Rihanna has been on her business, acting and philanthropy game all year.
From dedicating her time developing her Fenty Beauty empire and advocating on behalf of numerous social causes, fans were beginning to feel fearful that Rihanna’s focus on music was slipping lower on her priority list.
However, right in time for the holiday season, Rihanna gave her fans a gift in the form of coveted confirmation and reassurance, revealing her next album will in fact be arriving sometime in 2019.
After being pressed on Instagram, RiRi hopped in the comments section to respond to a fan inquiring about the release date for her next album, simply writing “2019.”
Naturally, the response was enough for fans to go absolutely wild on social media.
The singer’s ninth studio album, which currently remains nameless but is often referred to as R9, does not yet have an official release date. It will mark her first release since dropping 2016’s ANTI.
During a cover story for Vogue‘s June 2018 issue, Rihanna revealed she is also planning on releasing a reggae album, citing influences such as Bob Marley and renowned producer Supa Dups.
While it is unclear if her next album will revolve around reggae or pop or a mixture of both influences, 2019 cannot come soon enough. Additional details, such as possible collaborations or track listings, remain unknown at the time of this report.
Additionally, her vocal producer, Kuk Harrell, recently teased in an Instagram Live session that the upcoming album “is amazing. It’s incredible.”
In related news, Rihanna is also among those who turned down the offer to perform at the upcoming Super Bowl. Reps for the singer cited her support for Colin Kaepernick and his ongoing protest movement against police brutality as the driving force behind declining offers from the organizers of the NFL’s annual spectacle.
As exemplified by the onslaught of posts hyping up the 2019 confirmation on social media, members of Rihanna’s Navy fan army are optimistic we’ll be greeted with more insight into what to expect musically-speaking in the new year.
Take a look at the first sign 2019 is going to be a good, good year (at least as far as Rihanna fans are concerned) below.
