A$AP Rocky recounts awkward first meeting with Rihanna

Nbc reports that A$AP Rocky told Jimmy Fallon during his January 19 Tonight Show appearance that he first met Rihanna outside a nightclub in New York when he was not yet famous.

Rocky said he was with the late, great Virgil Abloh and Matthew Williams and got into it with the bouncers until Rihanna came out and they "locked eyes right away." He said he was "a little embarrassed" that she caught him bickering with the guard, and when Fallon asked if she helped him get in Rocky replied, "No," with a laugh. The pair worked together years before dating: Rocky guested on Rihanna's 2012 "Cockiness (Love It)" remix, performed it at that year's VMAs, opened the first leg of her Diamonds World Tour in 2013, and Rihanna appeared in his "Fashion Killa" video, though they did not start dating until around 2020.

Rocky released the album "Don't Be Dumb" on January 16, made his Saturday Night Live debut on January 17, and spent 2025 starring in the films Highest 2 Lowest and If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. He and Rihanna welcomed their third child, a daughter named Rocki, on September 13, 2025; Rocky said, "Baby Rocki, named her right after me," and called the experience "amazing" and "unexplainable," saying "I feel like a new man again and again and again." They also have two sons: RZA Athelston Meyers (born May 13, 2022) and Riot Rose Mayers (born August 1, 2023), and RZA is named after the rapper RZA, the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Key Topics

Culture, A$ap Rocky, Rihanna, Jimmy Fallon, Virgil Abloh, Diamonds World Tour