Rihanna has been a resident of London, England, for the past three years and recently talked about the racism she’s seen there.
According to the Barbadian singer, there’s not much difference between the racism in the U.K. and the U.S., and it plays out in similar fashion.
“I think police brutality is probably extremely severe in America, but racism is alive everywhere,” she told Vogue in an interview that was published on March 30. “It’s the same [in the United Kingdom].”
“It’s either blatant, which is becoming more and more of a norm, or it’s underlying, where people don’t even know they’re being obvious about it,” she added. “It’s just a subconscious layer that’s embedded from their entire core.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rihanna said she spends much of her time in the U.K. recording music and just being creative, since she runs her Fenty brand.
She also explained why most people in her neighborhood don’t make a huge deal when they see her.
“I like it because they’re too bougie to give a s–t about me,” Rihanna explained. “When I walk into those places, I am invisible, and nothing makes me feel better than being invisible.”
“I’d rather go to Brixton,” she continued. “But if I do that now, and I try to get some Jamaican food, it’s going to be an event. So if I want a night off, I go hang with the people I would never hang with. And I’m just in my bubble, which I really enjoy about London.”
In another part of the conversation, Rihanna talked about what she believes her future will look like.
In short, Rihanna said that at age 32 she realizes how quickly life goes and implied that she wants to live a simpler life down the road.
She talked about having kids as well and believes a husband or mate doesn’t necessarily have to be in the picture.
“I know I will want to live differently,” she explained. “Ten years? I’ll be 42, I’ll be ancient. I’ll have kids, three or four of them. I feel like society makes me want to feel like, ‘Oh, you got it wrong’ … They diminish you as a mother if there’s not a dad in your kids’ lives.”
“But the only thing that matters is happiness, that’s the only healthy relationship between a parent and a child,” added Rihanna “That’s the only thing that can raise a child truly, is love.”
