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For the most part, Rihanna, 31, has remained mum about what fans will see when she releases her ninth studio album, however, a source close to the singer EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife new details about the long-awaited record. Get ready, Navy, because it sounds like this is shaping up to be one special album! “As of last month Rihanna was still requesting songs from producers and writers, she has so many great songs, but until she‘s a thousand percent satisfied she isn’t putting out the album and only Rihanna knows when that will be,” the insider says. “She is well aware that her fans want the album and she of course has been getting tons of pressure from the label to put it out but she‘s just not the type of person to compromise her vision to give in to demands. She‘s still promising to get it out this year but no one is going to be that shocked if she pushes the release again, she does what she wants and no one can really tell her otherwise.” HollywoodLife has reached out to one of Rihanna’s reps for comment.
It’s been three years since we’ve seen a new set of music from Riri, but there’s a reason the singer is taking her time with the follow-up to 2016’s ANTI. “Rihanna keeps adding songs when she should start to think what songs to put on her album, since it is going to be a ten to twelve song album. There were thoughts to do a double album, but what has won out is to do a single album of her favorite tracks she has recorded. She has definite picks that are going to be on it, but there are still some thoughts on adding certain tracks because she has a lot of good music recorded. So, the current problem and good problem to have in her eyes is that she has many good ideas and is still recording. She is just looking for all the gems,” another source tells us.
So — when will we finally see the highly-anticipated release hit streaming services? “There is some pressure though as her record company wants a single out soon and would love the album to come out this holiday season around Black Friday. Its close to being locked down but there is still some work to be done,” our insider says.
While we DO know that the Barbados born singer is cooking up a Reggae album, we have yet to hear her speak out on the album’s title. “Unless she gets inspired by something else in the next few months the title of the album will be R9, or that will be the unofficial title of the album when it comes out. Its kind of like how fans of The Beatles call their ninth album The White Album. Not officially the name of the album but the life it took made it so. Since R9 is being used all over social media Rihanna thinks that if she doesn’t name it that then her fans will call it that anyways. So the expected title front runner is R9,” the source explains.