She was already musically influenced by her mother as she listened to exotic and various genres of music from all over the world starting from jazz and soul, to Indian and Arabic music. As her family was open-minded to experience, she attended many Haitian Vodou ceremonies, learning both the beautiful and eerie parts of Vodou culture. When Riva was fifteen she had to leave Haiti and return to New York because of the dangerous condition of Haiti due to the 2004 Haitian coup d'état.