No one knows for certain what's brewing between Drake and Rihanna, but over the last year and a half, the rumor mill has been reporting about the status of the two stars's ambiguous relationship. With Drizzy adding the latest chapter to their story just yesterday (January 4), on his collabo with Rick Ross ("Made Men"), XXLMag.com has put together a timeline of the the Bajan beauty and the Young Money heartthrob's public affair. —Jesse Gissen

May 17, 2009 - Rihanna spotted kissing Drake at Manhattan’s Lucky Strike Lanes

The rumors of Drake and Rihanna's alleged relationship begins as a source tells the New York Post that RiRi is officially over Chris Brown, as she was seen making out with Drizzy in the West 42nd Street hotspot. "She was drinking whiskey and apple juice and making out with him all night," the spy told the paper. "They were really cute together."

Nov 24, 2009 - Rihanna interview with Angie Martinez
During a sit down with the Hot 97 radio personality, the Def Jam singer addresses the reports, saying she never dated the Canadian rapper. “Me and Drake are still friends actually,” she said. “[We hung out] a few times but no, never.”

Dec/Jan 2010 – Drake interview with XXL

During an interview for our "Doin Lines" column in the Dec/Jan 2010 issue, we asked Drake to fill in the blanks on some statements. Peep his answer on this one: “People thought I was dating Rihanna, and that was semi-true.”

April 23, 2010 – Drake debuts verse about Rihanna
During a concert, Heartbreak Drake previewed the verse 2 from “Fireworks” where he talks about Rihanna. “I'm just such a gentleman, you should give it up for me/Look at how I'm placing all my napkins and my cutlery/I could tell it wasn't love, I just thought you fuck with me/Who coulda predicted Lucky Strike will have you stuck with me/Damn, I kept my wits about me luckily/What happened between us that night, it always seems to trouble me/Now all of a sudden these gossip rags wanna cover me/And you makin’ it seem like it happened that way because of me/But I was curious/And I'll never forget it baby, what an experience/You coulda been the one but it wasn't that serious/There was smoke in the air before, that was me clearin it/That felt good, all in all I learned a lesson from it though/You never see it comin, you just get to see it go/Yeah, I shoulda looked up in the sky at first/Now I could see it in her eyes, fireworks.


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June 9, 2010 - Drake interview with The New York Times

In a Q&A session with the gray lady, One Take Drake revealed how RiRi broke his heart. “I was a pawn,” he said of the relationship. “You know what she was doing to me? She was doing exactly what I’ve done to so many women throughout my life, which is show them quality time, then disappear,” he said. “I was like, wow, this feels terrible.”

June 10, 2010 - Rihanna interview with E!

While in Israel for a performance at the Orange Rockcorps concert, E!’s Ben Lyons asked Rihanna about her thoughts on working with Drake. Saying she would love to, she adds, “He’s very talented and one of the illest lyricists.”

June 15, 2010 – Drake interview with V103
Drake opened up even more about his relationship with Rihanna during his appearance on the Frank and Wanda show on the Atlanta radio station. "I’m in such a confident position that I’m almost numb to feeling small,” he said about the RiRi situation. “It’s been so long since a woman has made me feel small and that’s a real emotion. When you want to be a part of a woman’s life and you are nervous, all of these things that maybe I was when I was 15 or 16, it’s just been a while since I felt like that.”

Sept 24, 2010 –Drake interview with MTV
In a short convo with the folks at MTV, Drizzy reveals that he has a new song coming with Rihanna.


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October 15, 2010 - "What’s My Name" Leaks

Just weeks after he speaks to MTV about his new song with RiRi, the track hits the internets. On the collabo, Drake spits “I heard you good with them soft lips
/Yeah you know word of mouth
/The square root of 69 is 8 something
/Cuz I’ve been tryna work it out/Oooow
/Good weed, white wine/
I come alive in the night time/OK, away we go
/Only thing we have on is the radio
/Ooooh Let it play/Say you gotta leave
 but I know you wanna stay/You just waiting on the traffic jam to finish girl
/The things we could do in twenty minutes girl/Say my name, say my name
, wear it out/It's getting hot, crack a window, air it out
/I can get you through a mighty long day/
Soon as you go, the text that I write is gon’ say…

November 12, 2010 - The video for "What's My Name" drops
Fans watch the two artists got hot and steamy for the cameras

November 15, 2010 – Rihanna interview with Ed Lover
RiRi responds to Drake’s comments from The Times story. “I would definitely say, that was wrong, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” she said about Drake saying he was played like a pawn. “We just became friends and we left it at that. We get along really well. Drake has a youthful thing about him and he is very melodic with the way he writes and I felt I needed someone like that for ‘Whats My Name.’”

December 2010 - Rihanna Breaks up with boyfriend?
Rumors hit the web that the Def Jam singer is no longer with her baseball boyfriend, Matt Kemp.

January 4, 2010 – Rick Ross previews Drake’s verse from “Made Men”

Drake drops a bomb on the rumor mill, with this line from his new song with the Boss,“One of my baddest women ever, I call her Rihanna… / But that’s ’cause her name is Rihanna...”

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