Rihanna teases that her long-awaited album is “amazing”

Building a beauty empire and growing her family have not completely stolen Rihanna away from plans to debut new music. Her last album, ANTI, was released in 2016, and fans have been eagerly waiting for a new full-length project ever since.

In a new interview with Extra, she gushed, "It's gonna be amazing," when asked what exactly her loyal following, dubbed The Navy, can expect from her. "It has to be,” she added. “That is the only reason it's not out yet. If I'm not feeling it, and I am not feeling like it represents the evolution and the time I spent away, there should be a show of growth... I want to… show truly where I am at" she explained. Details about a possible release date were not divulged.

Many were hopeful that a new album drop was imminent in 2023. Ahead of her Super Bowl LVII halftime show, the “Where Have You Been” singer said that she was musically open and wanted to have fun while recording new gems. “I’m feeling open to exploring, discovering [and] creating things that are new, things that are different, things that are off, weird, [that] might not ever make sense to my fans. You know, the people that know the music that I put out,” she said in an Apple Music interview. “I just want to play. I want to have fun. I want to have fun with music.”

At that time, the latest offerings from her were “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again," two tracks that were featured on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The aforementioned ballad, “Life Me Up,” garnered her a performance at the 2023 Oscars, where she was nominated for Best Original Song. While listeners’ playlists may not have a new project to press play on, that has not discouraged them from enjoying her catalog, which includes 63 records that have landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Last week, on April 22, one of her biggest hits, “Diamonds,” reached a major milestone when the RIAA declared it reached diamond status, having surpassed 10,000,000 units sold. The dance-infused track appeared on her 2012 album Unapologetic. She previously achieved the feat when her and Calvin Harris’ 2011 collaboration “We Found Love” earned the impressive declaration in April 2023.

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