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Weekend Candids

It was a couples filled weekend with Rihanna hitting up the L.A. set of her beau Chris Brown's new movie Bone Deep: And John Legend was spotted spending some money on his girlfriend Christine in Soho: Cuteness. More pics of Chrihanna, Denzel and son, and Baby when you read the rest... She hit up the set another day this weekend as well.  Looking laid back and fab. Well look who decided to pop up: Where have you been Baby?    Probably gots nothing to do now that Weezy is supposedly engaged to Nivea...again. And Denzel Washington was spotted on the sidelines of the USC football game with his son Malcolm watching the game: Awww.  Nice to see quality time loving dads in Hollywood.  Doesn't hurt that this man is still sexy as all get out no matter what he wears...
Wenn/Splash News/Rihannadaily.com
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Hottnesssss!!!!

Hottnesssss!!!!
yolanda's picture

First!!!

First!!!
angeee's picture

yolanda, you beat me to it

yolanda, you beat me to it :-(
angeee's picture

Why does Rhianna need two

Why does Rhianna need two scarves in LA? It is not that cold.
Melodia's picture

I thought Nivea was married

I thought Nivea was married to the Dream. Damn I am late.
Melodia's picture

its nice to at least be in

its nice to at least be in the top ten sometimes dang...everyone looked cute too.
chocgyrlwonda's picture

First off Chris Brown in a

First off Chris Brown in a movie called "Bone Deep" sounds like a gay porno flick! John Legend you aint fooling anyone we all know you're gay, so get a hairline and lets keep it moving.
GMicahel's picture

GMicahel On Sep 14, 2008 at

GMicahel On Sep 14, 2008 at 7:08 pm | Reply | Quote First off Chris Brown in a movie called “Bone Deep” sounds like a gay porno flick! John Legend you aint fooling anyone we all know you’re gay, so get a hairline and lets keep it moving. LMBOOOOOOOOOO...... Rihanna'S friend wig look horrible!!!
KAYLA's picture

Rhianna Looks nice love her

Rhianna Looks nice love her style
NinaGirl's picture

omg WHAT are rihanna's boots

omg WHAT are rihanna's boots (in pic 3) i need a name peoples plz!!! LOVE the black celeb fam pics SO CUTE!!! POST MORE!!!
i'm so jaded's picture

Rihanna looks like hell. I

Rihanna looks like hell. I need her to get some sleep. And why does her "best friend" Melissa look like a man with a wig on in that first pic? Baby/Weezy and Nivea/Johnny Boy and beard...NEXT Denzel and son are cute. It's good too see black men raising their children (sons especially)
Southern Queen Dee's picture

Rih Rih looks fabulous all

Rih Rih looks fabulous all day every day.......
Foxy's picture

Why you look so salty Ri?

Why you look so salty Ri?
Alana's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204053"]GMicahel On Sep 14, 2008 at 7:08 pm | Reply | Quote First off Chris Brown in a movie called “Bone Deep” sounds like a gay porno flick! John Legend you aint fooling anyone we all know you’re gay, so get a hairline and lets keep it moving. LMBOOOOOOOOOO...... Rihanna'S friend wig look horrible!!![/quote] I think it's a man. Look at the mustache. LOL
Melodia's picture

that ungoodlooking grown

that ungoodlooking grown person that likes to be referred to a name that usually implies infant or loved one just ruined my celebrity oogling. boooo!
i'm so jaded's picture

[quote comment="204046"]Why

[quote comment="204046"]Why does Rhianna need two scarves in LA? It is not that cold.[/quote] I thought it was one scarf with 2 prints...my eyes are bad!
Southern Queen Dee's picture

that isnt john david..its his

that isnt john david..its his youngest son malcolm...
katie's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204064"][quote comment="204046"]Why does Rhianna need two scarves in LA? It is not that cold.[/quote] I thought it was one scarf with 2 prints...my eyes are bad![/quote] Where are your glasses? LOL
Melodia's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204057"]Rihanna looks like hell. I need her to get some sleep. And why does her "best friend" Melissa look like a man with a wig on in that first pic? Baby/Weezy and Nivea/Johnny Boy and beard...NEXT Denzel and son are cute. It's good too see black men raising their children (sons especially)[/quote] how dare you!! did you see her in pictures 3 and 4? so baby!! and black men loving and raising their children is really not that uncommon, stop bigging them up for doing what they're supposed to do!!
i'm so jaded's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204071"][quote comment="204057"]Rihanna looks like hell. I need her to get some sleep. And why does her "best friend" Melissa look like a man with a wig on in that first pic? Baby/Weezy and Nivea/Johnny Boy and beard...NEXT Denzel and son are cute. It's good too see black men raising their children (sons especially)[/quote] how dare you!! did you see her in pictures 3 and 4? so baby!! and black men loving and raising their children is really not that uncommon, stop bigging them up for doing what they're supposed to do!![/quote] Thank you. Men always want a damn cookie. " I take care of my kids". You're supposed to dumb ass.
Melodia's picture

