Life Imitating Art? Rihanna Opens Up On Link Between Abuse & Her ‘S&M’ Tendencies

Rihanna croons about her excitement over “chains and whips” in her latest chart-topping single, “S&M,” and now the stunning singer has revealed to Rolling Stone that the song’s lyrics aren’t far from the truth when it comes to her bedroom habits.

“I like to be spanked. Being tied up is fun,” the Barbados-born beauty told the mag in an interview for its April 14 issue. “I like to keep it spontaneous. Sometimes whips and chains can be overly planned – you gotta stop, get the whip from the drawer downstairs…”

While Rihanna likes to “take charge” when it comes to her career, the young pop star relishes getting a break from calling the shots behind closed doors.

“Being submissive in the bedroom is really fun. You get to be a little lady, to have somebody be macho and in charge of your s**t,” she told the mag. “That’s sexy to me. I work a lot, and I have to make a lot of executive decisions, so when it comes to being intimate, I like to feel like I’m somebody’s girl.”

However, the “Battleship” star was surprisingly candid about the tragic reason she believes she gravitates towards pain, and was quick to clarify that just because she likes a little bit of a sting here and there doesn’t mean she condones masochism.

“I do think I’m a bit of a masochist. It’s not something I’m proud of, and it’s not something I noticed until recently,” she told the mag. “I think it’s common for people who witness abuse in their household. They can never smell how beautiful a rose is unless they get pricked by a thorn.”

Rihanna claims to have witnessed her father physically abusing her mother, and after finding herself the victim of violence in 2009 at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown, the “Only Girl (In The World)” singer sought help from a therapist.

“I don’t think I saw her enough,” she told the mag, regarding the therapist she says she visited just one time following the incident. “I was like, ‘You can’t help me. I have to understand myself first.’ A lot of it was talking out my story in my head, pretending it was somebody else. I started to judge it for what it really was, instead of being biased by my heart.”

Read the full interview with Rihanna — and see the red-hot photos! – when Rolling Stone hits newsstands on Friday.