Rihanna is ‘prepared to go back in the studio’ to work on ‘R9’

Rihanna says she is “prepared to go back in the studio” to continue work on her long-awaited ninth album.

Nearly seven years after releasing her album Anti, Rihanna returned in October of 2022 with the release of ‘Lift Me Up’.

Now, at a new Fenty Hair launch party, Rihanna hinted that she has scrapped much of the existing work on her new album, but is ready to enter the studio again to finish the album.

As Entertainment Tonight report, she said: “Music for me is a new discovery, I’m rediscovering things. I have been working on the album for so long that I just kind of put all that stuff aside.

“And now, I’m prepared to go back in the studio. Now I’m prepared, so I’m gonna start.”

She added that she will also be approaching previously written songs with “new ears” and a “new perspective” when continuing work on the album.

Back in April, Rihanna shared an update on her long-awaited new album, saying that the new music will present “a show of growth”.

She said: “It’s gonna be amazing. It has to be — that is the only reason it’s not out yet. If I’m not feeling it and I’m not feeling like it represents the evolution, the time I spent away. There should be a show of growth, right?”

She continued: “I want to play, and I feel like music is a playground, and I want to have fun with it and show truly where I am at.”

At the start of last year, Rihanna said that musically she was “feeling open”. Speaking at an Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show press conference ahead of her performance, she explained: “I’m feeling open to exploring, discovering, creating things that are new, things that are different, things that are off, weird, might never make sense to my fans. I just want to play, I want to have fun with music.”