I hate whe ppl wanna wear

I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.
Nana's picture

Bon Deep? Interesting

Bon Deep? Interesting title....lol I am not feeling thise 1980's jeans on Rihanna...why is that trend coming back? UGH SMH @ Baby's messed up tatted up face..can't imagine why he assumed that was cute..... Dammit Denzel you are still sexy
Chelly's Two Cents's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204078"][quote comment="204071"][quote comment="204057"]Rihanna looks like hell. I need her to get some sleep. And why does her "best friend" Melissa look like a man with a wig on in that first pic? Baby/Weezy and Nivea/Johnny Boy and beard...NEXT Denzel and son are cute. It's good too see black men raising their children (sons especially)[/quote] how dare you!! did you see her in pictures 3 and 4? so baby!! and black men loving and raising their children is really not that uncommon, stop bigging them up for doing what they're supposed to do!![/quote] Thank you. Men always want a damn cookie. " I take care of my kids". You're supposed to dumb ass.[/quote] Lol true. Its great he is taking care of his kid, but its sad we have to highlight it like its a unicorn or some shit. anygay. Rih Rih...its mad effin hot. and u got on boots and scarves and hats and shit, but your boo do look cute though. Hey Chris! as for your friend...i'd look salty too if i were toting around a man thing with me in a ferocious wig! i mean damn.. John.. u mad gay. and your "GF" knows it too. ehh
chinkii™'s picture

Sorry Rih Rih, I know its hot

Sorry Rih Rih, I know its hot over there in LA cuz it damn sure is HOT in NY...
VOGUE's picture

[quote comment="204052"]First

[quote comment="204052"]First off Chris Brown in a movie called "Bone Deep" sounds like a gay porno flick! John Legend you aint fooling anyone we all know you're gay, so get a hairline and lets keep it moving.[/quote] The hairline part of your comment is killing me.
BuscemiFan's picture

[quote comment="204083"]I

[quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.
Melodia's picture

RIH-RIH is my GIRL!!!!! GOD

RIH-RIH is my GIRL!!!!! GOD BLESS DENZEL!!!
THE BEST's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204092"][quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.[/quote] Or would she be the wing woman?
Melodia's picture

Bone Deep..haha, that sounds

Bone Deep..haha, that sounds real nasty..i wont go there why is Chris Brown's mouth always open? please explain John Legend and his boo..loves it. Baby looks mad old..
Cheeseburger on White Bread's picture

From the looks of how sexy

From the looks of how sexy Chris looks in that pic, he can bone me deep.....sorry guys, I had to take it there!
The Hostile One's picture

[quote comment="204113"]From

[quote comment="204113"]From the looks of how sexy Chris looks in that pic, he can bone me deep.....sorry guys, I had to take it there![/quote] LMAO! I should be ashamed, but I second that...
VOGUE's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204092"][quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.[/quote] You ain't neva lied. I heard she's getting paid a pretty hefty 'beard' fee.
TA's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204116"][quote comment="204113"]From the looks of how sexy Chris looks in that pic, he can bone me deep.....sorry guys, I had to take it there![/quote] LMAO! I should be ashamed, but I second that...[/quote] you two are nasty. LOL my kind of people.
Melodia's picture

LOL @ the man look alike in

LOL @ the man look alike in the first pic. What in the world. Rihanna...it is wayyy to hot for that. I live in VA and it was terribly hot here. Now if this was a Fall/Winter ad campaign then yes. Visiting your man then. No. lol I wonder how the Bone Deep movie will be. It's always good to see Denzel! Can't wait to see whatever his next project will be.
jlovely's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204117"][quote comment="204092"][quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.[/quote] You ain't neva lied. I heard she's getting paid a pretty hefty 'beard' fee.[/quote] I need to find a rich closet gay dude. I can't knock her hustle. Maybe I can advertise online. LOL
Melodia's picture

