Rihanna may have just wrapped her “Anti World Tour” in Europe earlier this week, but it looks like the “Needed Me” singer is already busy working on some new music for her ninth studio album.
Despite having released her eighth album only eight months ago, rumors of an Anti -follow-up album from Rihanna have been making headlines since April with several outlets speculating that the “Work” singer may be planning to drop a second installment of the project in late 2016.
Speaking to Complex UK earlier this year, producer Cardo hinted at the possibility of Rihanna releasing an Anti “part 2” while further revealing that he and Rihanna had recorded a new song together, albeit neglecting to offer a title or release date for the track.
“There’s so many records we’ve been working on that’s about to come out. I can’t say anything beyond that, but we got a record with Rihanna,” Cardo explains. “That’s all I can say. I can’t say anything more, but there’s a Rihanna and Cardo record.”
When asked if Rihanna will be serving as a feature on the track, Cardo revealed to the site that the song in question is actually Rihanna’s song and was originally intended to appear on Anti prior to its release in January.
“It was for Anti , but there’s another Anti . I don’t know if it’s official, but I know we have a record. I’ve been working with J. Cole. We’ve got some s*** in the chamber. PARTYNEXTDOOR too,” Cardo confirmed to the site.
Rumors of a second Anti album were further fueled after several fan sites discovered that Rihanna had registered three new tracks, titled “Lock and Key,” “Body Language,” and “Joyride,” on BPI in April, prompting fans to dub the speculated follow-up album as Anti Part 2 on social media.
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The rumors continued last month after Rihanna fan sites discovered that the songstress had registered two additional tracks on the site, the first of which is titled “Mayday” and was written by composer Michael McGregor and the second titled “Shotgun,” which was written by Rihanna and lists J. Cole as a feature on the project.
With speculation suggesting that an Anti Part 2 album would be arriving shortly after the end of Rihanna’s world tour, one fan took to social media earlier this week to inquire about the new album rumors via a direct message to Rihanna on Instagram.
“Boo are the rumours about anti part 2 true?” the fan asked Rihanna via the social media site, prompting Rihanna to reply, “No! Workin on R9 *winking emoji*.”
New Rihanna songs have been registered. “Shotgun” (feat. J.Cole), “Joyride”, “Mayday” and “Body Language”. #R9 pic.twitter.com/qTyPUdq5l8
— RihannaViva (@RihannaViva) August 17, 2016
While it’s unclear when Rihanna’s ninth studio album may arrive, the songstress has already garnered several new projects for 2017 including acting roles on A&E’s fifth season of Bates Motel , Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , as well as an all-female reboot of Ocean’s 8 in addition to her various fashion and beauty-related projects that are expected to drop at some point next year.
The news comes just weeks after reports confirmed that Rihanna would be receiving this year’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, joining fellow artists such as Beyoncé and Kanye West in accepting the lifetime achievement award at the annual awards ceremony, Billboard reports. Rihanna will also be performing at this year’s VMAs, although there’s currently no word on which song she will be performing live for the show.
Honored to take the #VMAs stage as your video #VANGUARD award recipient LIVE from NYC on August 28! pic.twitter.com/Yk0RMH2ODr
— Rihanna (@rihanna) August 11, 2016
When do you think Rihanna will release her next album?
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]