Rihanna has no time to make a guy feel like he’s the only boy in the world right now.

“Guys need attention,” she explained. “They need that nourishment, that little stroke of the ego that gets them by every now and then.

“I’ll give it to my family, I’ll give it to my work — but I will not give it to a man right now.”

In an interview with the New York Times Style Magazine, she revealed what attracts her to a man, saying: “I’m turned on by guys who are cultured. That’ll keep me intrigued.

“They don’t have to have a single degree, but they should speak other languages or know things about other parts of the world or history or certain artists or musicians. I like to be taught.”

Rihanna has previously dated rapper Chris Brown, who was given a restraining order after hitting her in 2009. They later reunited, but Chris confirmed in 2013 that they had split. The singer has also dated Matt Kemp, and is rumoured to have dated Drake.

Rihanna and Chris Brown in 2012
Rihanna and Chris Brown in 2012 (Alex Gallardo/AP)

The 27-year-old, who grew up in Barbados before moving to America to pursue a music career, also spoke out about racism in the industry. She said: “You know, when I started to experience the difference — or even have my race be highlighted — it was mostly when I would do business deals.

“And, you know, that never ends, by the way. It’s still a thing. And it’s the thing that makes me want to prove people wrong. It almost excites me; I know what they’re expecting and I can’t wait to show them that I’m here to exceed those expectations.

“But I have to bear in mind that those people are judging you because you’re packaged a certain way — they’ve been programmed to think a black man in a hoodie means grab your purse a little tighter.”

Rihanna
Rihanna (Ben Margot/AP)

She added: “For me, it comes down to smaller issues, scenarios in which people can assume something of me without knowing me, just by my packaging.”

She said she was feeling more comfortable with her success these days – but wasn’t letting herself relax: “Only now are things hitting me, like I’m feeling them emotionally. I used to feel unsafe right in the moment of an accomplishment — I felt the ground fall from under my feet because this could be the end.

“And even now, while everyone is celebrating, I’m onto the next thing. I don’t want to get lost in this big cushion of success.”

Rihanna
(John Shearer/Invision)

Despite insisting she had no immediate plans to have a child, Rihanna said she is fascinated by childbirth.

“Like, I will be sitting around Googling childbirth,” she said. “Childbirth is putting it the not-gross way. I was searching the size of certain things, and how much they expand, and then what happens after…”

On why she runs her Instagram herself, she said: “That’s the only way it’ll actually work. My fans can sniff the BS from very far away. I cannot trick them.”