Rihanna Reveals Breakdown During The Making Of ‘Talk That Talk’
In Part 2 of her Road To Talk That Talk documentary, Rihanna takes us behind-the-scenes of the making of her sixth studio album, including jaunts back home to Barbados, her album art photo shoot, fun nights-in with her pop pal Katy Perry, and a performance in front of thousands of people on her album release day. Of course, making an album isn’t all fun — the non-stop stress can really get to an artist, even one as confident as Rihanna. “This is the craziest schedule I’ve ever been on in my entire life,” she tells the camera crew, recounting one of the more difficult moments of the recording process — having to get a million things done while being sick (and hooked up to an IV, no less).
“One morning I woke up and started crying so hard,” Rihanna remembers. (Watch above, about nine minutes in.) “I finally just got to my bed from the IV [drip] and I was just like, ‘Good I can actually get to sleep tonight’, because we stayed up [all night’ and I finished [the album] at 5pm the day before. So now, I’m like, ‘One good night of rest.’ I get in bed, and it must have been two hours in before my phone started going off.”
“I was so frustrated I kept ignoring the phone,” she continues. “Every time it would go off, but every time I would ignore it. But it would be another burden on my shoulders, ’cause I know it has to get done… I was so angry, I was so overwhelmed that I was sick. It felt crazy.”
The frustrations of being needed by countless people weigh down on the singer. “I started crying,” she says. “I cried for 10 minutes really, really hard in my pillow. It was aggressive. I don’t cry loads. If I cry it’s because I’m very angry and I can’t do anything about it, because I’ve run into a dead end. That’s when the tears would come down. But this time I needed to hear it, I almost wanted to punch somebody.”
Despite the never-ending recording and promoting process taking its toll, Rihanna knows no pain, no gain. Says RiRi, “When I got the copies in my hand, it was so worth it. I would never take it back. At times I wished things could have been different and easier, but then I didn’t really care when I got the album. The fact it was so difficult, the album feels so much better.”
Rihanna’s hectic schedule is far from over — she just released the video for Talk That Talk single “Where Have You Been”, performed on Saturday Night Live, and walked the carpet at both the Met Gala and the premiere of her movie Battleship, just days after she was once again hooked up to an IV while suffering from the flu.
We sincerely hope after this album cycle is done, RiRi takes a much-needed break — six albums in six years is enough work to exhaust anyone. Maybe she can hit up Beyonce for some travel suggestions?
