Rihanna Still Hasn't Released A New Album, But She Does Appear On A New Single

If there’s one thing Rihanna enjoys doing it’s consistently surprising her fans with her career choices. Rather than releasing her highly anticipated upcoming album, she instead has decided to appear on a new single: Canadian singer PartyNextDoor’s song, “Believe It.”

Rihanna’s voice joins PartyNextDoor’s on the chorus to sing, “Best make me believe it,” according to People. The song, released Friday, is the Grammy winner’s first musical appearance since her 2016 album, “Anti,” although she has been teasing fans with potential new music for nearly two years.

The 32-year-old promised fans way back in December 2018 that her latest album, dubbed “R9,” would be released at some point in 2019, USA Today reported. When that didn’t happen, her fans continued to pressure her on social media, asking for the release date and begging for any sort of sneak peek.

“… they have haunted me with this ‘R9, R9, when is R9 coming out?’ How will I accept another name after that’s been burned into my skull?” Rihanna told The New York Times Style Magazine in May 2019.

At one point, the singer decided to troll her own fans, posting a video in late 2019 of a dog bopping its head to music with the caption, “Update: me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it.”

Even with the consistent pleas from fans, Rihanna still hasn’t budged on releasing her new album. But in the four years since “Anti” came out, she’s been consistently busy.

First, was the launch of her Fenty brand makeup line in 2017. This was followed by the Fenty clothing line in 2019, and most recently, her creation of the Fenty Beauty TikTok house. Her philanthropic efforts have also kept her busy. Last week, she donated $5 million through The Clara Lionel Foundation to help with COVID-19 relief.

At this point, fans should expect Rihanna to drop “R9” on her own time and for the time being, just enjoy her collaboration with PartyNextDoor.