Fans Clamor For New Music As Rihanna Celebrates Her Last Album's Anniversary

It's been nine years since Rihanna released new music, and her fans have continued to plead with her to do so.

The singer celebrated the ninth anniversary of her last album, "Anti," on Tuesday, and many of her fans used the opportunity to share their feelings.

Since the album's release, Rihanna has ventured fully into fashion and started a family with her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky.

The "Umbrella" singer released "Anti," her eighth studio album, on January 28, 2016.

The album featured songs like "Kiss It Better," "Work (feat. Drake)," "Desperado," and "Love on the Brain" and is regarded as one of Rihanna's best projects.

However, the musician hasn't released any new music since the release of "Anti" and has only featured in a few songs.

Although there have been hints of new music from the singer, especially after her Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February 2023, her fans continue to wait.

The singer reminded her fans of her greatness when she celebrated the ninth anniversary of "Anti" via posts on social media.

She shared a 19-second video combining clips of some of the album's music videos while its first track, "Consideration," played in the background. Rihanna captioned the post, "happy ANTIversary."

Expectedly, many fans of Rihanna used the opportunity to remind her that she is a musician and begged her for new music.

An X user called the singer by her first name, Robin, to show how much they wanted new music from her. They wrote, "Robyn... Put the makeup brush down and get in studio. We are musically famished."

Another X user shared a gif of two female reality TV stars fighting and captioned it, "It's been 9 years since you dropped an album, don't make me mad."

A third X user wrote, "We need a new album Queen."

A fourth person on X added, "Oh you remembered you're a musician this morning."

A fifth person pleaded, "Everyone is waiting for you dear Rihanna... come back as soon as possible."

The 36-year-old's "Antiversary" post comes over a week after she was spotted heading into a recording studio in New York City on January 18.

The sighting caused some fans to speculate that Rihanna could be working on a new album, while others believed she was there for other reasons.

Fans have dubbed Rihanna's expected ninth album "R9," and one of them reacted to the news of her being seen at a studio by exclaiming, "R9 IS COMING GET UP NAVYS WE ARE GETTING NEW ALBUM."

However, a skeptical fan refused to be hopeful and wrote, "She's not fooling me," while a third person suggested her studio time could be for a Fenty ad. They wrote, "She's recording a voice over for her Fenty ads."

Meanwhile, others believed Rihanna was making music for Paramount's upcoming animated "Smurfs" movie, where she will voice "Smurfette."

During a June 2024 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Rihanna shut down rumors of her retirement that began circulating after she was spotted wearing a T-shirt that read, "I'm Retired."

She said, "People got triggered with that retired word. They were like 'We're never getting an album now.' No one read the other line, it was something about, 'This is as dressed up as I get.'"

Rihanna assured her fans that she was working on new music, though it was taking time. She said, "I think that music, for me, is a new discovery."

The nine-time Grammy Award winner added, "I'm rediscovering things. I have been working on the album for so long that I kinda put all that stuff aside and now I'm prepared to go back in the studio. I'm gonna start -- give me a second!"

She also said she was "starting over," with the album-making process, adding, "But I don’t want to neglect the songs that I have, so I actually want to go back and listen to stuff with new ears, with my new perspective and then see what applies and what I'm still in love with."

After going MIA musically, Rihanna turned her attention to beauty and fashion, launching her now-expanded Fenty Beauty line in 2017. In 2018, she debuted her Savage x Fenty lingerie brand.

Thanks to these companies and Rihanna's unquestionable musical prowess, she attained billionaire status, with her net worth currently at $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Rihanna also started dating rapper A$AP Rocky in late 2019. The couple confirmed their relationship in November 2020 and have welcomed two children together.

Their first son, RZA Athelston Myers, was born in May 2022, while their second son, Riot Rose, was born in August 2023.