There is hope yet for #AubRih.
Drake's lust for Rihanna has never been fully reciprocated, but there is a clear mutual attraction between the two superstars. Despite a roller coaster relationship since 2015, replete with dance floor hook ups, the friend zone, actual musical collaboration, and more, the flame of #AubRih has never been extinguished. It threatened to burn down LAX Saturday night, during a music video shoot for their soon-to-be smash single "Work."
Their chemistry is evident in the music videos for the only two songs they have ever recorded together - "What's My Name" & "Take Care." With "Work" presumably near on the horizon, let's revisit their relationship dating back to its inception, in 2009.
Act I
Rihanna's first liason with Drake came in the aftermath of her infamous February 2009 beating at the hands of Chris Brown. Three months later, in May, Rihanna and Drake were spotted hooking up at Lucky Strike, a Manhattan bowling alley. According to Page Six, “She was drinking whiskey and apple juice and making out with him all night… They were really cute together.”
The were spotted together several times over the course of the 2009. Around the time Rihanna started dating baseball star Matt Kemp, in November 2009, she gave an interview with Angie Martinez in which she denied having ever dated Drake. “Me and Drake are still friends actually,” she said. “[We hung out] a few times but no, never."
“People thought I was dating Rihanna…" Drake said in a January 2010 interview with XXL. "That was semi-true."
Act II
Drake addressed his relationship with Rihanna in "Fireworks," the Thank Me Later opener he released in May 2010:
"I can tell it wasn't love, I just thought you'd fuck with me
Who could of predicted Lucky Strike would have you stuck with me
Damn, I kept my wits about me luckily
What happened between us that night
It always seems to trouble me
Now all of a sudden these gossip blogs want to cover me
And you making it seem that it happened that way because of me
But I was curious and I'll never forget it baby
What an experience, you could of been the one."
Two weeks later, Drake elaborated further in an interview with the New York Times. “You know what she was doing to me?" he said. "She was doing exactly what I’ve done to so many women throughout my life, which is show them quality time, then disappear. I was like, wow, this feels terrible.”
Periodically, over the course of the following few years, Drake would remind everyone of the depths of his sorrow caused by his split with Rihanna. "I was hurt because I slowly started to realize what it was," he said in 2011. "I guess I thought it was more. That was the first girl with any fame that paid me any mind. You spend days reading about this person in magazines."
Said Rihanna: "It was a really fragile time in my life, so I just didn’t want to get too serious with anything or anyone at that time.”
Act III
Act III
It was November 2010 when Rihanna and Drake joined forces for their first-ever collaboration, "What's My Name." Rihanna was careful to let people know that their relationship was, at this point, strictly musical. "We get along really well," she said. "Drake has a youthful thing about him and he is very melodic with the way he writes and I felt I needed someone like that for ‘What's My Name.'”
By this point, Rihanna had ended things with Kemp, and she wowed fans with steamy performances of "What's My Name" at the 2011 Grammys and the NBA All-Star Game a week later. Drake joined her on-stage both times, and undoubtedly, no one was more impressed than him.
2012 would prove to be an up-and-down year for #AubRih. April saw the release of the "Take Care" video, which featured some intimate hugging between Drake and Rihanna. That same month, Drake declared that he and RiRi had a "connection established for life."
By May, it seemed that they had rekindled their romance, as they were spotted getting "hot and heavy" on the dance floor. Alas, it was not for long -- in June, Drake participated in a nightclub brawl with Chris Brown that has been described as "a heated, acrimonious, and ongoing rivalry for the affections of Rihanna." The fight allegedly started when “Drake requested that a person employed by [the bar] as a server, who was providing… excessive amounts of intoxicating beverages, deliver a note to Chris Brown. The note stated, 'I am f—king the love of your life.'” Brown was Drake's chief rival at the time. Interestingly enough, his current chief rival, Meek Mill, was also present.
Act IV
Act IV
Rihanna broke up with Chris Brown (again) in February 2013. Once again, the door opened for Champagne Papi. In June, Rihanna was filmed twerking to Drake's verse in "Fuckin' Problems." They shared a kiss over dinner, attended each other's concerts, and enjoyed a big night at the strip club in which they spent a reported $17,000 between the two of them.
2014 was a banner year for #AubRih. They spent two weeks in February and March traveling around Europe -- Paris, Amsterdam, London, Manchester. Some reports went so far as to describe their relationship as "exclusive." In April, Drake released a song called "Days in the East," in which he sampled her hit single "Stay" and recapped their whirlwind tour of Europe.
“Studyin’ your body, that’s exams for the boy
Take a flight here, pop a xan for the boy
Waking up in Amsterdam with the boy
Long flight home, another xan for your boy”
The greatest three month stretch in #AubRih ended in May when Drake and Rihanna broke things off. But it did not appear acrimonious -- a few months later, they were were seen getting steamy once again at a New York nightclub.
Act V... and beyond
The latest chapter in the #AubRih saga was written Saturday night at LAX -- a music video shoot for Rihanna's yet-to-be-released single with Drake, "Work." Drake was spotted on set,thanks to some quality reportage from DJ Khaled's Snapchat, and snippets from the track finagled their way onto Twitter.
Given the sparks that went flying everywhere their last two music videos together, "Work" could be one of the hottest music videos of the year.
The eternal flame of #AubRih still burns.
The second exclusive snippet of Rihanna's new single "Work" featuring Drake - sounding like a hit! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5nspThlQwI