Rihanna's next album will be well worth the wait.
While running press for the launch of her latest cosmetic endeavor, Fenty Skin (dropping July 31), the “Kiss It Better” pop star also used the moment to give fans a promising update about her long-awaited ninth studio album.
"I am always working on music," the superstar said via a video chat with Entertainment Tonight. "I am always working on music and when I am ready to put it out in the way that I feel fit, it's gonna come out. And you're not going to be disappointed when it happens. It's going to be worth it."
Although the anticipation is paining her fans, Rihanna explained, "I'm not just gonna put it out just because people are waiting. It's taken this long, I'm gonna make it worth it."
The Navy has been desperately yearning for new music from the Barbadian songbird since she released her most recent full-length effort, Anti, in January 2016. Since then, a lot has been speculated about her follow-up, which has supposedly been in the works since 2017.
In December 2018, Rihanna confirmed that her next project — previously described as a reggae, dancehall-inspired album — would drop the following year. When the “Work” star shared an Instagram post advertising a Fenty product at the time, a fan asked, “But when is the album dropping Robyn? Can we have a release date for that?” to which she responded with a simple “2019.” (Obviously, we know that never happened.)
The star continued to toy with fans’ emotions in December 2019 when she hinted that R9 was done but deliberately chose not to tell her followers when they would get their first taste of the project. "Update: me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it," she teased on Instagram at the time.
As yet, R9 is still nowhere to be found — though she did appear on PARTYNEXTDOOR's "BELIEVE IT" earlier this year. Still, considering we’re living in COVID-19 pandemic times, it’s unclear whether R9 will manifest this year either.
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