Rihanna (15 page)

M
elissa Forde might be Rihanna’s best friend in the whole world, but Katy Perry must come a close second. Katy first burst onto the music scene in early 2008, and pretty soon afterwards she became friends with Rihanna. They would be at the same awards shows and events, and after meeting up a few times they realised they were going to become really good friends.

In April 2009 Rihanna invited Katy to go back home with her to Barbados and they had a girls’ holiday. They went out in a boat and hung around with RiRi’s friends from home. When they were in the US, Katy would invite RiRi around to her place and RiRi would do the same.  

Katy and Rihanna are great friends and don’t feel under pressure to be better than one another. They recognise that they both offer different things to their
fans, as Katy explained to
Harper’s Bazaar
: ‘We’re all unique. That’s why we all win and we all can exist. People don’t want just vanilla, they want 31 flavours. I couldn’t do what Rihanna does. I couldn’t do what Gaga does. They can’t do what I do.’

During one interview RiRi was supposed to have said: ‘I didn’t want the generic pop record that Ke$ha or Lady Gaga or Katy Perry would do – every song was tailored to me.’ Some people took this as Rihanna saying Katy just produces ‘generic pop’. However, RiRi was upset that people got the wrong impression from the quote and insisted it was taken out of context.

She told
Fabulous
magazine: ‘I didn’t say that – did you see the interview? That’s not what I said. Okay, if anything it was a diss to songwriters and producers who can’t make anything other than formula records. They’ll make a song and give it to Rihanna. If she doesn’t take it, they’ll give it to Katy, and if Katy doesn’t take it, they’ll give it to Gaga. That’s not what we want. We like songs that scream our individuality. We like records that speak for who we are as artists and that are tailored to us.’

Rihanna and Katy have always looked out for one another when it comes to dating, and when Katy started to go out with British comedian and actor Russell Brand in September 2009, Rihanna wasn’t too keen. She changed her mind, though, and was happy for two of them when they got engaged, three months later.

Rihanna confessed all to AOL when asked whether she thought Russell Brand was ‘husband material’ for Katy when she met him for the first time. She replied: ‘He’s funny. He’s crazy. But it took a while for the penny to drop – “Duh! Russell and Katy are the perfect people for each other!” I first met him when he was interviewing me on TV. I was sick and it was the worst interview I have ever done. I was throwing up in a bucket and a doctor gave me a shot in my butt. Nothing was funny to me. Why am I talking to this idiot? He made me want to throw up again. This is a stupid interview. Then we did another interview
on MTV and I realised he was funny. I was probably a complete bitch, but only months afterwards did I get it.’

Rihanna was very excited about organising Katy’s bachelorette party, and she thought Las Vegas was the perfect place to hold it. On 18 September 2010, RiRi and twenty or so of Katy’s closest friends travelled to Las Vegas. They hung out in the VIP area of the Hard Rock Hotel’s Beach Club pool, enjoying a bit of sunbathing while drinking champagne and beer, before the party started properly in the evening. Katy knew that Rihanna had planned a mad night, tweeting, ‘Signing up for a liver transplant now.’

Once changed into their party minidresses, they all jumped into a huge Hummer and headed off to see the Cirque du Soleil perform their KÀ show. After being captivated by the skill of the acrobats, RiRi and Katy posed for photos with some of the performers, before moving on to the Italian restaurant Ago. The group then spent some time in the XS nightclub, before finishing the night in the Sapphire strip club.

Rihanna was glad that Katy had an amazing time, and admitted to
Q Magazine
: ‘It was the first time I’d ever been in charge of a bachelorette party and it was a blast. We all flew to Las Vegas on a plane together, and went straight to the pool and drank. The goodie bags had a champagne glass and a hangover pill in them. Then we went to a Cirque du Soleil show, then to the strip club and to the tables for gambling.’

Days after returning from Las Vegas, she managed to
surprise her boyfriend Matt with a birthday party, held at a go-karting track in Los Angeles. She also attended another get-together for him at Drai’s nightclub in Hollywood, on the night before his actual 26th birthday. Rihanna didn’t look too happy as she was snapped going into the club, but that might have had more to do with the paparazzi hassling her than Matt. She wore an unusual black and white
long-sleeved
dress by designer Emilio Pucci.

Rihanna’s next single was ‘Only Girl (In the World)’, and it was released in September 2010, two months before the album
Loud
came out. It was written by Stargate, Crystal Johnson and Sandy Vee, and was the lead track from
Loud
.

‘Only Girl (In the World)’ became Rihanna’s ninth No. 1 in the US and also topped the charts in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Belgium, Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Norway, New Zealand and Slovakia. It also won the Best Dance Recording award at the 2011 Grammys.

Rihanna admitted that she stretched herself for ‘Only Girl (In the World)’, and to make sure that she could get the big vocals right, she rested her voice on the days leading up to recording. She struggled with the insects and snakes in the areas where they filmed the video, but she knew the finished product would look beautiful.

The video was directed by Anthony Mandler, who has directed lots of Rihanna’s videos, although he wasn’t automatically appointed: he had to pitch for the job and went up against a few other top directors. Rihanna had sent them all some image and video references to give them an
idea of what she wanted, and they then had to send her their story ideas for the video. When she looked through them, she felt that some of the concepts were too false and didn’t work well, but she thought that Anthony’s idea was spot-on. He had just picked out a mixture of nine old and new photos and sent them to her, and she knew that he understood what she was trying to achieve.

Rihanna told JustJared: ‘It’s really, really beautifully shot in these crazy, crazy, crazy places. We shot landscapes that we found a couple hours outside of L.A. It looks so unreal. It looks fake, like something out of a postcard with the beautiful hills. We had a lot of sunshine those couple of days, so it really worked with the whole essence of the video. But really, the video just shows this big landscape and the only person there is me.’

