Rihanna Talks “Representing For Black Women Everywhere” At Super Bowl Halftime Show  

Rihanna has opened up about the challenges of returning to the stage for her first live show in seven years at the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime show. 

The first hurdle facing the superstar songstress was deciding whether to accept the gig. She was initially hesitant, but motherhood changed her perspective and gave her a sense of fearlessness. 

“It feels like [playing the Super Bowl] could have only been now,” Rihanna admitted during an Apple Music press conference Thursday (Feb. 9). “When I first got the call to do it again this year I was like, ‘Are you sure? I’m three months postpartum. Should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this.’” 

She continued, “When you become a mom there’s something that happens where you feel like you can take on the world and can do anything. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world. As scary as it was, because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. It’s important for me to do this year. It’s important for my son to see that.” 

Once she agreed to do the show, Rhianna faced the big challenge of finalizing a set list for the 13-minute-long performance. Cramming a 17-year music career into 13 minutes has been “difficult,” she explained. 

“Some songs we have to lose because of that, and that’s going to be okay,” Rihanna continued. “We did a pretty good job at narrowing it down. There’s probably been about 39 versions of the setlist right now. We’re on our 39th. Every little change counts.” 

Rihanna On The Importance Of Representation

Rhianna also discussed the importance of representing her Black womanhood and Caribbean culture during her performance.  

“That’s a big part of why it’s important for me to do this show. Representing for my country, Barbados. Representing for Black women everywhere. That’s really important,” she added. 

Apple Music and Rihanna shared a promo visual on social media ahead of the Super Bowl Halftime show, reflecting both her Bajan heritage and phenomenal journey from Island girl to the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.  

“My whole life was shaped on this very road. I was just a little girl flying kites in the cemetery,” the outro from Rihanna explains. “But I had big dreams.” Watch the visual below and the full Apple Music press conference in the video below 

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The Super Bowl airs Sunday, Feb. 12, on Fox at 6:30 p.m. EST.