As 2023 comes to a close, a new contender for the “Meme of the Year” has emerged, thanks to the infectious laugh of none other than Rihanna herself. During the inaugural running of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, both 35-year-olds, ASAP Rocky and Rihanna, were in attendance.
During an interview on November 17th, something caught ASAP Rocky by surprise. He stopped mid-sentence, listened intently, and then asked, “What the f—ck was that? What was that?” It turns out, it was Rihanna’s laughter off-camera, and thus, a meme was born.
A photographer named Issa Khari shared the perfect addition to everyone’s reaction GIF folder on X (formerly known as Twitter), saying, “New #gif for the people dem… do y’all thang!” One fan playfully speculated that ASAP Rocky’s reaction was due to being aware of Lewis Hamilton’s presence, noting Rihanna’s past association with the Formula 1 superstar.
Mostly, fans found ASAP Rocky’s reaction to be hilarious. One fan gushingly wrote, “Chile, ASAP heard Rihanna’s giggle and lost his train of thought tryna figure out who was making his woman laugh! Aww,” while another added, “That video of ASAP hearing Rihanna laugh is cracking me up so bad because IKTR.” Some fans initially thought Rocky believed Rihanna was crying, while others simply celebrated his attentiveness towards his beloved.
During the race weekend, ASAP Rocky spoke about how he doesn’t feel the need to collaborate with Rihanna on a song because they’ve already created something beautiful together at home. “I think we do a real great job at collaborating [by] making children,” he expressed. Their first son, RZA, was born in May 2022. Rihanna revealed her second pregnancy during the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime show and gave birth to their second son, Riot Rose, in August.
“I think that’s our best creation so far!” Rocky playfully remarked about their “collaboration” as parents. “Nothing is better than [RZA and Riot] out there. I mean, we had a third designer come and help, a ghost designer named God, [who] shaped everything. And we had these beautiful angels, so that’s the best collaboration.”
It may be some time before we hear any new music from ASAP Rocky, as he prioritizes fatherhood. He described how being a dad has become his main focus in an interview with Vogue, stating, “There’s not enough hours on the clock now that I’m a dad. I don’t have all day to create, but it’s all in the pursuit of happiness.”
