- Rihanna let slip the name of her new album will be R9
- The singer is thought to be creating a Reggae album, which will hark back to her Caribbean roots
- She denied collaborations with Lady Gaga and Drake in the ‘foreseeable future.’
- The new album is expected to drop sometime this year
Rihanna has let slip that she is making a reggae album.
The popstar confirmed she would be going back to her Caribbean roots last year in a magazine cover story, but this is the first time she has gone on the record to confirm the rumours.
It will be a departure from Rihanna’s usual hip-hop inspired pop music. The album release date remains unclear, but Rihanna has said that it will probably be tilted ‘R9’ as a nod to her fan base that call themselves ‘the Navy’.
“I’m about to call it that probably, ’cause they have haunted me with this ‘R9, R9, when is R9 coming out?'” Rihanna explained in an interview with New York Times T Magazine. “How will I accept another name after that’s been burned into my skull?”
The singer also discussed the long-rumoured collaboration with Lady Gaga. “Maybe because she followed me on Instagram… It’s not in the books right now, but I’m not against it” explained Rihanna.
Rihanna also said that she doesn’t think she’ll be working with Drake in the foreseeable future. “Not anytime soon, I don’t see it happening. Not on this album, that’s for sure”.
Rihanna hasn’t released a proper full-length album since 2016.
Last year an anonymous source told Rolling Stone that the singer’s team had received more than 500 proposals for the album from different producers and music writers.
“They’re only choosing ten records,” he said, “they’ve been having writing camps and trying to keep them quiet for almost a year and a half now”.
