At this year’s BET Hip-Hop Awards, Eminem’s Shady Records crew shined during their fan-favored Cypher, but it was a few flirty lines about Rihanna from Em’s Bad Meets Evil partner, Royce Da 5’9, that sent the online world buzzing with interest and cemented the phrase, “Hi, Rihanna,” as the new buzz term of the minute. Now that the whole world is at attention and the “We Found Love” singer has responded to his flirts, Royce is finally opening about the origins of his freestyle.
While appearing on BET’s 106 & Park on Oct. 13, Royce explained his coquettish verse, in which he raps, “Hi, Rihanna/I don’t need to know you better/You tell me you like my music again, we go together.”As the Detroit rapper explains, he was inspired pen the lyrics after meeting Rihanna at the V Festival in London earlier this year and receiving praise from the singer.
“I seen [Rihanna] overseas,” he explained. “Me and Em were performing at the V Festival. She was coming out to perform with us. She seen me and she came up to me. Like, I’m just a Detroit guy. Everybody is treating me like I’m famous now but I still feel regular. She came up to me and told me that she likes one of my songs. So, I just felt like, ‘If you tell me that again, we go together.’ It has to happen. So, you know, I express myself through my music. I just thought it was a line I was going to say. I didn’t know she was going to hear it or what, but I didn’t know it was going to become this.”
According to Royce, “this” includes having his popular phrase top trend on Twitter for 20 hours. And after accomplishing such a public feat, it was only a matter of time before he got the Bajan bombshell’s attention.
The day after the BET Hip-Hop Awards aired, Rihanna hopped on Twitter and responded to Royce with a simple, “Hi, @RoyceDa59,” prompting the rapper to respond happily with a retweet and attached comment of “*Wave*”
It’s unclear whether this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship or musical collaboration or something more, but for now, it’s simply the most charming exchange in hip-hop since the flirty days of Nicki Minaj and Drake. – nicholas robinson
<script language=”javascript”>var VideoID = “4952”; var Width = 625; var Height = 352;</script><script src=”https://vplay.rollingout.com/vplay/einterface.php” language=”javascript”></script>
