Rihanna confirms new album coming this year and opens up about feeling ‘toxic pressure’
Rihanna has been nothing short of iconic this past week. (Getty)
It’s the news fans have been waiting for and hoping to hear: pop superstar Rihanna has announced a new album will be released later this year.
During an interview with British Vogue magazine on Wednesday (15 February), the R&B singer confirmed she is working on her ninth studio album.
She made waves throughout the pop world following her halftime performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday (12 February), after a six-year hiatus, when she also revealed that she’s pregnant for the second time.
Since then, the Umbrella star has yet again become the main character of the world, having been picked alongside her partner A$AP Rocky and her nine-month-old son as British Vogue’s March 2023 cover model.
During the interview, she discussed her pregnancy, dealing with stardom, and what she puts herself through to create the best albums she can after having had so many hits.
“There’s this pressure I put on myself,” she told journalist Giles Hattersley. “It’s toxic.
“When you come off of an album like Anti… in hindsight, it really is my most brilliant album. I say that because, in the moment, I didn’t realise it.”
Although there were some less-than-positive reviews, the majority of fans, and Rihanna herself, agree that Anti’s unrelentingly diverse and expressive tunes make it one of the most important and significant albums of her career.
Coming off of the back of that in 2016, producing her upcoming studio album will be no small feat, but as Rihanna said, she is up for the task.
“I want it to be this year,” she said. “Honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year.
“But I just want to have fun. I want to make music and make videos, and I need the right background music with the visuals.
“I can’t just go shoot a video of me talking,” she joked.
Despite the pressure she puts on her musical expression, Rihanna reiterated that she is currently very happy.
Her pregnancy is going well, she added, although one of her biggest concerns is on what to wear after giving birth.
She faced a similar issue after having her son in May 2022, saying that everything she wore was too big or too small.
“Dressing for pregnancy was such a piece of cake, but dressing in postpartum, what the f**k do you do?
“The week that I came home from the hospital, that was nothing but sweats and hoodies. But the weeks after that, you don’t know what to put on.”
