Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcomed their first son, RZA, in May 2022, and their second son, Riot, 15 months later
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Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are loving life as a family of four.
The couple — who have been together since 2020 — share two children: sons RZA, 2, and Riot.
Though the musical artists weren’t actively planning to start a family when they became pregnant with their first child, Rihanna did tell Vogue that the two were “certainly not planning against it” either.
“I always thought it would be marriage first, then a baby, but who the f— says it has to be that way,” she told the outlet in April 2022. “I’m certainly not gonna let that get in the way of me being a mom.”
Shortly after Rihanna revealed she was pregnant with her second baby during her 2023 Super Bowl halftime show performance, a source told PEOPLE that the singer was the “happiest” she’d ever been. “She loves being a mom so this is where her mind is at the moment,” the insider added.
And once son Riot Rose entered the world in August 2023, a source told PEOPLE that “Rihanna feels her family is now complete.”
Photos of Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s Baby Boys, RZA and Riot
Save for a few interviews, Rihanna and Rocky have kept the details of their young sons private. They did, however, pose for the first time as a family of four in September 2023. The Grammy-nominated musicians were photographed doting over their newborn and smiling with their two little boys.
Rocky has also been vocal about his desire to raise open-minded kids and “not people who discriminate.” He explained to Dazed in 2022, “And I’m not trying to describe a saint, but realistically, I just want a cool child with cool parents.”
It’s also important to Rihanna to raise her children feeling connected to their roots, which is why she wanted both of her sons to have their hair braided.
“This is a form of protection by our ancestors…[it] makes us realize where we’ve come from,” she told Vogue China in March 2024. “This is our lost history. I immediately wanted my children to have their hair braided…it’s something in our blood.”
Here’s everything to know about Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s two sons, RZA and Riot.
RZA Athelston Mayers, 2
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Rihanna and Rocky announced they were expecting their first child together in January 2022 after the couple were spotted strolling through New York City with the singer’s bump on full display.
Less than five months later, they welcomed their son, RZA Athelston Mayers, on May 13, 2022.
“Rihanna is doing well,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. “They are very excited to be parents. Rihanna is already a wonderful mom.”
However, it would be almost a year until Rihanna and Rocky’s first son’s moniker became public. RZA was named after the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, producer and rapper RZA (pronounced “Rizza”), whose real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.
In his first year of life, RZA made impressive milestones, like landing his first British Vogue cover alongside his mom and dad at just 9 months old. In the shot, Rocky held RZA in his arms and gave him a kiss on the forehead as Rihanna walked ahead of the pair. In another photo, RZA sat in his mother’s lap as the two both stared directly into the camera.
The singer also told the outlet that the birth of RZA only made her and Rocky closer. “We’re best friends with a baby,” Rihanna shared. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”
ASAP ROCKY INSTAGRAM
Rihanna also hopes that RZA will inherit her love of fashion, jokingly telling Vogue in April 2022 that she’ll “have a problem” if he doesn’t. The fashion mogul’s older son even inspired Rihanna to consider creating baby clothes for Fenty.
“You know, I always thought doing kid stuff would be cliché and the obvious thing to do when you have a baby. It’s, like, the obvious next step,” she told Entertainment Tonight in November 2022. “But when I went shopping, that’s when I realized like, okay, maybe I need to start making the stuff that I want my kids to wear because it’s hard! I got my own ideas.”
For RZA’s first birthday in 2023, Rocky celebrated the occasion on Instagram, sharing photos and videos of his son with the caption, “WU TANG IZ 4 DA CHUREN 🤲” HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO MY 1st BORN . RZA❤️.”
In August 2023, RZA earned the title of “big brother” when Riot was born. He joined his family for an intimate photoshoot the following month, where the 16-month-old was pictured sitting on top of Rocky’s shoulders and holding his mother’s hand.
Riot Rose Mayers
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Rihanna and Rocky welcomed their second son, Riot, on Aug. 1, 2023. According to his birth certificate, which PEOPLE obtained, the baby was born at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles at 7:41 a.m.
Riot was making headlines long before he was born. Rihanna revealed she was expecting her second baby during the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2023, where she debuted her growing baby bump in a figure-hugging red bodysuit onstage.
Following Riot’s birth, an insider told PEOPLE that the “Diamonds” singer felt “complete.” The source shared, “Rihanna feels her family is now complete” and “it’s something she’s always wanted.”
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Like his mother, father and brother before him, Riot also holds an “R” name (Rocky’s birth name is Rakim Mayers). While Rihanna and Rocky haven’t shared the meaning behind the moniker, the rapper did release a single titled “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n)” less than two weeks before Riot was born.
The doting parents shared the first photos of Riot in September 2023, however, the little boy has changed a lot since then, according to his mom.
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