In a new interview in the September issue in German Maxim, Rihanna says she’s not going to slack off like Britney when the interviewer asks her about it. It’s pretty telling that she sounds so matter-of-fact about it, as if it’s a given that Britney is messing up.

She also said that she has no time for a boyfriend, and that she has never been drunk and has only had a couple drinks at a time.

Do we have to be afraid of you?
Nonsense, why?

Because your new album is called „Good girl gone bad“ and bad girls do wicked things.
Overall/By and large I am still good/endearing.

So the title is only play?
Yes and no. So, I don’t do stupid things now, wack out completelly or get wasted every night. On the other side I am at an age now where I want to dare more and can go further then so far.

What was the latest crazy thing you did?
I got a tatoo - while I was interviewed. We were sitting at a tatoo studio in New York and I thought. Come on Rihana, since you are here already, you can do it. So I got a Sanskrit tatoo on my lower back.

On your butt?
No, a little higher.

Is that your first tatoo?
No, it is already the fourth. I also have clef on my on my right foot and a little tatoo in my right and left ear.

I am sure your boyfriend thinks the tatoos are totally sexy.
Boyfriend? No. I have to pass. Unfortunately I have no time for that.

Can men trust you anyway or are you very trustworthy?
I never cheated on a boy with whom I was together. However, my experiences with love affairs are still limited.

Do you ask yourself sometimes how it came that went up all the way?
Of course. Especially in the beginning I was truely shocked. I was only 17 and people could buy my records all over the world. I am a girl from Barbados – what did I know about the world three years ago? I never would have thought that I ever would travel to Germany – that is absolutely crazy.

What influence has the success on you? Are you more arrogant, bitchier?
I don’t think so. I don’t want that. In reality I am quite shy, maybe that is perceived as arrogant.

Shy? As a pop star?
Now you are shocked, aren’t you? It already got better. Before I was incredibly irritated by my shyness. I was fed up with this girl who didn’t have the heart to do things and was always afraid.

Is that the reason you changed your styling? It appears now…
… more mature, I know. Two years you could’nt have dressed up so provocative. I wasn’t allowed to. My manager didn’t allow to much openness/candidness. Now I also wear belly free clothes and hot pants. I like it sexy.

Did you ever get wasted?
I do like to go out. Here in Europe I allowed to drink alcohol. I never have been really drunk. One, two cocktails, that’s it.

Are you afraid to end up like Britney Spears?
No, I am not afraid of that. That doesn’t suit me. I am not going to slip off / slump. It just began to take off.

[From German Maxim scans available on ONTD. Translated by my husband.]

19 year-old Rihanna was born in Barbados and was discovered at 15 when she met a music producer on vacation there with his family. Prior to that she had performed with school singing groups and won a 2004 beauty pageant. The producer made some recordings with her and sent them out to other record companies. She was eventually picked up by Def Jam after Jay Z heard her demo. [Details from Wikipedia]

In an interview in the June issue of Giant Magazin, Rihanna said that her father was addicted to crack cocaine while she was growing up, but that he kicked the habit.

I’m not really buying the fact that she’s never been drunk, but it could be true. In Barbados the drinking age is 18, but younger children can drink in the presence of their family. Maybe she realized early on that it wasn’t really worth it to get wasted, especially considering her father’s drug addiction.

Rihanna is a kick ass performer, but I’m not too fond of her music. I hate the repetitive stuff that gets stuck in your head. Just thinking about her makes me think “SOS, baby…” over and over again. Some people want to hear those songs once they have them reeling around their brain and I guess that’s how they get so popular. Me, I just want to forget them.

Thanks to ONTD for these pics.