After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more," the Grammy winner teased in a new interview

“I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years,” Rihanna tells Harper’s Bazaar, adding that she’s finally “cracked the code” for her next project. Music, which she describes as her “freedom,” is something the Barbadian artist has spent years refining to match her growth.

Nearly a decade after releasing her most recent album “Anti,” billionaire pop star and beauty mogul Rihanna hinted at her long-awaited new music in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, stating she’s been in the studio for eight years but finally had the realization about what she wants her new album to sound like.

Rihanna knows we’re all waiting for her new music to drop—we’ve actually been waiting nearly nine years, since 2016’s Anti. But in her March 2025 cover story for Harper’s Bazaar, the superstar reveals she was waiting, too, for a sound that aligned to her new self and mirrored her growth. Now, she’s found it.

Rihanna, who hasn’t released an album in nine years, recently detailed in a new interview her approach to creating her forthcoming music. The 37-year-old teases it'll be anything but "mediocre."

There's a reason why Rihanna hasn't released an album since 2016's Anti. The "Diamonds" songstress opened up about her highly-anticipated ninth studio album during a recent chat with Harper's BAZAAR,

It’s been nearly a decade since Rihanna has released new music and the 37-year-old is out to prove to fans there is “worth in the wait.” Listen to Rihanna Radio and more on the free Audacy app Rihanna recently shared with Harper’s Bazaar that she’s made some big strides with R9 — the fan-given nickname for the forthcoming project.

This body needs to come out, and I'm ready to go there."

Rihanna has spoken at length about her next album – a project that has been speculated about, pored over, theorized on and dreamt up for nearly a decade.