Rihanna has finally broken her silence on whether baby number three is going to delay her long-teased album R9, and fans can breathe a little easier, because according to her, the answer is a solid no.
The singer, now expecting her third child with A$AP Rocky, made the big pregnancy reveal at the 2025 Met Gala, and naturally, the internet immediately panicked about the fate of R9. But Rihanna’s not letting motherhood slow her music down. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, she confirmed, “No, maybe a couple of videos,” when asked if the project would be paused again.
Fans have been on edge for nine years waiting for a follow-up to her 2016 album, Anti. The pop icon isn’t promising a release date just yet, but she’s made it clear she hasn’t dropped the ball. “I can sing!” she said with her signature sass, shutting down any suggestion that she’s out of the game. And yes, she’s pregnant again, but even that’s not getting in her way. “I’m good! I’m shockingly feeling ok and not too overwhelmed at the moment,” she shared. “At first it was kind of like, ‘Ahhh!’” but she’s back on her feet and clearly in control of her creative process.
Back in February, Rihanna told Harper’s BAZAAR that she’s been in the studio for years, going through different phases and chasing a sound that truly fits where she is now. “It didn’t hit me,” she said. “I was searching for it.” She’s ditched the commercial radio formula and is focused on letting her artistry lead the way. “It’s not going to be anything that anybody expects,” she teased. “And it’s not going to be commercial or radio-digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!”
Rihanna’s also revealed that there’s “no genre” attached to this record. She’s shaping it to reflect her growth over the past few years and wants the music to really hit after such a long wait. “It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait,” she said. She’s not settling for anything less than extraordinary. “After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more,” she joked, but that last bit of the sentence sounds more like a flex than a delay.
So no, the baby bump isn’t pushing R9 back. Rihanna’s just making sure it’s the album fans deserve.