Rhiana got that boy whipped

Rhiana got that boy whipped
MisterReview COM's picture

[quote comment="204131"]LOL @

[quote comment="204131"]LOL @ the man look alike in the first pic. What in the world. Rihanna...it is wayyy to hot for that. I live in VA and it was terribly hot here. Now if this was a Fall/Winter ad campaign then yes. Visiting your man then. No. lol I wonder how the Bone Deep movie will be. It's always good to see Denzel! Can't wait to see whatever his next project will be.[/quote] That's Dave Chapelle in a wig.LOL
Melodia's picture

is it just me or does CB look

is it just me or does CB look like will smith in Bad Boys 2? lmao why IS his mouth always open?
Alexa's picture

That thang with rihanna is a

That thang with rihanna is a straight up and down MESS!! Oh course RiRi is lookin good she's chillin and seem to always be eating. But yet have a banging body...What if she's prego lol that would be crazy. Go Chris breezy getting that paper. And baby why that tattoo? Not a good look. And Weezy love him some Nivea hopefully things work out this time. I like them together.
BrooklynGirl's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204133"]Rhiana got that boy whipped[/quote] LOL I TOTALLY AGREE.. GET HIM RIRI
BrooklynGirl's picture

rihanna looks so mad its

rihanna looks so mad its almost scary.. and yall hater bitches are just calling John gay cuz he aint with a real black woman
Mila T's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204132"][quote comment="204117"][quote comment="204092"][quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.[/quote] You ain't neva lied. I heard she's getting paid a pretty hefty 'beard' fee.[/quote] I need to find a rich closet gay dude. I can't knock her hustle. Maybe I can advertise online. LOL[/quote] There are agencies out there in place just for that purpose...........to beard for rappers, actors, sports stars & R& singers. If the 'beard' becomes pregnant by the celeb, of course she is paid much more.
TA's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204146"][quote comment="204132"][quote comment="204117"][quote comment="204092"][quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.[/quote] You ain't neva lied. I heard she's getting paid a pretty hefty 'beard' fee.[/quote] I need to find a rich closet gay dude. I can't knock her hustle. Maybe I can advertise online. LOL[/quote] There are agencies out there in place just for that purpose...........to beard for rappers, actors, sports stars & R& singers. If the 'beard' becomes pregnant by the celeb, of course she is paid much more.[/quote] GET OUT!
Melodia's picture

chris know he fine

chris know he fine
boogiedown85's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204146"][quote comment="204132"][quote comment="204117"][quote comment="204092"][quote comment="204083"]I hate whe ppl wanna wear their fall/winter clothes on the first day of school but I guess it applies everywhere else. Its LA rih rih I would be lookin' salty too and SWEATY. John Legend's "GF" looks like a best friend who's doing him a favor until he's comfortable to come out the closet.[/quote] That is funny. Mayne she helps him pick up men. LOL You know, the decoy.[/quote] You ain't neva lied. I heard she's getting paid a pretty hefty 'beard' fee.[/quote] I need to find a rich closet gay dude. I can't knock her hustle. Maybe I can advertise online. LOL[/quote] There are agencies out there in place just for that purpose...........to beard for rappers, actors, sports stars & R& singers. If the 'beard' becomes pregnant by the celeb, of course she is paid much more.[/quote] I just looked up some agencies. OMG!
Melodia's picture

God knows I am happy for our

God knows I am happy for our girl RiRi, but is this chick homeless? She roams around day and night from shop to restaurant to shop to restaurant. She's worst than Brittany before she was properly medicated. Not a day goes by without this chick stumbling upon a camera just roaming about doing nothing in particular. Why not enroll in some classes during breaks? Get an education. Take music or singing or dancing lessons. The money is not gonna roll in forever, and relationships with rich men or any sugar daddy only lasts for so long. Even Beyonce has given our eyes a brief...very brief...very very brief...rest from seeing her everywhere all the time. Maybe she can share some tips with Ri before 'mediawhore' is added to her resume. Dang!
Charden-Register to Vote!'s picture

