Rihanna at the Super Bowl Halftime Show: Will it be her Return to Music?

Rihanna will succeed Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent for the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show. She made the announcement herself from her social networks and, as usual, his fans speculate about new music.

Many of the singer's followers began their speculations about "#R9", as the ninth studio album of the artist from Barbados is known until now. More or less since the release of the predecessor, “ANTI'', the Caribbean artist has offered many details about the sound, the collaborations and the concept that will work for this new project.

What is known about #R9?

Despite being very tight-lipped about her new album, fans can get a glimpse of what may be on it. For the cover of Vogue in June 2018, Rihanna said that the next thing in her career would be a reggae album, as she also declared that Bob Marley is her favorite musician. This makes more sense when her last big hit was “Work'', a song that has a charge of dancehall and reggae with Drake.

However, the opinion of Rihanna has been changing during the last 5 years. It is no longer certain that she will release a reggae album, but it is possible that the new thing she releases has a broad influence of the genre.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, there are hundreds of songs Rihanna will have to choose from. Supa Dups and Stephen McGregor are some of the producers who sent hdf demos. Collaborations have not been talked about much. At some point she mentioned that she works with Lil Nas X, but did not clarify that it is for something musical. Pharrell Williams has been the only name Rihanna has mentioned. She did it in February 2020 for an interview with The Cut.

Since her album would be loaded with reggae, a collaboration with Koffee, the first woman to win the Grammy for Best Reggae Album for “Rapture”, would not be surprising.

It's worth believing another featuring with A$AP Rocky is possible, since the singer was the star of the video clip for "DMB", the rapper's latest single.

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Why has Rihanna taken so long to release an album?

There are several reasons why “#R9” has been delayed. Between her album “Unapologetic” and “ANTI'' there was a gap of four years, so it's not the first time of a long wait with Rihanna.

Add to that her ventures in different areas, ranging from cosmetics with Fenty Beauty, her clothing brand Fenty, and her lingerie line with Savage X Fenty. The latter in a few years has been able to compete in the Victoria's Secret standards.

Another factor that delayed the release of her album was the pandemic. Due to the confinement, she had to face her companies and find the right moment to release the album. In fact, on numerous occasions, she joked about losing the album on the way.

Additionally, Rihanna had her firstborn, a fact that delayed her plans with music. Pregnancy and the first weeks of her motherhood were not the right time to release an album with the stress and hustle and bustle that this brings.

Super Bowl LVII will take place on February 12, 2023. Rumors suggest that #R9 would be ready for December of this year. If it comes to that, there will soon be a Rihanna's single.