R9 is On The Way.
Nearly three years since her last album, it appears as though Rihanna will release her ninth studio album in 2019. Taking to Instagram, RiRi told a fan that the wait for an ANTI follow-up may soon be over.
On Friday (Dec. 21), she responded to a fan who commented on a Fenty Beauty post. “But when is the album dropping Robyn? Can we have a release date for that?” asked the fan, to which she replied, “2019.”
🚨 #R9 alert: Rihanna confirmed on Instagram that her new album is dropping in 2019 🚨 pic.twitter.com/oSPfEqbhA9
— Rihanna News (@TeamOfRihanna) December 22, 2018
Her vocal producer Kuk Harrell also teased the album earlier this week. “R9 is great. R9 is amazing. It’s incredible, And that’s all I’m going to say,” he said in response to a fan on social media.
RiRi has reportedly been working on two albums, a pop-oriented album and a dancehall project. The pop album supposedly features production from top hitmakers including Boi-1da and Skrillex, while Rolling Stone reports that she has 500 records for the dancehall disc, which explores her Caribbean roots.
“She’s currently recording two albums – one full of chart-friendly songs, and another made up of moody and experimental tracks – and is considering releasing a double disc if she feels the songs won’t mesh well on the same album,” says another source (via NME).
R9 will mark the follow-up to 2016’s ANTI, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was certified 3x platinum.