As hinted on social media and billboards for a couple of days, N.E.R.D is coming out with new music and the first drop is a collaboration with Rihanna (who serves a 58 second rap verse)! The track called ”Lemon” came earlier today along with a video where Fenty is sitting on a hotel bed shaving dancer Mette Towley’s head before Towley takes off dancing alone in a market space:

Could this be what was made when Rih, Drake and Pharrell hit the studio in London back in 2016? I think so.

#studiolove riri showing our engineer Chani some love 🙏🏽 it's all about the music♥️ thank you @champagnepapi @pharrell for wonderful night #Tapelondon#riri#drizzy#pharrell

A post shared by Zues Sherlock (@zuessherlock) on Jul 2, 2016 at 2:04am PDT

It’s not just us fans that’s been waiting patiently for this to be released, Missy Elliott got to hear the song some time ago and have been waiting ever since!

@Pharrell played me that #Lemon song with @rihanna a while back & dat joint was 🔥glad they finally put it out! Ayye🙌🏾 N.E.R.D

— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) November 1, 2017

Yas! These random drops here and there is like a vitamin D injection to me. Rihanna hasn’t performed ONCE in 2017, yet continues to stay relevant and on top of the game. Movies, fashion, make-up, photo shoots, awards, philanthropy – she stays busy and I love all of it but new music (with possible future performances….?) gets me a liiiiittle bit more excited. ;)

tell da paparazzi get the lens right. @NERD. LEMON is out now!! Watch the tutorial at smarturl.it/lemonvid #NoOneEverReallyDies @pharrell

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Nov 1, 2017 at 9:17am PDT

I’m going to link two articles below. I want you to read both of them, because they are important. And I want to send a huge thanks to my friend Maria for showing me the second piece, or I probably would have missed both.

1. The Cut: Rihanna on Fenty, Instagram Trends, What’s Cute (and Not Cute) for Boyfriends
2. Man Repeller: Rihanna’s Perspective on Her Weight Changed How I Think

This is a complete spoiler but I need to repost the quote that gave birth to the second think piece because it’s that profound. Rihanna is asked in the original interview: ”What would you want to tell young girls about how to wear clothing that fits their bodies, but also makes them feel good?”

To this, she answers: ”Well, I actually have had the pleasure of a fluctuating body type, where one day I can literally fit into something that is bodycon, and then the next day — the next week — I need something oversized; I need a little crop here and a high-waist there to hide that part, you know? I really pay attention every day when I go into the closet about what’s working for my body that morning. I feel like that’s how everyone should go after fashion, because it’s an individual thing.”

I’m having a bit of a moment here because just like Celeste Little says. ”even though I’m doing better at accepting my body, and loving it because it’s my home, I don’t think I’ve ever called bouncing between sizes a pleasure.”

And I want to. I want my body to be a pleasure. Not in the creepy John Mayer way but for myself, because I’m the one living in it. Rihanna describing her body’s changes as a pleasure is also the best possible example of why I feel empowered by her, and why there’s something so liberating about her confidence. It’s rooted in this quote I think. In her viewing changes as a bliss.

So go read the articles now. They’re important.

Illustration by Jonquel Norwood.

Rihanna’s been rocking a new hairdo lately and it’s probably one of my favorite ones ever, together with short-short a la Vogue Brazil shoot back in 2014.

On her way to the studio, wearing Fenty x Puma SS18.

Leaving her apartment earlier today.

Hitting the gym in NYC.

I also want to point out how cute it is that she’s looking just like her fictional character Tip from the movie ”Home”. Odd thing: I still haven’t seen it. I’m ashamed of myself, yes, but it just hasn’t happened. Someone who’s watching it frequently though is Pink and her daughter, judging by this tweet:

Dancing in the dark cuz my daughter knows every word https://t.co/SqXlLOgzvz

— P!nk (@Pink) October 21, 2017

(Dancing in the dark is from the ”Home” soundtrack.)

YouTube alert!

Alex Alvina Chamberland and I talk about sports and politics in this first ever Fangirls Talk episode. If your interested in any of the following you’ll enjoy this video:

Hillary Clinton (and her hot sauce)
Maria Sharapova (and her bitchiest moments)
Rafael Nadal (and his OCD)
Cristiano Ronaldo (and his love for Rihanna)
Serena Williams (and aaaaall the drama off and on the tennis court)
Margaret Thatcher (and the impossibility of fangirlin’ her)
Tonya Harding (and all her heroine ways)
Ursula (and other villainesses)
Nick Kyrgios (and his goodboybadboy ways)
Seve Ballesteros (and the fruitcake incident)

The list goes on and the video is long but there was just so much to talk about that we could have easily gone on for another 4 hours to be honest. It’s a name dropping paradise where we get lost in the world of sports and politics and our fangirlin’ desires. If you get tired of watching us you could always just listen to it as well, while you’re doing the dishes or playing in your bullet journal or eating some good food or you know, whatever makes you happy!

Enjoy!

As part of the Vogue’s Forces of Fashion Conference Rihanna was invited to a talk with Hamish Bowles earlier this evening. The interview starts at 4:11 and is a real treat to listen too. I mean Bowles didn’t do his homework and keeps asking her about where Fenty x Puma is going, where the next show will be etc when in fact she already did her final collection for Puma, but I love seeing her in these kinds of settings where she’s allowed to elaborate on a few topics instead of just doing fast questions at a red carpet event. The story about her Guo Pei dress at the Met gala for example, like wow, a TREAT starting around 20:20.

A little earlier, at 15:40, I actually started crying though. Speaking (again) about the diversity in Fenty Beauty she says:

”We’ve had this amazing emotional connection with customers who’ve never been able to find their shade of foundation before. I mean like women crying at the counters. It’s crazy to even think about because when I first started creating the brand and make a foundation – it wasn’t that deep for me. I just… The first woman I ever saw put make-up on her face is a black woman – that’s my mom. So when I’m thinking of my costumer THAT is one of my customers.”

Yes, I’m pms:ing and I’m tired and in Berlin where nothing went my way today but it just says something about how closely connected diversity and quality are to each other. Just as it describes exactly how I relate to my own creativity. When I write it’s either my grandmother, best friend, baby cousin or myself I see in front of me. And one of those (preferably all) need to feel important and seen in the piece I’m making. For example: writing a comedy I doubt my best friend will enjoy is an impossibility. Because their needs and perspective is with me, so I have to be respectful of that and responsible in where I throw the punches (never down, always up). Likewise with me gravitating towards soap opera themes in my plays as this is a major connection for my grandmother and I.

What I’m trying to say: Rihanna recognizing her mother’s image when she sets out to make a foundation hits home. It’s beautiful and powerful and should not be underestimated.

Speaking of soap operas though, Rihanna truly looks like a mogul from The Bold and the Beautiful (Sally Spectra anyone?) in these candids of her getting to the conference! A LOOK.

And before we wrap this up: earlier today she did something I’ve never seen before. She went to the gym. A fangirl is surprised.

All pics from rihannarange.com.