Rihanna interview + exclusive London launch party news!

Rihanna and Nokia team up

This week, WAPS was given the opportunity to put a few questions to Rihanna ahead of the November 23rd release of her new album, ‘Rated R‘.

You’ll be pleased to hear about an exclusive launch party she’ll be performing at in London on November 16th (don’t worry, it will be streamed live – and we’ll be giving away tickets, so stay tuned!), plus  she also revealed that exclusive ‘Rated R’ tracks will be made available to people who purchase the album via Nokia’s music store. These lucky shoppers will be treated to an additional track and a remix. Excited? We are!

Here’s what electropop’s ice princess had to say for herself…

WAPS: Your first 2 albums had more of a Caribbean vibe to them, while ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ was more pop. Any new style changes on Rated R?
Rihanna: ‘Rated R’ in comparison to my previous albums is different, it’s very honest, the sound is darker. I didn’t want to make the same album that I did last time. Everyone expected me to make a similar album but I grew up a lot in the past two years – it’s different making an album at 21 because you speak about different things.

W: We’ve been reading that some of the songs on Rated R have a rock influence – Is there anyone in rock music that may have inspired this?
R: The new album is inspired by a lot of different sounds like hip hop, there’s a lot of bass and there’s a lot of rock. I listen to a lot of Prodigy and Chase & Status – we actually worked with [Chase & Status] on a lot of the production and they helped develop the new soun. We [also] have collaborations on there – people like Slash, who is the ultimate rock star, and the song happens to be called ‘Rock Star 101′.

W: Are there any other exciting collaborations you can mention?
R: Yes, we worked with Young Jeezy on a song called ‘Hard‘ and we also worked with Will.I.Am on one of my favourites on the record called ‘Photographs‘, it’s a really really cool song. (Check out the tracklisting – WAPS.)

W: The launch party with Nokia on the 16th November in London is expected to be the world’s largest live streaming launch party – millions of fans from Finland to Italy, New York to Rome and Helsinki to Dubai can see you perform tracks from your new album. How does that feel?
R: It’s a live stream worldwide which means everyone can watch it at the same time all over the world – live – all at once, which is exciting. It makes me nervous because it’s not just the 6000 people in the venue but it’s millions of people across the world watching it all at once…it’s exciting though, it’s a big thing that everyone can see it, there’s no better way to launch an album.

W: It’s being held in London as mentioned before – Is this city special to you in any way?
R: London is one of my favourite cities to go to in the world, it’s where I get most of my creative energy. We made a lot of the album in London actually; we took two big trips up there and spent some time each trip just figuring out the album. The first trip is when we really figured out what we wanted to do sound-wise and lyrically, the second time we came back with some hits so I hold a very special place in my heart for London and this album so it was only right that we had the launch party for the album there.

W: Which city boasts the best audience in the world and why?
Is this a trick question? (laughs) I love performing anywhere, just for fans anywhere and that’s the good thing about this launch party, I’m not only doing it in one city [but] the entire world gets to see it at the same time so all my fans don’t have to feel left out. They can see it too and be a part of it.

R: Do you interact with your fans a lot and are you looking forward to getting closer to them?
I spend a lot of time paying attention to my fans, what they like and how they grow with me. I pay attention to their comments on a lot of things, whether it be negative or positive. I want to keep them close with me and I want them to grow with me and the only way they’ll do that naturally is if the growth for me is natural.

W: Your fashion sense is admired around the world – Have you found any new designers or trends you will be showcasing in your videos and live performances?
R: In the past few months I’ve done a lot of research in the fashion world because I wanted to work with a bunch of new designers that are kinda underground, people that aren’t the obvious and I found this guy Alexander Voltaire, his stuff is just so amazing. The colours are really beautiful and feminine but the structure is really strong, which I love.

W:How would you describe your own fashion style?
R: My style is very edgy, very daring, I like to take risks, I hate to do the obvious. Style is all about creativity so I like to put things together in my own way.

W: Have you got a special message for your fans?
R: I just want to thank you guys for all your support, sticking and waiting with me this entire time, but the wait is ova and just tune into nokia.com/rihanna to watch me perform live on the 16th, I can’t wait to see you guys there.

• Sign up to see Rihanna’s live performance streamed online at Nokia.com

A special thanks to Gaz @ Inside Nokia Music for organising.