Rihanna Got Extremely Real About The Nearly 10-Year Wait For A New Album, Like, I Don't Think She's Been This Candid Before

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Rihanna is a modern-day Renaissance woman, to say the least.

As a music artist, she's secured seven diamond-certified singles, 14 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, nine Grammys, and an Oscar nomination.

In 2023, she performed one of the most-watched Super Bowl halftime shows while pregnant with her second child.

And she continues to push units well into 2024 despite not releasing a new album for nearly 10 years.

Anti, Rihanna's eighth studio album, has held over the fans of her music for the last decade as the Barbadian superstar dominated other ventures — fashion, beauty, and motherhood.

Rihanna's ability to do it all (and do it well) was illustrated in a rare Feb. 22 interview with Harper Bazaar's Lynette Nylander.

Listen, the almost 10-year hiatus had the Rihanna fandom, forever seeking a new album, ready to give up.

Now, Rihanna, who gave birth to her sons, RZA, in 2022 and Riot in 2023, has reached a point of clarity that's finally providing sound answers about her future projects. "I think clarity is an evolution in itself. I think people have moments where you have to either get sick of yourself, have something that is completely mind-altering, or come to an understanding of your pain, of your journey," she told Lynette.

Motherhood certainly shifted the trajectory of Rihanna's career. While we were pining for new music, she was learning to embrace her new lifestyle, helming a fashion house, a luxury beauty brand, and a family. "My legacy is right now. That's all I have the most control over. My legacy is what I do with my time at this moment. How am I present with the people around me? How am I grateful? How am I making this a happy moment? How am I making a memory?"

Presently, Rihanna is the new face of Dior's marquee fragrance, J'adore. She's the innovator of the fashion house Fenty. She's the face behind Fenty Beauty. And she's mommy to RZA and Riot, whom she shares with her partner A$AP Rocky, aka Rakim Athelaston Mayers.

From the outside looking in, it's almost as if music's taken the backseat, but that couldn't be further from the truth. After spending quality time listening to Anti, Rihanna shared that it reinforced where she wants to take her next era. "I used to always have shame. I actually don't like listening to my music, but Anti—I can listen to the album. It's like it's not me singing it, if I'm just listening to it."

"I think music is my freedom. I just came to that realization," she said. "I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years."

While speculation has pointed in the direction of reggae for the genre of her ninth studio album, Rihanna shut that down in the interview. "There's no genre now. That's why I waited," she continued. "Every time, I was just like, 'No, it's not me. It's not right. It's not matching my growth. It's not matching my evolution. I can't do this. I can't stand by this. I can't perform this for a year on tour.'"

While she's not too forthcoming about the new music, she's "optimistic" about it. "This feels right. It feels like it digs right into where I need to be, and I want this. This body needs to come out, and I'm ready to go there."

"I've been in the studio the whole eight years," she said. "But it didn't hit me. I was searching for it. I went through phases of what I wanted to do. 'This kind of album, not that album.' I know it's not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it's not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It's going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now."

Suppose you're like me, anxiously awaiting new music for the last nine years, carefully watching Rihanna's every move, and getting into late-night arguments with friends over when she'll possibly perform at music festivals.

Read the full interview with Harper's Bazaar here.

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