Rihanna is shining bright on the cover Interview.
Fresh f the launch her Fenty fashion line with LVMH, the multi-faceted icon graces the magazine’s Summer 2019 issue. In addition to modeling a white mask on the cover, the self-proclaimed “shy” gal rocks a Laquan Smith catsuit, Balenciaga coat, and Saint Laurent jacket in the high-fashion shoot, photographed by Pierre-Ange Carlotti.
She also spoke with her Ocean’s 8 co-star Sarah Paulson about new music, falling in love, and finding balance in her career and personal life.
After years non-stop work, the 31-year-old singer recently realized that it’s time to take care herself. “It’s only the last couple years that I started to realize that you need to make time for yourself, because your mental health depends on it,” she says. “If you’re not happy, you’re not going to be happy even doing things that you love doing.”
These days, she’s found happiness with her businessman boyfriend Hassan Jameel. The couple has kept their relationship private, but Rihanna admits that she’s in love (“Of course I am”) and wants to start a family.
“I got into a new relationship, and it matters to me,” she says. “It was like, ‘I need to make time for this.’ Just like I nurture my businesses, I need to nurture this as well. I’ll shut things down for two days, three days at a time. On my calendar we now have the infamous ‘P,’ which means personal days. This is a new thing.”
When asked whether she has marriage plans, Rihanna remains coy. “Only God knows that, girl. We plan and God laughs, right?” she says.
Her new schedule is part the reason why she hasn’t released an album in over three years. “It’s the reason why an album isn’t being spat out like it used to,” she explains. “I used to be in the studio, only the studio, for three months straight, and an album would come out. Now, it’s like a carousel. I do fashion one day, lingerie the next, beauty the next, then music the next. It’s like having a bunch kids and you need to take care them all.”
While she doesn’t have a release date for her ninth album, Rihanna admits that she herself is growing tired waiting to drop new music. “It really does suck that it can’t just come out, because I’m working on a really fun one right now,” she tells Paulson. “I’m really happy with a lot the material we have so far, but I am not going to put it out until it’s complete. It makes no sense to rush it, but I want it out. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m like, ‘Even if I don’t have the time to shoot videos, I’m going to put an album out.’”
But the wait may soon be over. She has plans to hit the studio to finish the reggae project. “I have blocked f a solid period time for the studio next month,” she reveals.
During the interview, she also shares the biggest misconception about herself (“People don’t know that I’m shy”) and how her faith has helped her get through some dark days.
“I have been in a place where I felt like maybe I had disappointed god so much that we weren’t as close,” she says. “Actually, that happened to me while I was making Anti. That was a really hard time, but, thank god, I got through it.”