When did A$AP Rocky and Rihanna start dating? Relationship timeline explored as rapper claims Riri to be "his boo" back in 2013

The rumors about A$AP Rocky and Rihanna dating started back in 2020. However, during a recent interview with Vogue for his cover story, A$AP Rocky revealed that he and Rihanna have felt sparks as early as 2013. During the interview, A$AP Rocky recalled how he and Rihanna started working together. He mentioned that he was planning to shoot a music video for his new song Fashion Killa and one person that came to his mind was Rihanna.

He shared:

"I just hit up the flyest chick I know... I was like, 'Yo RiRi, what’s good? You wanna do this video with me? I got the perfect song, it’s called Fashion Killa. I’m basically talking about you—I drop your name in it,'" the rapper recalled his conversation with his current partner, Rihanna.

He mentioned that it did not take much to persuade the Diamonds singer because she responded with,

"Gang, I got you."

Rocky did not even hesitate when he said:

"She knew she was my boo back then, too. I’ma come clean," the rapper referred to 2013, when the two worked on the Fashion Killa music video together.

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A$AP Rocky and Rihanna's dating timeline

Before their famous collaboration on Fashion Killa in 2013, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky already had a song in the previous year. A$AP Rocky was featured in Rihanna's single Cockiness (Love It) Remix in 2012.

In 2013, A$AP Rocky joined Rihanna during her Diamonds World Tour and was part of the opening act. From then on, the two were seen more frequently together. They attended the Louis Vuitton fashion show in 2018, and Rihanna also invited him to her Diamond Ball, consecutively in 2018 and 2019. The pair enjoyed attending fashion shows and awards ceremonies, and were often seen together.

By 2020, fans started speculating that the two artists are seeing each other on the down-low. According to a source, their relationship was described as:

"It's really casual between them and she's not thinking about whether there's a future with Rocky. She's a newly-single girl having fun," an insider told The Sun.

Before they made their relationship exclusive in December 2020, they collaborated on another project that is not music-related. A$AP Rocky and Rihanna teamed up for Rihanna's "Fenty Skin line," which was launched in July 2020. The two even posed for a few photos for Fenty Skin.

In December 2020, the couple made it official after being spotted at the Beatrice Inn in New York City. Another major hint that the two were serious about each other was A$AP Rocky joining Rihanna's family in Barbados for Christmas. All this time, the two have been keeping their relationship and the PDA under wraps until the family holiday.

A$AP Rocky finally tells all during an interview with GQ magazine in 2021. He confessed his feelings for Rihanna publicly by calling her "my lady" and "the love of my life". When asked how he feels about being in a relationship, he said:

"So much better when you got the One. She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones. I think when you know, you know. She's the One."

Although the two are not legally married, they have been together since 2020. In January 2022, the couple shared that they are expecting their first child, who was born on May 13, 2022. They named him RZA Athelston Mayers. A year later, Rihanna announced that they are expecting their second baby soon. On August 3, 2023, Riot Rose Mayers, their second son, was born.

Both A$AP Rocky and Rihanna have expressed numerous times how happy they are to be parents to two young boys. However, when it came to their relationship, Rihanna finally confessed during an interview with Interview magazine that she and A$AP Rocky have been together since 2019. She said:

"We saw fashion the same. We saw creative the same. We ended up in the same circles a lot. And past that, when we grew up, we ended up supporting each other’s brands and products and creative all the time... I would wear his sh*t, he would show up to my launches. But it wasn’t until the end of 2019 [that we got together] …"

This is what Rihanna had to say about their relationship:

"We’ve known each other for a long time. I’ve seen him in relationships. He’s seen me in relationships. We’ve seen each other outside of relationships. We knew what we’re capable of, and the trouble that we could bring to each other’s lives. We can make or break each other’s hearts."

She also compared their relationship to a flower:

"And so, we started dating with a lot of caution … I just let whatever was supposed to happen, happen. It was just, 'This is a flower. It’s either going to die or blossom. But I’m going to let it decide itself,'" the California Kingbed singer expressed.

In October 2024, A$AP Rocky also shared his thoughts with W magazine about his relationship with the Fenty Beauty mogul. He shared:

"I knew from when we were younger. We both did, I think... So it was only right when we got older. We just kind of reconnected."

He also had a few things to say about his two sons with Rihanna. He disclosed:

"I think Rza is going to keep to himself. He’s an introvert... Riot’s an extrovert—he’s just like his mom. Rza is more so like his dad, like me. And he’s my twin. He got his mom’s forehead, but he got everything else from me. I love my boy’s big forehead! I loved it on his mother."

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The pair have been inseparable, often seen hitting red carpet shows and high-profile events in style. Even when A$AP was undergoing a legal trial in early 2025, Rihanna was there to support her man all the way. For those who kept tabs on the legal battles A$AP Rocky was undergoing, you would remember how he literally jumped to hug his partner after he was announced not guilty.