INTERVIEW: Rihanna opens up about her new album and domestic violence
After months in hiding pop star Rihanna has finally broken her silence, opening up to Glamour Magazine about everything from her new album Rated R to her drastic image change and her thoughts on domestic violence. Check it out below.
On her new album Rated R:
I was involved in a lot of the writing. I put everything I’ve wanted to say for the past eight months into my music. The songs are really personal. It’s rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s really hip-hop: If Lil’ Wayne and Kings of Leon like my album, then I’ll feel good. I would not change anything about it. Even if people don’t love it, I made exactly the piece of art that I wanted to make. It’s super fearless—which is exactly how I feel right now. I am in a really good place.
I have grown up a lot since my last album. It [represents] exactly where I am at right now.
On domestic Violence:
Domestic violence is a big secret. No kid goes around and lets people know their parents fight. Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beat them up. You don’t dare let your neighbor know that you fight. It’s one of the things we [women] will hide, because it’s embarrassing. My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and they have followed every step of my recovery. The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn’t heard. Now I can help speak for those women.
Her Image Change:
In the first two years of my career, there were a lot of restraints on what I could do. I couldn’t wear certain colors of lipstick, like bright pink, dark pink or red; [my lips] had to be natural. Eventually, I stopped communicating with certain people at the label, and did exactly what I wanted to do. And that was to cut my hair, dye it black, change my clothes, change my sound. Really to just express myself.
So there you have it. It’s nice to see that she’s proud of her new album, though I have to admit that I’m still not impressed and I’m already sick of “Hard” and that only leaked this morning. It could be a grower though because I didn’t think Good Girl Gone Bad was all that at first either and then I ended up loving it.
I also don’t believe what she’s saying about the image change being her idea. So much goes into image stuff with labels, it’s literally big board meetings with people honing and crafting an image to carry an album. She probably helped pick some songs on her album but her labels A&R wouldn’t have submitted demos to her that they didn’t want recorded.
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