As well as having scenes of just Rihanna singing in beautiful landscapes, Anthony filmed her on a giant swing, lying in wild flowers and also surrounded by giant balloons.

Rihanna divulged to JustJared.com: ‘We did this one really, really cool shot where they put me up [in harnesses]. I was suspended in the air on a swing that was just feet, feet, feet, feet high. It was crazy. They held me up on a crane, suspended in the air on top of a hill over a cliff. We just swung back and forth. It was
really
scary but it was fun!’

Fans loved seeing Rihanna looking so happy and carefree, and critics noted how girly it was, compared with the videos for her previous tracks, ‘Hard’ and ‘Rockstar 101’.

When Katy Perry married Russell Brand on 23 October
2010 in a lavish ceremony in India, her best friend was nowhere to be seen. More than anything, Rihanna had wanted to be there, but she wasn’t able to attend for a number of reasons. It is thought she spent the whole weekend stuck in a studio recording for her next album.

In the weeks that followed Rihanna was asked how it felt to miss Katy’s big day and she would always reply honestly. She told Ryan Seacrest on LA’s KIIS-FM: ‘I will never, ever forgive myself for that – it was a crazy time, it was a crazy week, I’m switching management.

‘There was no phone service in India and very little-
to-no
internet service, so it would have been a little irresponsible of me. I’m sad that I missed it.’

It is thought that she bought Katy and Russell a unique present worth thousands of pounds: an all-expenses paid trip to Tokyo!

The
Sun
reported that Rihanna’s gift was two first-class tickets to Tokyo with four nights at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental hotel in a £1,500-a-night suite. She herself was keeping the present a secret and told reporters that her present was really cool but she was going to let Katy spill the beans, although it sounds like someone else beat her to it.

In the weeks that followed, Katy kept getting asked how she felt about Rihanna not being there, and she had to insist their friendship was still as strong as ever.

Katy told
Now
magazine: ‘I was upset she couldn’t make it, but let me promise you, there was no one more upset about it than her. When you have an album coming out, you
don’t have a spare second in the day and you’re answerable to the record company.

‘She felt really bad she couldn’t be there, but we’re still the very best of friends. My girl organised the best bachelorette party ever and I’ll always love her to bits. It was just one of those really unfortunate things.’

After Katy and Russell tied the knot, lots of people started to ask when Rihanna and Matt would be walking down the aisle. Even Katy was trying to encourage her, as Rihanna explained to MTV: ‘Katy thinks I should get married now, but she needs to calm down on that one. I mean, one day, but not just yet – we’re having too much fun.’

She was also asked when she planned on having her own mini RiRis, but she doesn’t know. ‘I don’t really plan on the age. It could be a year from now, it could be ten years from now. Whenever is right,’ she explained to
Interview
. ‘I mean, I have a lot of other stuff to accomplish before I get to kids. Whenever the time is right, I’ll just know.’

In another interview she said she believes that a child ‘deserves both parents.’ She told
Interview
magazine: ‘I’m just saying that whatever comes my way I’ll be able to handle it, but in a perfect book, there would be marriage and kids.’

If she could, she’d love to bring up any children she has in the future in Barbados, but she knows that this won’t be possible if she wants to remain a recording artist; she needs to live in the US. It is a shame, because if she lived in Barbados she would have her mum, her aunts and cousins
on hand to help her. If she does have kids in the future, she probably will need nannies to help, because her family live so far away. Maybe having a family will encourage RiRi to slow down and take longer breaks between albums.

RiRi doesn’t seem to have any preference as to whether her future kids are girls or boys, but she thinks that if she had a daughter, she’d probably end up with a rebellious one, to teach her a lesson after being a bit of a handful when she herself was growing up!

Just weeks after she missed out on Katy’s wedding, Rihanna decided to create her own company called Rihanna Entertainment. Lots of big stars do this once they are established, so they can have more control and a bigger share of the profits. Rihanna’s new company controls her music, movies, perfumes, future fashion lines, books, advertising and any other business venture she is involved in.

She also decided to change managers and would no longer be working with Marc Jordan and Rebel One Management. Instead, she would be managed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Management. In a statement, she told The Associated Press that she was ‘so excited to take this next step in my career.’

Fans had guessed this was on the cards, because she had said she was going to change management after she had to miss Katy and Russell’s big day. Of course, she would never be able to get that occasion back, but at least this might stop something similar from happening in the future.

After settling into her new business role, Rihanna was
pleased with the progress she had made. While promoting
Loud
, she spoke to MTV about how she was feeling. There was, she said: ‘A lot of growing up, a lot of responsibility in terms of taking control of my business and stuff like that.

‘It feels so good, because the closer you are to your business, the clearer you are about a lot of things. And that responsibility doesn’t feel like a burden. So I feel really good.’

In another interview with
USA Today
, she admitted that she had made sure she was 100 per cent ready to handle her own business affairs before she set up Rihanna Entertainment. She said: ‘You can’t have too much responsibility without being able to handle it in a responsible way, so I just waited until the time was right. It was now. Business is something I need to be a lot more serious about. I feel, like, really old doing it. It has made me grow up.’

She was also happy because of her relationship with Matt Kemp, and told
Marie Claire
magazine: ‘I feel like I smile for real this time. The smiles come from inside, and it exudes in everything I do. People feel my energy is different. When I smile they can tell that it’s pure bliss and not just a cover-up.

‘The most important thing is to be happy and true to yourself. I don’t want to look back at this 30 years from now and say, “I did it all to make them happy and I didn’t enjoy it.” I want to be able to say people loved me because of who I am.’