Rihanna’s had the biggest

Rihanna’s had the biggest single of the decade, sold ten million albums and is still only 20. Is there such a thing as too much, too young? Live met her balancing on a balcony ledge in Barcelona to find out. For a girl whose legs alone are insured for $1 million, Rihanna doesn’t seem to mind taking risks. She breezes into the photo studio, grabs a packet of cheese puffs and heads straight for the roof terrace, where she positions herself precariously on the slender balcony ledge, taking in the incredible views of the Pyrenees mountains, the Mediterranean and the city of Barcelona. Reaching for another handful of nibbles, she momentarily loses her balance. For a split second, the entire studio holds its collective breath as she wobbles on the ledge – it seems she’s destined to fall four storeys onto the ancient cobblestones of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. When she slides confidently off the ledge the sense of relief in the studio is palpable. Yet none of the record-company entourage dare to say anything to their pop star about her near brush with death. She may be only 20, but when you’ve sold close to ten million albums no one tells you what to do any more. In lieu of any explanation she tells me, ‘I’m feeling frisky and risqué’. (Click full story to view the full article) It’s probably no coincidence that Rihanna’s transformation from cute pop puppet to independently minded R&B sex siren has coincided with a massive upsurge in her global popularity. Up to and immediately after the release of her second album, 2006’s A Girl Like Me, there was a suspicion that she was too lightweight an artist to last the course. True, she was in the habit of delivering irresistibly catchy singles such as Pon De Replay and SOS. But it was common knowledge that her strings were being pulled by Jay-Z’s Def Jam label. In late 2006, she first gave notice that she was about to take charge. ‘I was in Paris and I fancied a change of hairstyle,’ she says. ‘I had my long locks cut off and came away with this cute bob that I was really happy with. ‘Someone from the record company saw me and said, “It looks nice, but it’s not you. We’ll have to put extensions in.” ” I was completely crushed. I was an 18-year-old trying to figure out who I was and someone was telling me that they would be the best judge of that. That’s when I realised things had to change.’ In May 2007 she released the single Umbrella. On the record she sounded tougher and edgier – and the accompanying video, complete with leather-clad dance routines, revealed that she had left her teen image behind. Umbrella shot to the top of the charts across the world, spending a record-breaking ten weeks at number one in the UK. It would go on to sell eight million copies worldwide. The follow-up album Good Girl Gone Bad shifted around five million copies and yielded a total of seven hit singles. If Rihanna was daunted by her sudden elevation to superstar status, she didn’t show it. On the contrary, she began to appear far more at ease. In the past, she’d been entirely unforthcoming on the subject of her childhood. Now she started to open up about the experience of growing up in Barbados with a father who was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine. ‘I wasn’t trying to hide anything before,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t ready for the world to know that stuff. ‘My dad was part of that Sixties generation who took drugs as a matter of course. He was a proper hippy. Big Afro, bell-bottoms, that kind of look. A real party dude. But his partying got way out of hand, spiralled out of control. ‘My dad left home when I was nine, so I was really young when I was living with his addictions. I didn’t understand exactly what was going on, but I knew he was doing something he shouldn’t be doing. ‘Even when I started to understand, I looked up to my dad so much that I couldn’t put him and this negative thing together. At the time there was no way I could help him out of it. ‘It was only in my teenage years that I started to get angry at him, maybe even hated him. Because I started to realise that no child should have to experience what I’d been through.’ Though she’s softly spoken as a rule, talking in a fluttery Barbadian accent, her voice becomes noticeably louder and more strident when discussing her childhood. She’s clearly proud of the way she took on adult responsibilities from an early age. I never went over the top. I wasn’t in Amy Winehouse mode‘ I was raised to be a child and know my place, but also to think like a woman. My father’s life was fairly chaotic and, partly because of his drug problems, there was never much money. My mum worked as an accountant and a lot of the time I was left in charge of my younger brothers. It didn’t feel like a burden. It was just reality. ‘When I was 13 I joined the cadets, and we’d regularly go off on these weekend expeditions. There was a lot of discipline involved with that. Our uniforms had to be spick and span, our boots had to shine like diamonds and we’d often need to cook for the entire camp. ‘Also, we learned to shoot pistols, which was the best part of it. I was a good shot, although I couldn’t kill a fly from a hundred paces.’ But the young Rihanna – born Robyn Rihanna Fenty – did have her own rebellious phase. When she was 14 she formed her first band with a couple of classmates – and at the same time developed a fondness for the party life. ‘I’d go out and get drunk, but that’s what teenage girls do in Barbados,’ she says. ‘The country’s pretty laid-back about the legal age for drinking. But I never went too over the top. ‘I wasn’t exactly in Amy Winehouse mode. I’d seen what alcohol and drugs had done to my dad and I wasn’t going to follow in his footsteps. I knew my limits when I was a kid and I still do. ‘If I go to a club, I go for the sounds. I go out to have fun, to dance and laugh at people fighting or dressed like whores. I might have a few drinks, but I don’t get tipsy too easily. I don’t ever get to the point where I want to throw up, can’t stand up straight or say things I’m likely to regret in the morning.’ She hated school (‘the teachers always gave me a hard time and the other girls picked on me’) and always dreamed of doing something ‘creative’. Her talent for self-promotion helped her to win a local beauty pageant, but she says it only gave the girls at school ‘yet another reason to give me stick’. Soon, however, she would no longer care about playground teasing. At 15, a friend introduced her to producer Evan Rogers, co-creator of hits for everyone from Donny Osmond to ’N Sync. Rogers just happened to be holidaying near St Michael, where Rihanna lived, and she performed an impromptu audition for him in his suite at the ultra-exclusive Sandy Lane hotel. Suitably impressed, Rogers invited her to his New York recording studio, where, during her school holidays, she worked on a 12-song demo. Returning to Barbados, she reasoned it would be a few months before she received any further word. Three days later she received a call from Rogers saying, ‘Jay-Z wants to meet you.’ ‘Two days later I was standing in Jay-Z’s New York office. He was sitting there in his denim shorts and polo shirt, waiting to be impressed. I was worried about my voice because my throat was dry and I’d been up all night, but I knew it was going to be OK the moment Jay-Z smiled as I started to sing. ‘The worst part was waiting around for the contract to be signed. They were still working on it at 3am. My lawyers just kept talking and talking while I kept looking at the clock thinking, “Just get on with it – I want to sign! I want this so badly.” ‘And I walked out of there with a six-album deal. The following morning I went out in New York and bought myself a whole new wardrobe.’ She tells the story in a breathless rush, going back on herself as she remembers some small detail that perhaps makes the memory more vivid, more real. It’s as though she’s still trying to convince herself that it all actually happened. It does seem unreal to me,’ she says. ‘When my first single, Pon De Replay, came out, I was in a crowded shopping mall when I first heard it on the radio. I ran up and down screaming, “That’s my song!” People were looking at me as though I should be locked up. ‘Then there was the first time I realised I was famous. I was in a New York studio finishing my album and I popped out to the ice-cream store on the corner. As I was walking out with my strawberry ice cream, six or seven kids got up off their seats and ran towards me with napkins to sign. That was weird for me.’ Not that Rihanna is complaining – she’s happy to admit that fame has its upsides. ‘I’ve got a house in LA with a swimming pool, a big piano and a coffee table made out of crocodile skin. I love my home, and possibly the best thing about it is that it’s just been wired so I can put my iPod into one deck and control it from anywhere in the house, even out at the pool. ‘I don’t take any of that for granted. I grew up with little or no money. It’s made me appreciate everything so much more. ‘But it’s not all honey and treacle. I’ve had no more than seven days off in the past 18 months. My schedule is punishing. ‘And I do get lonely sitting around in hotels in cities I don’t know. I don’t have time to date.’ (It’s rumoured, however, that she’s dating R&B singer Chris Brown – the pair are regularly pictured together – but both have repeatedly denied this.) Rihanna tells me that she and her dad, Ronald, are now happily reconciled. Now in his mid-fifties, still living in Barbados and claiming to have been clean for ten years, her father recently said, ‘I will never forgive myself for what I did to my daughter. ‘Unlike other dads who help their children with homework, I was out on street corners scoring more drugs. I blew every penny I had on my habit.’ Rihanna takes a philosophical view. ‘The past is the past,’ she says. ‘There have been times when we didn’t talk for long stretches, but we’re friends now. You get over stuff, don’t you? We all have to do that. ‘I prefer to look at the bigger picture. From where I’m standing, that picture is good – it’s positive. ‘Now that I’m in control of my life and career, there’s no limit to what I can achieve. There’s more great records, maybe some movies, a clothing line… ‘Now, anything is possible.’
Mrs.thing's picture

