It’s been nearly a decade since Rihanna has released new music and the 37-year-old is out to prove to fans there is “worth in the wait.”
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Rihanna recently shared with Harper’s Bazaar that she’s made some big strides with R9 — the fan-given nickname for the forthcoming project. Noting she’s “finally cracked” the “why” behind the album, she’s feeling like she’s headed in the right direction after years of searching.
“I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more,” she said of her determination to find meaning with the music.
“That’s why I waited. 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,” she shared. “After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter.”
Determined to stick with it, RiRi feels like she’s finally locked in and ready to move forward. “This feels right. It feels like it digs right into where I need to be, and I want this,” she shared of the project’s current state. “This body needs to come out, and I’m ready to go there. This is becoming my new freedom because when I’m in the studio, I know that my time away from my kids is to blossom something that hasn’t been watered in eight years.”
While she’s still keeping most of the details under wraps, Rihanna did share the new music will fall under the category of “unexpected. “I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects,” she revealed. “And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!”