Volunteer Angharad Davis brings us everything we know so far about Rihanna’s upcoming album, R9.
2018 was a strong year for R&B and Hip-hop, with new albums dominating the charts by artists such as Cardi B and Drake. However, 2019 looks promising for Bad Gal Riri to finally make a comeback to music this year and reclaim her throne with her much anticipated 9th album being realised.
Rihanna’s last album Anti has just celebrated its 3 year ‘Anti-versary’, yet still appears on today’s Billboard 200 charts. Anti hit double platinum with chart-toppers such as “Work feat. Drake” and “Consideration feat. SZA”, and landed Rihanna on the Forbes list for having the first album in history to send eight tracks to the top of the charts. So, it’s safe to say we have high expectations for her next album.
The much anticipated album release date has not yet been confirmed, but Rihanna’s producer let it slip in a recent interview that the star is still “cooking”, but she is “super close.”
Having been busy with multiple other projects, including her revolutionary make-up line Fenty Beauty, and fashion ventures in the form of Savage x Fenty and her Fenty Puma collections, her return to the music industry has been long awaited. The pop icon has been dropping subtle hints on her Instagram and Twitter pages while her fans – the Rihanna Navy – have been non-stop speculating what the 9th album has in store.
Fans have unofficially named the album ‘R9’ and rumours of its content have been circulating since April 2018. Some of her fans suspect that the album will be in two parts, with one half being “friendly chart toppers” and the other being “moody and experimental”. Others suspect that the album will be influenced by Jamaican reggae artist Supa Dubs. As declared by Rihanna herself, she wants to “give people a taste of the Caribbean and show them the fun side of [her].”
Having reportedly recorded 500 tracks, Rihanna and her producers have narrowed the album down to only 10 songs which will be included in the album, therefore, we can expect that their choice of songs will successfully top the charts.
All we can say is: Rihanna, Please Don’t Stop the Music ever again!
Featured image by: Makenzie Bardgett & Amie Woodyatt
