Rihanna, who hasn't released a new album since 2016's antiwas spotted heading into a recording studio in New York City on Saturday, Jan. 18.
Now, some fans of the nine-time Grammy winner are speculating that a new album may be on the horizon, while skeptical fans are theorizing her studio time could be for something else entirely.
The “Diamonds” singer, 36, entered the studio building in the early morning hours on Saturday wearing a floor-length tan coat with fur embellishments, workout clothes and a Louis Vuitton handbag.
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Fans on
“R9 IS COMING “””””””””GET UP NAVYS WE ARE GETTING NEW ALBUM,” exclaimed one fanwhile another simply wrote“WHATTTTTT.”
More skeptical fans seemingly refused to hold out hope that the spotting might mean new music from the fashion mogul.
“She's not fooling me,” one commenter of the Fenty Beauty founder, while another fan guessed“She's recording a voice over for her Fenty ads.”
Others theorized that the sighting could mean music for Paramount's upcoming animated smurfs movie, in which Rihanna is voicing Smurfette.
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The “Work” singer has been candid about the fact that while she enjoys making music, she's been going at her own pace since welcoming sons — RZA, 2, and Riot, 17 months — with partner A$AP Rocky.
“It's very different,” Rihanna said of working post-kids during a press conference prior to her 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show. “The balance is almost impossible because no matter how you look at it, work is always something that's going to rob you of time with your child. That's the currency now, that's where it goes. The magnitude of how much it weighs.”
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In a June 2024 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Rihanna assured fans that her ninth studio album would be coming but that she wants to approach it with a fresh perspective based on where she is in life now.
“I think that music, for me, is a new discovery,” she said. “I'm rediscovering things. I've been working on the (new) album for so long that I kinda put all that stuff aside and now I'm prepared to go back in the studio.”
πI'm gonna start — give me a second!” Rihanna added. “I actually want to go back and listen to stuff with new years — with my new perspective and then see what applies and what I'm still in love with.”