Rihanna 'Felt Like A Money-making Vehicle' For Def Jam, So She Rebelled

Miss Fenty is every where this week. (Mama's got an album to promote.) In an interview with the Guardian, she talks about everything from not having creative control at Def Jam records, to her style, to her assault, to her family life and those rumors that she gave Jay-Z a professional.

Here are some of the notable quotes.

On her style:
"Cruella de Vil, from 101 Dalmatians, is my new style icon. She's just fly."

On Def Jam:
"In the beginning it was almost like I was just going along with a script that was written for me, and I didn't feel like an artist, I felt like a tool. I just felt, hey, here I am, this money-making vehicle for this big record label [and] I'm not even having fun, I'm not enjoying it, because I'm not able to be who I am… Then, finally, I said, 'You know what, if I want to do this, I'm going to do it my way' and I just rebelled, cut my hair, dyed it black, changed my image, changed my sound, and now we're still evolving because I'm 21, I'm still growing. I've been through a lot in the last two years, especially in the last year or so. It definitely forced me to do some growing up."

On Chris Brown assaulting her:
"A whole thing happened overnight this year. The night before the biggest performance of my career, as well as 10 days before I became 21. It was a turning point. It was the end of an incredible year, an incredible album [Good Girl Gone Bad], the beginning of a new era, and it just felt like it was a wake-up call for me, and it had to happen. As bad and as terrible as it was, there's so much great that came out of that situation....I don't want that stamp going across my head as a victim of domestic violence. As much as I was, that's a part of my life that I want to throw away, that I never want to go through again."

On the distribution of the photograph showing her bloodied, battered face after the assault:
"It was a confidential case, by law, so when it became about getting a cheque, and completely disrespecting somebody else's privacy, it was just disappointing. I expect that from TMZ, but if the police can't protect you, then you can't be safe. You just feel completely exposed. And I was very disappointed especially when I found out that it was [supposedly leaked by] women. Two women."

On the rumors she gave Jay-Z, then president of Def Jam Recordings, a professional in order to get signed:
"It was like, 'Of course she had to give [Jay-Z] a blow job to get that deal.' That rumor was everywhere in Barbados, and it was so disgusting, it made me feel really weird – I would even be weird around Jay-Z. I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye. One day, he called and he was like, 'Yo, you can't buy into these rumors, you can't let people move you with anything they say.' The rumors started getting very funny to me after that."

BTW: Miss Fenty performed on GMA this morning.




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