“It’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year,” Rihanna revealed of her long-awaited new record.
Rihanna is seemingly in agreement with her legions of fans that it would be “ridiculous” if her long-awaited new album doesn’t drop this year. The pop star spoke of the project, which will arrive six years after its 2016 predeccesor Anti, during a cover story for British Vogue published yesterday (February 15). “I want it to be this year,” Rihanna said in reference to the album’s release date.
“Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year,” she added. Rihanna also spoke of her intentions in writing her as-yet untitled ninth album — dubbed R9 by fans — revealing she “just want[s] to have fun [and] to make music and make videos.”
It marks perhaps her most direct address of a forthcoming album, given her well-documented avoidance of the topic in the years leading up to her Super Bowl halftime performance earlier this week.
Elsewhere in the profile, Rihanna revealed that she hasn’t stopped making music since the release of Anti, but that she may have outgrown some of the sounds and styles present in her catalogue of unreleased tracks. “[It’s] almost like trying to dress like you used to dress,” she explained.
“It’s like, ‘Ew, no. I would never wear those again.’ Your taste changes, your vibe changes.” Earlier this year, Rihanna dispelled rumours that she would debut new material during her halftime show, instead opting for a career-spanning set that included smash hits Diamonds, Bitch Better Have My Money and Umbrella.
Though her fans might be impatient as the six-year spell between releases grows ever more prolongedly, it’s not as if Rihanna has remained totally inactive. In 2017, she featured on the N.E.R.D track Lemon, and followed that up in 2020 with a verse on PartyNextDoor’s Believe It.
More recently, the singer released Lift Me Up, which marked a contribution to the soundtrack of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and scored her Best Original Song nods at nominations the Golden Globes and the upcoming Academy Awards.
