Rihanna is back to square one on “R9.”
The 36-year-old singer told “Entertainment Tonight” at the launch of her new business venture, Fenty Hair, that she’s “starting over” on her highly anticipated ninth album, which has been dubbed “R9” by fans.
“Music for me is a new discovery. I’m rediscovering things,” she said at the event in Los Angeles on Monday. “I have been working on the album for so long that I kind of just put all that stuff aside.”
“Now I’m prepared to go back into the studio. Now I’m prepared. So I’m gonna start,” she added.
Rihanna then laughed and said under her breath, “Gimme a second.”
“So we’re starting over,” “ET” reporter Kevin Frazier said to the superstar about her album.
“Yeah, starting over,” Rihanna confirmed.
“But, I don’t wanna neglect the songs that I have,” she explained, “so I wanna go back and listen to stuff with new ears with my new perspective and see what applies and what I still am in love with.”
Rihanna has not released an album since 2016’s “ANTI.”
Fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to react to the latest update on her album.
“JUST STARTING ???” one fan tweeted.
“I’m sick of her lies,” a different fan said.
“Ain’t this the 3rd time,” another person wrote.
A fourth fan tweeted, “8 years and NOW she is starting on new music? WOW.”
At the Fenty Hair event, the Grammy winner made a joke about how her fans have been waiting so long for her next album.
“This is probably the longest I’ve ever taken to create something. No, I lied — that’s ‘R9,’ ” she said to the crowd, who started cheering at the mention of the album.
Last week, Rihanna seemingly trolled her die-hard fans by wearing an “I’m retired” T-shirt when she stepped out in New York City with beau A$AP Rocky.
“Rihanna literally said f–k yall, I’m retired 😭never getting an album from a retired queen,” one frustrated fan tweeted after seeing the photos of Rihanna’s shirt.
Another fan quipped, “Rihanna actually said don’t bother asking me for new music, ‘I’m retired’, lol.”
“Seeing Rihanna in that ‘I’m retired’ shirt broke me a little bit,” a different person posted.
The Barbadian singer previously said that she expected the album to arrive in 2023, but that obviously did not happen.
“I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year,” she said in February 2023. “But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos… And I need the right background music with the visuals. I can’t just go shoot a video to me talking.”
In April, Rihanna told ET that her new songs that she’s been working on are “so good.” She also confirmed that Rocky, 35, has been involved in making the album.
Instead of releasing “R9,” Rihanna has been focusing on her billion-dollar business, Fenty, and her two children.
She gave birth to her sons RZA and Riot in May 2022 and August 2023, respectively.
