Every time Rihanna is attached to a new bae, her loyal fans gasp.
Will this new relationship turn serious and finally give the singer the soulmate that she desperately deserves? Will we finally see the wedding we've been dying to see ever since Rihanna sang "Where Have You Been?"
Rihanna's relationships have given us a lot of false hope over the years, but her relationship with Hassan Jameel had real potential and it looked like we'd soon get to see RiRi walk down the aisle. She's had some doozies over the years, (don't even mention Chris Brown), and now seems to be going strong with A$AP Rocky, but what stopped her from marrying Jameel?
While Rihanna does everything under the sun but dropping a new album, we'll sit here patiently and wonder why we still haven't seen a gorgeous wedding yet.
For The First Time, We Didn't Really Know Who Rihanna's New Bae Was
When Rihanna and Jameel first started dating in 2017, we didn't really know much about him other than that his family was worth $1.5 billion, and that he was the Toyota heir.
They kept their relationship extremely private, but we knew something was going on when they were first spotted together in June 2017, when they took a vacation together to Spain. We got confirmation that she was linked to Jameel when photos of them showing major PDA by the pool went viral with the hashtag #RihannaHasAMan.
After that, they were seen on a date in London that fall, at a Grammys after-party in early 2018, and in early 2019, they celebrated Rihanna's birthday at a Lakers game. Shortly after that, many were speculating whether they were engaged.
"The romance was a case of opposites attract. Rihanna and Hassan understand each other very well and their personalities mesh well together," a source told Us Weekly. "They’re both so different, but it works for them."
In June of 2019, they were spotted on a romantic vacation on the Amalfi Coast and were also seen on a lunch date at Lo Scoglio in Nerano, Italy, a province of Naples.
Days after being seen in Italy, Rihanna was interviewed by her Ocean's Eight co-star Sarah Paulson, for Interview magazine and was asked if she was in love. In typical Rihanna fashion, she replied, "of course."
"Are you going to get married?" Paulson asked. Rihanna paused for a bit, then replied, "Only god knows that, girl. We plan and god laughs, right?" She also went on to say that she wanted to be a mother "more than anything in life."
That August, the Saudi businessman met the family. They were seen out with Rihanna's mother Monica and one of her brothers. In a 2019 interview with Vogue, Rihanna said, "I’m actually in an exclusive relationship for quite some time, and it’s going really well, so I’m happy."
Jameel must have been important to the singer because we know that she tried really hard to squeeze in time for him, even while she was trying to become a successful businesswoman herself.
"I got into a new relationship, and it matters to me," she said. "It was like, 'I need to make time for this.' Just like I nurture my businesses, I need to nurture this as well. I’ll shut things down for two days, three days at a time. On my calendar we now have the infamous 'P,' which means personal days. This is a new thing."
But her work might have come between them anyway it seems.
Rihanna's Career Might Have Gotten In The Way
During her three year-relationship with Jameel, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty, Savage x Fenty, and Fenty, each debuting a year apart from each other. So to say that Rihanna was busy is an understatement.
"My career is my purpose, and it should never feel like anything other than a happy place," she said. But did her "purpose" become more important than Jameel, or was she so busy she couldn't find time for him anymore?
All we know about their breakup in early 2020, is that their lives were "too different" for a relationship to carry on. People broke the news, with a source staying, "Their lives were too different and it was hard to maintain a relationship." That's it. That's all we know about their breakup.
Not long after her split from Jameel, in March 2020, she told British Vogue that she felt that she was beginning a new phase of her life.
"Since I turned 32, I’m realizing life is really short," she said. "You don’t have a lot of time to tolerate shit, you know? You put so much on your plate. When you’re overwhelmed, you need to start cutting things out. And I’m overwhelmed too much. What’s happening now is that I’m going back to black and white. My grey area is shutting down."
So it seems as if Rihanna and Jameel had everything going against them. They both are extremely busy people, and maybe their opposite personalities set them over the edge. As for their supposed engagement, there's no proof of it even happening. Yes, Rihanna was seen with a diamond ring on her ring finger, but she never confirmed anything.
Not long after she and Jameel parted ways, she was seen with A$AP Rocky. Rumors that they've started a relationship have been circulating ever since. We hope Rihanna's found the one, and if not, we hope it happens soon because we need little Rihannas fast. But we all know that Rihanna doesn't really need a man, and she certainly doesn't need one to have her own kids. She's stronger single, to be honest.