[quote

[quote comment="204157"]Rihanna’s had the biggest single of the decade, sold ten million albums and is still only 20. Is there such a thing as too much, too young? Live met her balancing on a balcony ledge in Barcelona to find out. For a girl whose legs alone are insured for $1 million, Rihanna doesn’t seem to mind taking risks. She breezes into the photo studio, grabs a packet of cheese puffs and heads straight for the roof terrace, where she positions herself precariously on the slender balcony ledge, taking in the incredible views of the Pyrenees mountains, the Mediterranean and the city of Barcelona. Reaching for another handful of nibbles, she momentarily loses her balance. For a split second, the entire studio holds its collective breath as she wobbles on the ledge – it seems she’s destined to fall four storeys onto the ancient cobblestones of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. When she slides confidently off the ledge the sense of relief in the studio is palpable. Yet none of the record-company entourage dare to say anything to their pop star about her near brush with death. She may be only 20, but when you’ve sold close to ten million albums no one tells you what to do any more. In lieu of any explanation she tells me, ‘I’m feeling frisky and risqué’. (Click full story to view the full article) It’s probably no coincidence that Rihanna’s transformation from cute pop puppet to independently minded R&B sex siren has coincided with a massive upsurge in her global popularity. Up to and immediately after the release of her second album, 2006’s A Girl Like Me, there was a suspicion that she was too lightweight an artist to last the course. True, she was in the habit of delivering irresistibly catchy singles such as Pon De Replay and SOS. But it was common knowledge that her strings were being pulled by Jay-Z’s Def Jam label. In late 2006, she first gave notice that she was about to take charge. ‘I was in Paris and I fancied a change of hairstyle,’ she says. ‘I had my long locks cut off and came away with this cute bob that I was really happy with. ‘Someone from the record company saw me and said, “It looks nice, but it’s not you. We’ll have to put extensions in.” ” I was completely crushed. I was an 18-year-old trying to figure out who I was and someone was telling me that they would be the best judge of that. That’s when I realised things had to change.’ In May 2007 she released the single Umbrella. On the record she sounded tougher and edgier – and the accompanying video, complete with leather-clad dance routines, revealed that she had left her teen image behind. Umbrella shot to the top of the charts across the world, spending a record-breaking ten weeks at number one in the UK. It would go on to sell eight million copies worldwide. The follow-up album Good Girl Gone Bad shifted around five million copies and yielded a total of seven hit singles. If Rihanna was daunted by her sudden elevation to superstar status, she didn’t show it. On the contrary, she began to appear far more at ease. In the past, she’d been entirely unforthcoming on the subject of her childhood. Now she started to open up about the experience of growing up in Barbados with a father who was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine. ‘I wasn’t trying to hide anything before,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t ready for the world to know that stuff. ‘My dad was part of that Sixties generation who took drugs as a matter of course. He was a proper hippy. Big Afro, bell-bottoms, that kind of look. A real party dude. But his partying got way out of hand, spiralled out of control. ‘My dad left home when I was nine, so I was really young when I was living with his addictions. I didn’t understand exactly what was going on, but I knew he was doing something he shouldn’t be doing. ‘Even when I started to understand, I looked up to my dad so much that I couldn’t put him and this negative thing together. At the time there was no way I could help him out of it. ‘It was only in my teenage years that I started to get angry at him, maybe even hated him. Because I started to realise that no child should have to experience what I’d been through.’ Though she’s softly spoken as a rule, talking in a fluttery Barbadian accent, her voice becomes noticeably louder and more strident when discussing her childhood. She’s clearly proud of the way she took on adult responsibilities from an early age. I never went over the top. I wasn’t in Amy Winehouse mode‘ I was raised to be a child and know my place, but also to think like a woman. My father’s life was fairly chaotic and, partly because of his drug problems, there was never much money. My mum worked as an accountant and a lot of the time I was left in charge of my younger brothers. It didn’t feel like a burden. It was just reality. ‘When I was 13 I joined the cadets, and we’d regularly go off on these weekend expeditions. There was a lot of discipline involved with that. Our uniforms had to be spick and span, our boots had to shine like diamonds and we’d often need to cook for the entire camp. ‘Also, we learned to shoot pistols, which was the best part of it. I was a good shot, although I couldn’t kill a fly from a hundred paces.’ But the young Rihanna – born Robyn Rihanna Fenty – did have her own rebellious phase. When she was 14 she formed her first band with a couple of classmates – and at the same time developed a fondness for the party life. ‘I’d go out and get drunk, but that’s what teenage girls do in Barbados,’ she says. ‘The country’s pretty laid-back about the legal age for drinking. But I never went too over the top. ‘I wasn’t exactly in Amy Winehouse mode. I’d seen what alcohol and drugs had done to my dad and I wasn’t going to follow in his footsteps. I knew my limits when I was a kid and I still do. ‘If I go to a club, I go for the sounds. I go out to have fun, to dance and laugh at people fighting or dressed like whores. I might have a few drinks, but I don’t get tipsy too easily. I don’t ever get to the point where I want to throw up, can’t stand up straight or say things I’m likely to regret in the morning.’ She hated school (‘the teachers always gave me a hard time and the other girls picked on me’) and always dreamed of doing something ‘creative’. Her talent for self-promotion helped her to win a local beauty pageant, but she says it only gave the girls at school ‘yet another reason to give me stick’. Soon, however, she would no longer care about playground teasing. At 15, a friend introduced her to producer Evan Rogers, co-creator of hits for everyone from Donny Osmond to ’N Sync. Rogers just happened to be holidaying near St Michael, where Rihanna lived, and she performed an impromptu audition for him in his suite at the ultra-exclusive Sandy Lane hotel. Suitably impressed, Rogers invited her to his New York recording studio, where, during her school holidays, she worked on a 12-song demo. Returning to Barbados, she reasoned it would be a few months before she received any further word. Three days later she received a call from Rogers saying, ‘Jay-Z wants to meet you.’ ‘Two days later I was standing in Jay-Z’s New York office. He was sitting there in his denim shorts and polo shirt, waiting to be impressed. I was worried about my voice because my throat was dry and I’d been up all night, but I knew it was going to be OK the moment Jay-Z smiled as I started to sing. ‘The worst part was waiting around for the contract to be signed. They were still working on it at 3am. My lawyers just kept talking and talking while I kept looking at the clock thinking, “Just get on with it – I want to sign! I want this so badly.” ‘And I walked out of there with a six-album deal. The following morning I went out in New York and bought myself a whole new wardrobe.’ She tells the story in a breathless rush, going back on herself as she remembers some small detail that perhaps makes the memory more vivid, more real. It’s as though she’s still trying to convince herself that it all actually happened. It does seem unreal to me,’ she says. ‘When my first single, Pon De Replay, came out, I was in a crowded shopping mall when I first heard it on the radio. I ran up and down screaming, “That’s my song!” People were looking at me as though I should be locked up. ‘Then there was the first time I realised I was famous. I was in a New York studio finishing my album and I popped out to the ice-cream store on the corner. As I was walking out with my strawberry ice cream, six or seven kids got up off their seats and ran towards me with napkins to sign. That was weird for me.’ Not that Rihanna is complaining – she’s happy to admit that fame has its upsides. ‘I’ve got a house in LA with a swimming pool, a big piano and a coffee table made out of crocodile skin. I love my home, and possibly the best thing about it is that it’s just been wired so I can put my iPod into one deck and control it from anywhere in the house, even out at the pool. ‘I don’t take any of that for granted. I grew up with little or no money. It’s made me appreciate everything so much more. ‘But it’s not all honey and treacle. I’ve had no more than seven days off in the past 18 months. My schedule is punishing. ‘And I do get lonely sitting around in hotels in cities I don’t know. I don’t have time to date.’ (It’s rumoured, however, that she’s dating R&B singer Chris Brown – the pair are regularly pictured together – but both have repeatedly denied this.) Rihanna tells me that she and her dad, Ronald, are now happily reconciled. Now in his mid-fifties, still living in Barbados and claiming to have been clean for ten years, her father recently said, ‘I will never forgive myself for what I did to my daughter. ‘Unlike other dads who help their children with homework, I was out on street corners scoring more drugs. I blew every penny I had on my habit.’ Rihanna takes a philosophical view. ‘The past is the past,’ she says. ‘There have been times when we didn’t talk for long stretches, but we’re friends now. You get over stuff, don’t you? We all have to do that. ‘I prefer to look at the bigger picture. From where I’m standing, that picture is good – it’s positive. ‘Now that I’m in control of my life and career, there’s no limit to what I can achieve. There’s more great records, maybe some movies, a clothing line… ‘Now, anything is possible.’[/quote] FOR REAL
JESUZ_B_SHORT_COMMENT's picture

I never beleived John was gay

I never beleived John was gay but someone sent me a email of his gal She did a Ripe tv dating ad that is easily available on you tube omg funny I guess thats where he found her doesn not help his claims One thing from the looks of how she speaks on this ad she is after a rich man lol this is not ad im serious type in her name on you tube and it will come right up there is 2 of them rofl
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