Rhianna releasing new music; R9 coming this year

BROOKELYN PRIEBE, Reporter

      Is Rihanna releasing new music in 2022? Rihanna fans have been waiting for new music from her since her last album “Anti” was released in 2016,  especially students Kaila Perkins, Kayla Doll and Bella Brockmeyer.         

     Finally… Rihanna is releasing a new album. Fans are so excited for it to come out that they gave it an album name already “R9”.

     Both Doll and Brockmeyer say they are both very excited and have been waiting on this album for a while. Brockemeyer also commented on how well Rihanna “hid” her pregnancy from her fans for a bit and that that is why she believes Rihanna hasn’t released her album yet.

     According to Capitalfm, Rihanna has been teasing her fans with a glimpse into what her new album called “R9” will sound like. 

     Charlie Gunn, writer for Thefortyfive,  has also said that she is ‘teasing’ her fans by replying to a comment on an Instagram post that says, “celebrate releasing a song,” which Rihanna replies to the comment saying, “I think I should.” Then continued to say, “just 1 tho lol.” 

     Fans are wondering why it is taking so long since Rhianna hinted at her fans with an Instagram post in Dec. 2019 then in July 2020. She explained to co-star Sarah Paulson in an interview that she used to be “in the studio, only the studio, for three months straight.” Then she started balancing fashion one day “lingerie the next, beauty the next, then music the next.”  

     She continues to say that it does suck that she cannot release the album yet because she is “working on a really fun one right now… but [she is] not going to put it out until it is complete. It makes no sense to rush it, but I [she] want it out.” 

     In Nov. 2019, Rhianna did a Vogue cover and said this upcoming album is going to be more of a “reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album”, she says it is not going to be a typical reggae sounding album but “you’re going to feel the elements in all of the tracks”. 

     Rhianna continues to say “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 the 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.”

     In September 2021, Rhianna told the Associated Press that fans will not be expecting what they hear. “I’m really experimenting. Music is like fashion. You should be able to play. I should be able to wear whatever I want. I treat music the same way. So, I’m having fun and it’s going to be completely different.”