It’s not clear what occurred in the movement of the heavens in late August, but suddenly Rihanna is ALL IN on her long-rumored relationship with Drake. While she may have curved the hell out of him after he presented her with the VMA Michael Jackson vanguard award, there have been major moments before and after that indicate Rihanna is finally accepting the idea of a public relationship with Aubrey Graham.
Below we list the big moments over the past week and the significance factor of each event. We eventually tabulate the numbers and conclude whether or not this is a well-played publicity stunt or the real deal. (Spoiler alert: psssst: It’s real!)
1. Drake meets Mr. Fenty; significance factor: very high. We’ve been following Robyn Fenty 4EVER and she is EXTREMELY protective of her family and doesn’t casually bring them around industry peeps. (Case in point, we can find no images of her dad and Chris taken while they were still dating.) Plus, her pops is Caribbean and you know he’s not buying the concept of a male as a friend. If you’re introducing a man to the most important man in your life, he’d better mean something. UPDATE: Drake met Rih’s grandfather not her daddy, significance factor downgraded to 9.
Rihanna with her grandfather and Drake after the #VMAs. pic.twitter.com/XDSfNRLs90
— RihannaDaily.com (@RihannaDaily) August 29, 2016
2. Drake, Rih, camo plushy shark & kiss on the cheek; significant factor: initially 3, appears to be an as-per-usual-friend-zoned Drake, upgraded to an 8 because of events to follow and the plot twist of the shark. Intriguing side note: While Drake posted this just a few days ago, the event was said to have occurred back in late July around the time of the OVO Fest. Rumor had it, Drake booked the Ripley’s Aquarium and the two had a romantic midnight dinner by the light of a very large fish tank.
A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on
3. Shortly after Drake posted the aquarium date image, Rihanna appeared with same camo plushy shark contained within a Gucci Ghost x Gucci “Real” tote; significance factor = 8! Why the exclamation? Her bag deal is with Dior and she is rarely spotted carrying anything else (though to be fair, she does LOVE Allessandro Michele’s version of Gucci) so carrying a bag emblazoned with the word real in massive letters has to be viewed as a not-so-hidden message.
#Rihanna strolls New York with the #GucciGhost tote, by #AlessandroMichele and artist @troubleandrew. pic.twitter.com/npoNYw0r4x
— gucci (@gucci) August 31, 2016
4. OVO Twitter account reposted Drake’s VMA congratulatory billboard and added hashtag #welcometothefamily; significance a lowly 5 because the moment was caught up in the confusion of Joanne Prada’s drakeandrihanna.com scam. #wompwomp.
#welcometothefamily pic.twitter.com/qsGGGDbM4O
— October’s Very Own (@welcomeOVO) August 30, 2016
5. Whether or not it was a curve, the kiss was hotly debated and Rihanna did appear to say, “That’s not funny” afterwards, all told not a great look for Drake; significance factor: 4.5.
Are we gon act like Rihanna didn’t curve Drake at the #VMAs ? pic.twitter.com/fnYKYgGflT
— Bayo (@Am_smallz) August 30, 2016
6. After the curvy VMAs, Drake & Rihanna attended an after party together; significance factor 6.5, ehh, word is they made an appearance and left, thus it had a sort of obligatory industry appearance feel to it.
A photo posted by David X Prutting aka Dad (@dxprutting) on
7. Is it or isn’t Drake’s tuxedo shirt worn out to dinner the evening after VMA? Significance factor: 9 initially, but quickly downgraded to 6 because, pleats.
@hannahorens same shirt yeah? pic.twitter.com/wmuGT7Wdu4
— Tshepo (@OnlyTshepo) August 30, 2016
8. The Miami concert kiss; significance factor: 11! Not a curve in sight plus she brushed her hand across his neck as she walked away–so intimate!
It’s ON! Rihanna and Drake finally kiss on stage…after THAT awkward VMA ‘smooch’ 💋 https://t.co/dxKbK0xUvx pic.twitter.com/XcrbS8bn1n
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) September 1, 2016
9. Concert after-party in Miami; significance factor: 9.99, again with the intimate neck touching–aint no industry appearance, bih!
10. OMG OMG Rihanna commits the symbol of their love to skin!! Significance factor: OFF THE CHARTS! This is permanent people or at least requires inking over or laser ro remove! What’s it all add up to? It means as much as we adore Rihanna, the truth is we’re going to have to share her because #aubrih is R-E-A-L like a Gucci Ghost tote.
Camo shark for my dear friend @badgalriri Also… I just found out you can zoom on IG- enjoy 🙂
A photo posted by Bang Bang (@bangbangnyc) on
