From now, many Igbo people, Nigerians and Africans in general are bound to look at the essence of superstar singer, Rihana, from a more intimate perspective.
The reason is that the artiste real named Robyn Rihanna Fenty has declared that she is Igbo.
According to the Barbadian singer, actress, fashion designer, who was recently pronounced a billionaire and officially one of the wealthiest female musicians in the world, her real origin to her as she noted she is primarily an Igbo woman.
She was quoted as saying in an interview: “My mom told me that I am originally an Igbo woman. Igbo is a tribe in Africa.”
While the last has yet to be heard about the identity disclosure, a peep into her rich biography provides a clue that supports what her mum said.
She was, for instance, born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados.
“She is the daughter of accountant Monica (née Braithwaite) and warehouse supervisor Ronald Fenty. Her mother is an Afro-Guyanese, while her father is a Barbadian of African and Irish descent.
Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father’s side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships. She grew up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. 
Her childhood was deeply affected by her father’s alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction, which contributed to her parents’ strained marriage. Rihanna’s father used to physically abuse her mother, and Rihanna would try to get in between them to break up fights.
As a child, Rihanna had many CT scans for the excruciating headaches she suffered, recalling, “The doctors even thought it was a tumor, because it was that intense.”
By the time she was 14, her parents had divorced, and her health began to improve. She grew up listening to reggae music. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere School, where she studied alongside future international cricketers Chris Jordan and Carlos Brathwaite.
Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme, where the later Barbadian singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant. Although she initially wanted to graduate from high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead.
