“Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is almost over… hopefully.
Rihanna has opened up about her highly anticipated next album, a project that has sparked nearly a decade of speculation since her 2016 album “Anti.”
In a recent Harper’s Bazaar interview, she addressed the intense anticipation for her new music, stating, “I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this.”
However, she acknowledged past teases, including the possibility of a reggae-influenced album, saying, “I know I kept saying this over the years… that idea is actually way off!”
“There’s no genre now,” she explained. “That’s why I waited. Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour.’”
She emphasized the importance of her next project, saying, “It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.”
While she didn’t provide a release date, Rihanna expressed confidence in her new music, stating, “It feels right. It feels like it digs right into where I need to be, and I want this. This body needs to come out, and I’m ready to go there.”
Despite her absence from the music scene, she revealed she’s been in the studio for the past eight years.
“This is becoming my new freedom, because when I’m in the studio, I know that my time away from my kids is to blossom something that hasn’t been watered in eight years. I’ve been in the studio the whole eight years,” she said.
“But it didn’t hit me. I was searching for it. I went through phases of what I wanted to do. ‘This kind of album, not that album.’ I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now,” she added.
Besides her studio work, Rihanna has also built her Fenty empire, performed at the Super Bowl, and had two children with A$AP Rocky.
Now seems like the perfect time for her musical return.”
