Rihanna - 9th Album

S

Suburbia

The false start of the big "comeback" with the soundtrack single and Superbowl followed by no new album and more "when it's time" quotes should have massively readjusted expectations by now, so if she can't appear at events or be asked about music without fans having another tantrum that's really on you.
 
johnoclock

johnoclock

It's obvious it's not a priority, maybe she played around a bit in the studio and the magic wasn't there (obvious from the released tracks) but while I understand her not wanting to disappoint fans by saying "my focus is elsewhere now" I wish she would just rip off the bandaid and just say it's not coming. It's literally ridiculous at this point.
 
Trousers

Trousers

johnoclock said:
It's obvious it's not a priority, maybe she played around a bit in the studio and the magic wasn't there (obvious from the released tracks) but while I understand her not wanting to disappoint fans by saying "my focus is elsewhere now" I wish she would just rip off the bandaid and just say it's not coming. It's literally ridiculous at this point.
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Why does she have to say it though? Her actions have shown it's not coming for years now, so any expectations to the contrary are fans' own fault? Other, I guess than playing the Super Bowl, but even that is pretty much always more a vehicle to shore up the popularity of your back catalogue rather than being a vehicle for launching a new album.

She probably does have intentions to release new music at some point, and I think she visits the studio regularly enough (?) that saying it's definitively not coming is probably a lie. If people would let her be and stop building expectations and pressure up she might actually get more connected with the process and enjoy making music for the fun of it. Or maybe not, and she is done with it. There's plenty of other great music out there, and given that she saw fit to release Lift Me Up, how can everyone feel so sure R9 would even be high quality?
 
Butterfly

Butterfly

kal said:
This is such a weird take, though. She’s Rihanna. I bet she gets access to the absolute crème of the crop in terms of potential hits.
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You could say this about so many pop girls that have faltered after a great album, though. Having the best submissions doesn't = the ability to put together a great body of work, particularly if you're not going for straightforward pop. She's trying to make another ANTI not Loud.

I think she just lost the passion for it, which is sad but she gave us so much already. I'm sure it will come back to her one day - and I'd rather wait than get something half baked.
 
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j267

j267

I do think that the pregnanccy has messed up her plans. If the Glastonbury headline slot was pretty much in the bag (as multiple sources have suggested) I can imagine this comeback was initially planned to be a lot more grand. Black Panther > Superbowl > single > album >Glastonbury > tour.

Now she's back to the delaying tactics to hopefully try again around Q4.
 
johnoclock

johnoclock

Trousers said:
Why does she have to say it though? Her actions have shown it's not coming for years now, so any expectations to the contrary are fans' own fault? Other, I guess than playing the Super Bowl, but even that is pretty much always more a vehicle to shore up the popularity of your back catalogue rather than being a vehicle for launching a new album.

She probably does have intentions to release new music at some point, and I think she visits the studio regularly enough (?) that saying it's definitively not coming is probably a lie. If people would let her be and stop building expectations and pressure up she might actually get more connected with the process and enjoy making music for the fun of it. Or maybe not, and she is done with it. There's plenty of other great music out there, and given that she saw fit to release Lift Me Up, how can everyone feel so sure R9 would even be high quality?
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Because the whole "something is happening" teasing without anything actually happening is probably torture for anyone still invested in her music. She keeps saying it's coming but her body language and attitude keep saying "I couldn't care less" so maybe just say "it's not my priority at the moment" as a courtesy to fans. Ultimately, popstars don't owe us anything but stop being coy about it when it's pretty obvious recording is pretty low on her list of priorities.

Also, I'm not sure it's the fans fault for building expectations (?) that music isn't getting released.
 
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Butterfly

Butterfly

She probably booked the Super Bowl and orchestrated the comeback thinking it would be the pressure she needed to come up with something good - which was a very bad plan. Fans definitely can't be blamed for being annoyed over that. But now it's clear nothing's coming soon, I don't think people should need to be spoon-fed a 'I'm struggling to make something good' line to cool their expectations. It's just obvious.
 
Butterfly

Butterfly

I honestly think she should just do a full album for The Smurfs and approach it like she did her old albums. She might have a bit less hype when the next album does drop but it will ease so much pressure.
 
MusicLover1994

MusicLover1994

I think she just needs to stop saying "it's coming" when it's so obviously not

I'm still salty about this ddd



But to be honest, if she did release again I'd want something similar to her stuff pre-Anti which I don't think we will ever get, so it's not a massive loss to me.

I do find it strange that she did the Super Bowl with no real plan for a comeback though.
 
kal

kal

I still think she signed up for the Super Bowl before she found out she‘s pregnant. I kept thinking that was what stalled the release of R9, but it definitely sounds like that wasn’t it. Or at least not all of it.
 
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Someboy

Someboy

What’s the issue here? Her interview in Vogue last year cleared this all up. She thinks Anti is her best album, and if she’s going to follow it up, she has to, wait for it, believe in it.

Maybe we need to bring back @RJF ’s iconic Anti thread title?
 
Violet Chemistry

Violet Chemistry

He/him
It’s difficult because as a fan I would like her to be honest with us but do I really need her to stand there and list a hundred reasons why she isn’t releasing music at the moment? No… I can understand concerns around following up Anti, about the amount of work that goes into Fenty, having children and ultimately not getting much financial reward from an album.

But it leaves us in a weird position where she gives an easy answer or makes a throwaway comment and it doesn’t satisfy us.

I don’t know how we move on ddd…
 
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