Rihanna has a knack for changing identities as often as she drops full-lengths. She started with the dancehall-inflected pop of A Girl Like Me before moving on to the Top 40 goth of Good Girl Gone Bad and then transforming into an ultra-faded club deity for Unapologetic.
With the release of tracks like“B*tch Better Have My Money,” “American Oxygen” and “FourFiveSeconds,” it looks like her new album (possibly titled R8) may signal another shift for the pop chameleon.
Here’s what we know about Rihanna’s latest:
Rihanna’s new album doesn’t have an official title, but there is reason to suspect that it will be called R8, signifying her eighth release.
She has released four songs from the album:
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This Paul McCartney/Kanye West collab was confirmed by Rihanna as R8‘s first single. The trio performed the track live at the Grammys earlier this year.
“B*tch Better Have My Money”
Inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”
“James Joint (Interlude)”
Released to celebrate 4/20.
Snippets & Tidbits:
Rihanna teased a Winehouse-ian number called “Higher” on her Instagram in March.
A video posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Mar 5, 2015 at 10:52am PST
Rihanna told MTV News she wants the album to be “timeless.”
“I wanted to focus on things that felt real, that felt soulful, that felt forever. I wanted songs that I could perform in 15 years,” she said. “I find that I get on stage now, I don’t want to perform a lot of my songs because they don’t feel like me so I want to make songs that are timeless.”
What We Don’t Know:
While there is quite a bit of material from the album already out in the world, Rihanna has yet to confirm a track listing, cover art or a release date. We will update this page as that info becomes available.
