MUSIC
Is Rihanna in the studio working on new music?
The artist was picked up by her partner A$AP Rocky outside a music studio on Friday
Rihanna and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, were spotted outside a Los Angeles music studio on Friday when the pregnant singer was picked up by the rapper in his luxury SUV.
The sighting is reviving rumors that the ‘Diamonds’ singer is gearing up for her long-awaited ninth album, which she first said she was working on back in 2018.
Fans have been waiting for “R9″ since 2018
No official sources from the artist have confirmed what Rihanna may or may not have been working on at the music studio when she was picked up. The original story was reported by The Daily Mail on Saturday.
In 2018, when she was a guest on ‘The Graham Norton Show’, the singer confirmed she had a new album in the works.
“I am actually in the studio at the moment,” she told Norton. When he pressed her for a release date, she only answered: “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Later, in a 2019 Vogue cover story, Rihanna once again hyped up her impending new album.
“I like to look at it as a reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album,” she said of the new album that fans have dubbed “R9″.
“It’s not gonna be typical of what you know as reggae. But you’re going to feel the elements in all of the tracks.”
Rihanna, a native of the Caribbean island of Barbados, says that a Reggae album is natural for her.
“Reggae always feels right to me. It’s in my blood. It doesn’t matter how far or long removed I am from that culture, or my environment that I grew up in; it never leaves.
“It’s always the same high. Even though I’ve explored other genres of music, it was time to go back to something that I haven’t really homed in on completely for a body of work.”
This year, in an interview with British Vogue, the artist confirmed she’s confident about releasing music this year.
“Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
Rihanna confirms that she’s not done making music
Despite the long wait for fans, Rihanna reiterated in her Vogue interview that any delays don’t mean she’s done with music.
“Music is, like, speaking in code to the world, where they get it. It’s the weird language that connects me to them,” she explained.
“To cut that off is to cut my communication off. All of these other things flourish on top of that foundation.”
Fans are hopeful that her recent return to the stage, first at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, and later performing “Lift Me Up” from the ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ soundtrack at the 2023 Oscars means that she is preparing for a return to the world of music.
Although this may again go on the back burner after the singer revealed she is pregnant with her second child.
“When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world and do anything,” she said during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Press Conference.