Rihanna Reveals the True Timeline She and A$AP Rocky Began Their Romance

It turns out, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky found love in a hopeless place 2019. 

Indeed, the "We Found Love" singer confirmed, after years of speculation, when the pair's longtime friendship turned romantic. And according to Rihanna, it was a natural progression for the like-minded creatives. 

"We saw fashion the same. We saw creative the same," she explained in a conversation with former stylist Mel Ottenberg for Interview published April 9. "We ended up in the same circles a lot. And past that, when we grew up, we ended up supporting each other's brands and products and creative all the time. I would wear his s--t, he would show up to my launches. But it wasn't until the end of 2019..."

And when Mel wondered if either Rihanna or A$AP had slid into the other's DMs in order to progress their friendship, she quickly said that wasn't the case. 

"We've known each other for a long time," the 36-year-old explained. "I've seen him in relationships. He's seen me in relationships. We've seen each other outside of relationships. We knew what we're capable of, and the trouble that we could bring to each other's lives. We can make or break each other's hearts. And so, we started dating with a lot of caution." 

She continued, "I just let whatever was supposed to happen, happen. It was just, 'This is a flower. It's either going to die or blossom. But I'm going to let it decide itself.'"

And now, four years and two kids later, it looks like that flower has more than bloomed into a flourishing relationship—one that was accelerated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"COVID sped up our relationship," Rihanna shared. "Which I felt like God knew we needed because we were going to start a family. And had it not been for COVID, we would've taken a lot more time to get comfortable with each other, to even know that we were ready."

Now parents to sons RZA, 22 months, and Riot, 8 months, when she looks back at when she and A$AP started their family, the Grammy winner marvels at how natural it all felt. 

"We didn't even really talk about it," Rihanna remembered. "There was no denying it. It was the best thing that ever happened to us. It just happened."

She continued, "When someone sees you completely, and believes in you, and thinks you're worthy of being the mother of their kids, it's a great feeling. I felt the same about him. I knew he would be a great dad."