Rihanna’s tired of talking about Chris Brown!
It’s been three years since her infamous fight with Chris Brown before the 2009 Grammys, but Rihanna is still getting asked about her former flame. This year alone, the pair have been linked up in a number of rumours that they could be rekindling a romance, but Rihanna and Chris really got people talking by releasing two songs together.
When a reporter at Esquire asked about remixes for “Birthday Cake” and “Turn Up the Music,” Rihanna got annoyed and the interview took a turn for the worse. “Some love it; some hate it. Some love it but hate that we did it, but the response, in the end, has been incredible,” Rihanna said of reactions to the songs.
“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,” she added. “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.”
The interviewer then suggested that perhaps Rihanna received a bit of backlash from the songs because “some people felt it sent the wrong message.” The reporter even pointed out that doing the songs fueled rumours that she and Chris were hooking up again and that she’s more or less gone back to the man that beat her up years ago.
That’s when Rihanna got angry and asked: “Oh really? Did I? Did I? Did I?”
Rihanna then said, “This is turning into a tacky interview. What do you really want to talk about? I’m not here to [talk] about messy shit.”
Here’s a transcript of the interview:
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
