Beautiful tropical fish Rihanna has been absent from our earholes for two years, with no new albums having dropped since 2016’s excellent Anti. Of course, I for one play all her old bangers every damn day, but some fresh tunes wouldn’t go astray, right?
[jwplayer Jbl47qFO]
Well, Riri has apparently heard our prayers and she is delivering, big time. Rolling Stone is reporting that the singer has not one, but two albums in the works: a dancehall / reggae-influenced number and a pop album.
The outlet has spoken to eight (!) unnamed peeps involved with the dancehall project, with one source saying:
[Rihanna’s team] have, no lie, 500 records for this project [from] different producers and writers. They’re only choosing 10 records. They’ve been having writing camps and trying to keep them quiet for almost a year and a half now. I’ve been flying to Miami, flying to L.A., cutting records nonstop for this project.
Two of the sources also told Rolling Stone that “the singer is simultaneously at work on another pop-oriented album”.
Bahamas-born Rihanna first teased the idea of working on a reggae-influenced project in the June issue of US Vogue, saying it was inspired by her love of Bob Marley. The cover story’s writer, Chioma Nnandi, said in the yarn:
She plans to make a reggae album. Though it’s too soon to name a full list of collaborators, one early influence may be Supa Dups, the Jamaican-born record producer who has worked with such dancehall greats as Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and Elephant Man.
While neither album currently has a release date, can I just say Rihanna: our ears and bodies are ready.
