Rihanna Opens Up About Life as a Mom with Her Baby Son: ‘It Just Got Better with Him’
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Raising a baby might be “Work,” but Rihanna is up for the challenge!
The music superstar and Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show performer, 34, caught up with retired NFL player and host Nate Burleson on the inaugural episode of his podcast, The Process with Nate Burleson, where she was asked about her upcoming performance and life as a mother.
“I’m living for my son,” Rihanna said on the iHeart/NFL podcast. “Everything matters now. You really start to take a lot into account.”
“Skydiving?! You really think about stuff like that — it’s not worth it,” she added.”Everything is different, life before my son seems very obscure. It’s very small and cloudy, it just got better with him.”
Rihanna, who welcomed her first child with A$AP Rocky back in May 2022, also noted that raising their baby boy has been a bit of a challenge — but a rewarding one at that. “It’s so much hard work, but nothing is more fulfilling than that,” she explained.
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Rocky, 34, and Rihanna have been open about parenting in recent months, as the singer previously told Entertainment Tonight at the premiere of Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4 that her son was an “amazing” and “happy” baby.
“Oh my God, the mornings, like, seeing his morning face,” she said of her favorite aspects of motherhood. “Seeing a baby with, like, little bags and waking up and they’re just, like, startled. They’re trying to figure out where they’re at. It’s the cutest, it’s my favorite part of the day.”
Rihanna waited until December 2022 to share the first video of the then-seven-month-old baby boy. At the time, the singer posted a cute clip on TikTok of the little one wiggling around in his car seat. The pair have yet to share their son’s name publicly, but in November 2022, Rihanna told the Associated Press that they’d eventually do so.
“We just didn’t get around to it yet really,” she told the outlet. “We’ve just been living. But I guess there’s a certain freedom that comes with kind of just, like, getting it out there.”
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Outside of parenting, the last several months have been big for Rihanna given her comeback performance this weekend at the Super Bowl. The Sunday event, taking place in the middle of the match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, will mark the singer’s first live performance since the 2018 Grammy Awards.
During a press conference held on Thursday by Apple Music, the Barbados-born musician talked about preparing for the high-profile gig at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world,” Rihanna said. “You can do anything, and the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world. So, as scary as that was… there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all, and it’s important for me to do this year. It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see that.”
The “Diamonds” singer also explained what it was like to prepare her body for the performance less than a year after giving birth. “The physical challenge has definitely been immense for many reasons, of course. I haven’t done this in a minute. You’re just running around for 13 minutes, trying to put a 2-hour set in 13 minutes, and you’re gonna see on Sunday,” Rihanna said. “From the time it starts, it just never ends until it’s the very last second. … It’s a jam-packed show, and it takes a toll on your body, it really does.”
Rihanna’s fans have been wondering when the star will release her next project, as it’s been over seven years since she shared her most recent LP, Anti. As she explained at the press conference, she’s just ready to have some fun.
“Musically, I’m feeling open. I’m feeling open to exploring, discovering [and] creating things that are new, things that are different, things that are off, weird, might never make sense to my fans,” she teased. “I just want to play. I just want to have fun with music.”
Fans around the world are rooting for Rihanna ahead of the halftime gig, including fellow singer Jordin Sparks. The musician told PEOPLE at the second annual Cash App & Visa h.wood Homecoming pop-up experience over the weekend that she was excited for Rihanna to take “the biggest stage ever” as a new mom.
“It’s a big deal … I really, really want her to have the best show,” Sparks, 33, said. “I’ve been sending so much good energy to her since I heard she was doing it, ’cause after I had my first son, I was nervous to get back out onstage.”
“I’m so excited,” the singer, who announced she’ll serve as the Super Bowl LVII in-stadium host, added. “I’ve actually never seen her perform live, so I’m really, really grateful to be working the game. I’ll be right there on the field to be able to watch her. It’s an honor.”
Read the original article on People