Rihanna appeared gorgeously clad in black velvet for a new British Vogue cover story where the music and business mogul opened up about parenting alongside rapper A$AP Rocky, and of course, was asked about her plans to release her next album.
Though the writer appeared cautious when asking the megastar about her long-awaited — six years to be exact — ninth album, the follow-up to 2016’s “Anti,” Rihanna gave more of an answer than she’s ever offered in the years leading up to her recent Super Bowl halftime takeover.
“I want it to be this year,” she said, referring to the collection’s release date. “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.”
The story also mentions that Rihanna has not stopped recording music in the past few years, though she admits her vault of unreleased songs contains sounds and styles she’s somewhat grown out of, “almost like trying to dress like you used to dress. It’s like, ‘Ew, no. I would never wear those again.’ Your taste changes, your vibe changes,” she said.
She also noted that her 2016 album “Anti” “really is my most brilliant album,” which was easy for her to decipher in hindsight, despite feeling far from it at the moment.
“[‘Anti’] always felt like the most cohesive album I’ve ever made. When you break it down and you realize this album goes from ‘Work’ to ‘Kiss It Better’ to ‘Needed Me’ to ‘Love on the Brain’ to ‘Sex With Me’ to ‘Desperado’…And somehow it all fits and not for a second did you glitch?”
Opening up about the “pressure” attached to releasing a new, full body of work, Rihanna vocalized her doubt, adding, “If it’s not better than [‘Anti’] then it is not even worth it…[but that’s] not the right way to look at music because music is an outlet and a space to create, and you can create whatever. It doesn’t have to even be on any scale. It just has to be something that feels good. It could just be a song that I like. It literally could be that simple.”
Elsewhere in the piece, the singer chats about her late nights with her new baby and Rocky — a point the writer makes sure to emphasize at the start of the piece when readers learn the interview was conducted sometime after 3 a.m. British Vogue has also shared several pictures of the couple’s baby, along with shots of the family at the beach.
