After nine years of anticipation, Rihanna has finally confirmed that she is currently working on the production of her long-awaited ninth album, R9.
The 37-year-old pop star hasn’t released new music since her chart-topping 2016 record, Anti. And understandably, fans have been chomping at the bits for any updates on when they can expect something new from the “We Found Love” hitmaker.
Speaking last year at the launch of her make-up and fashion brand Fenty Beauty’s new haircare line, she shared that she was preparing to “go back in the studio.”
Now, more than half a year later, it appears she has at last “cracked the code” on what she wants for her new album, amid new rumours that she could be headlining Glastonbury this year.
“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. I know I kept saying this over the years,” Rihanna told Harper’s Bazaar in a new cover story.
“I’ve been in the studio the whole eight years,” she said, teasing that “it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible.”
Over the years, rumors have circulated about the album’s style. One speculation is that it would include reggae. However, she rejected the chatter, saying: “There’s no genre now. 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,’” Rihanna continued.
“After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. 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.”
Over the weekend, The Telegraph reported that Rihanna could headline Glastonbury for the first time, as she is apparently eyeing up a residency of up to six shows at London’s former Olympic Stadium (renamed to the London Stadium) between 4 to 12 July.
The shows, were they to go ahead, would take place just five days after Glastonbury Festival concludes on 29 June. The final two headliners have yet to be announced; Neil Young was confirmed in January, while Rod Stewart has been booked for the Legends Slot on the Pyramid Stage.
Elsewhere in the interview, the nine-time Grammy-winner reflected on aging as she enters a new period of her life, saying it’s “s***, but it’s also a blessing.”
Rihanna, who shares two sons, RZA and Riot, with her partner A$AP Rocky, has spent much of the last nine years focused on business ventures and motherhood.
“Getting old is s***, but it’s also a blessing,” she said. “My legacy is right now. That’s all I have the most control over. My legacy is what I do with my time at this moment. How am I present with the people around me? How am I grateful? How am I making this a happy moment? How am I making a memory?”
