rihanna let it slide. “My manager was like, ‘Oh, God, she must like this guy a little bit,’” she recalled. “She never lets this s–t slide.’” Then, during the COVID lockdown, she said Rocky became like “my family,” in part because of an epic road trip they took in the summer of 2020 from Los Angeles to New York on a tour bus.

“I cooked our food on this little janky grill I bought from Walmart. I still have it, too. It works like nobody’s business,” she said of their journey, during which they’d park and RihRigh would grill barefoot while Rocky tie-dyed shirts he bought at gas stations. “I love the simple things but also the grand adventures. There’s no pretentious my-brand-your-brand bulls–t, it’s just us living. I just feel like I can do any part of life by his side.”

When the couple traveled to her native Barbados for the holidays, Rihanna said Rocky met the fam and he cracked the toughest nut: her mom. “My mother has a really good read on people. She observes first and then she’ll move slowly. I guess I’m like that too,” she said. “There are some guys that I’ve dated that she won’t even look at to this day. But she was charmed by him from the jump.”

And though she always thought she’d get married first and then have a baby, she’s embracing the way she’s doing things, saying, “who the f–k says it has to be that way? I’m certainly not gonna let that get in the way of me being a mom.” She’s also re-thinking where she wants to live, revealing that she’d love to raise the child in Barbados if possible, though, “realistically it probably won’t be [there].”

She is, of course, not only a fashion, make-up mogul and Forbes billionaire list honoree, but a musician whose Navy have been eagerly awaiting the follow-up to 2016’s Anti-. The good new is she’s thinking about it, but details are still pretty thin. “I’m looking at my next project completely differently from the way I had wanted to put it out before,” she said cryptically. “I think this way suits me better, a lot better. It’s authentic, it’ll be fun for me, and it takes a lot of the pressure off.”

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