Rihanna album hiatus talk picked up this week after A$AP Rocky said the singer is back in the studio and working on new music. The rapper made the comments on The Jason Lee podcast on Wednesday, suggesting that Rihanna could be preparing to end the long wait for a follow-up to her last full album.
Rocky kept the details light, but he made clear that a project is underway. When asked about a possible collaboration album, he denied that the pair were making a double record together. He then said Rihanna was “cooking,” a remark that added to speculation among fans who have waited years for a new release from the Barbados-born star.
The questions come against a simple backdrop: Rihanna has not released a full album since Anti in 2016. Since then, she has put out singles, including songs tied to film projects. One of the best-known was Lift Me Up, released in 2022 for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Even with no album, her public profile has remained enormous through music, fashion, and beauty.
That broader career has helped keep attention on her next move. Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Fenty, has built major business interests beyond music, including Fenty Beauty and a lingerie company. Forbes has estimated her net worth at more than a billion dollars. The singer has also said she feels optimistic about a new album, telling Harper’s Bazaar last year that she felt she had “finally cracked it.”
She has also made clear that she does not want to rush out music she views as second-rate. In the same Harper’s Bazaar interview, she said she could not release anything mediocre and suggested fans who have already waited for years might as well wait longer if the result is not right.
