Rihanna shares details about her forthcoming reggae-infused new album

The vocalist revealed that her ninth studio effort will fuse traditional reggae influences in a sit-down with Vogue for the magazine’s November cover story.

Rihanna first hinted back in June 2018 that her long-awaited new album, which her fans have been referring to as “R9,” will incorporate elements of the Jamaican genre.

In her recent Vogue interview, she confirmed that it will not be a reggae record per se but “a reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album.”

“It’s not gonna be typical of what you know as reggae. But you’re going to feel the elements in all of the tracks,” she explained, also adding that this musical genre has been a long-standing favorite of hers.

“It’s in my blood. It doesn’t matter how far or long removed I am from that culture, or my environment that I grew up in; it never leaves. It’s always the same high. Even though I’ve explored other genres of music, it was time to go back to something that I haven’t really homed in on completely for a body of work,” she continued.

Details about the highly anticipated album are still scarce to this date, as Rihanna still has to announce a release date.

The yet-untitled album will however mark the Barbados native’s ninth studio effort, following her 2016 “Anti.”

Rihanna also hinted that she is working on a forthcoming collaboration with new country sensation Lil Nas X, mentioning that it “may not even be with music.”

Although fans have been waiting for a new album for four years, the Grammy-winning musician revealed that she is already in the “discovery stage” for her tenth studio effort.

“We always went into the music this time around saying that we were going to do two different pieces of art. One was gonna be inspired by the music that I grew up listening to. And one was gonna be the evolution of where I’m going next with music,” she added.

Earlier this week, Rihanna also announced that she will release her first visual autobiography on October 24 via Phaidon.

The book will include more than 1,000 never-before-published photographs that will span her childhood in Barbados and her venture into the beauty and fashion industries.

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