LOS ANGELES, Aug 6 — Rihanna fans may finally have reason to celebrate after her long-time partner A$AP Rocky revealed the superstar is back in the studio working on her long-awaited next album.
The rapper shared the update during an appearance on The Jason Lee Show, where he was asked if he was the reason fans were still waiting for Rihanna’s first studio album since 2016.
“Nah,” he replied, according to The Hollywood Reporter and other news outlets, including the BBC.
“She in the studio right now. Yeah, I said it. Sorry, babe.”
Rocky then admitted he may have let the secret slip.
“Bro, she working. She cooking, no funny s***. D***, I’mma get in trouble for this. Her fans are going to kill me.”
Rihanna’s last studio album, Anti, was released in 2016 and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The album produced hits including Work, Needed Me, Love on the Brain and Desperado.
Although she has not released another studio album since then, Rihanna has recorded several soundtrack singles, including Lift Me Up and Born Again for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, as well as Friend of Mine for Smurfs.
The singer has previously said she has been reworking the long-awaited project, popularly referred to by fans as R9, and revisiting earlier material with a fresh perspective.
She also said in 2024 that her creative process had changed, with visual ideas now coming before the music.
Rocky also dismissed the idea of recording a full-length collaborative album with Rihanna.
“Nope,” he said in the podcast.
“I would hate Rocky and Rihanna if they both did that. That’s trash. Nobody wants to hear us together, bro.”
He explained that he prefers to keep their music separate because he sees his style as appealing to a more niche audience.
