Friendship preceded romance for her Rihanna and the A$AP Rocky. In a new cover for “Interview,” the 36-year-old superstar “We Found Love” revealed that she had known A$AP for several years before they made their relationship official.

The two artists first met when they collaborated on a remix of the single “Cockiness (Love It)” by Rihanna in 2012 and performed the track at the MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, they co-starred in A$AP’s music video, “Fashion Killa”and while they didn’t officially start dating until late 2019, their relationship was going strong.

“We saw fashion the same way. We often ended up in the same circles,” Rihanna said. “And after that, as we grew, we ended up supporting each other’s brands and products and creative all the time. I wore his, he appeared in my presentations.”

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Spending time around each other allowed the couple to gain insight into how each other approaches love before the romance begins. “I’ve seen him in relationships. He has seen me in relationships. We have seen each other outside of relationships.

We knew what we were capable of and the problems we could bring into each other’s lives. We can make or break each other’s hearts. And so, we started dating very carefully”added the artist.

And Rihanna added: “I just let whatever happened, happen. I thought, “This is a flower, it will either die or bloom. But I’ll let him decide for himself.”

Rihanna and A$AP confirmed their relationship in November 2020 and have since had two children together.