Eye Therapy: Kanye Sits Down With Rihanna for Interview Magazine
WEST: Were you the coolest kid in high school?
RIHANNA: I didn’t get along with people very well. I got along with guys, but I hated the girls and the teachers. So I kind of just . . .
WEST: Is that where you got your swag?
RIHANNA: Yeah. I mean, all my friends, even if they weren’t in my school, were always guys. My mother didn’t understand that for a long time. There were all these different guys calling the house, and she probably had a totally different idea of what was happening. [laughs] But then I met my friend Melissa [Forde], and my mom trusted Melissa, because she was older than me, so she became my best friend. Then I started being able to go out and hang out, and it was fun after that.
WEST: How did you get signed?
RIHANNA: Well, I met Evan [Rogers] and Carl [Sturken], these two producers who live here in New York. They are both married to Barbadian women, so they go there to vacation all the time. My friend introduced me to them, and I sang for them, and we talked, and they had me and my mom come back a couple of days later. After that, we started traveling to New York, working on a demo. Within a year, it was done, and we sent it out. Def Jam was the first label to call back. We got other calls, but they were the most enthusiastic. It was so nerve-wracking, though, the whole experience.
Full Article via Interview
