For now, it’s fair to say that most fans of Rihanna are still recovering from the cleverly planned and long-awaited announcement of her 8th studio album, Anti. Not even two weeks after revealing the album’s cover art and title, more good news finds itself in the hands of Rihanna’s Navy as she covers T Magazine. In another shoot that highlights the fact that less is more for the singer, the Bajan-beauty also sat down for an interview with the magazine which credits Ms. Fenty as one of “The Greats” in the world of fashion. Among a vast amount of topics, Rihanna was asked of her awareness of race now versus when she first moved to New York from Barbados 10 years ago.
I wanted to ask her about being a young black woman with power in America but it seemed somehow wrong to speak of this; maybe she was postracial now. So I directed my question to a younger Rihanna, and asked if she had suddenly felt aware of race in a different way when she moved to New York.
She hesitated, and when I nervously began to apologize, she interrupted.
‘‘You know, when I started to experience the difference — or even have my race be highlighted — it was mostly when I would do business deals.’’ Business deals. Meaning that everyone’s cool with a young black woman singing, dancing, partying and looking hot, but that when it comes time to negotiate, to broker a deal, she is suddenly made aware of her blackness. ‘‘And, you know, that never ends, by the way. It’s still a thing. And it’s the thing that makes me want to prove people wrong. It almost excites me; I know what they’re expecting and I can’t wait to show them that I’m here to exceed those expectations.’’ She sounded like a young black professional trying to make it in the corporate world, and I guessed she was — just on a very different scale.
If anything goes to show, Rihanna is more in control of her career now than ever. More importantly, these past few months have showed that Rihanna knows what she wants for herself in and outside of the music. With album number 8 on the horizon, the sky is the limit for the Pop star. Read the full cover story and catch more images from the spread, here. Also, check out a behind the scenes clip of the shoot, below.
