Let Rihanna do what she’s gotta do.
I don’t think there’s a greater demand for anything other than Rihanna‘s ninth studio album right now. Her last album, ANTI, came out in 2016 and for her fanbase – which the artist herself has called out for having a short attention span – this is far too long a period to go without new music. If Rihanna’s sole creative endeavor was completing #R9, maybe the rushing would be a tad more understandable. However, she juggled a staggering amount projects this past year. She runs the cosmetics empire, FENTY Beauty. There’s her lingerie line, SAVAGE x FENTY. She also became the first Black woman to collaborate with LVMH for a luxury fashion label with FENTY. Oh, and there’s that 500-page visual autobiography she recently released.
Taking all this into consideration, it makes sense that Rihanna shared an Instagram post today that said “this year has been quite an overwhelming one, and she’s] working on that ish called Balance.” Rather than commending the iconic singer for taking care herself, people obviously popped up in the comments pestering about The Album. While RiRi is probably used her nagging Navy, she replied to a comment from her close creative collaborator, Jahleel Weaver. “Where’s the album heaux?!!!” he wrote. His friend was not having it because she clapped back by saying, “I don’t need this kind negativity in my life! BLOCKT.”
Moral the story: Rihanna has a lot on her plate. We’ll get the album when we get it and all will be great.