A$AP Rocky gives update on Rihanna's ninth studio album: “She’s working on it!”

In a video which was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, A$AP Rocky can be seen taking a photo with a fan who asks him about Rihanna's long-teased album, the follow-up to 2016's ANTI. As he walks away, he says: "She's working on it," which leads to the crowd erupting into cheers.

Last February, Rihanna revealed that she wanted her ninth full-length to be released later that year. In a feature for British Vogue, she was asked about the possibility of a new album arriving this year, despite just announcing that she's pregnant with her second child during her Super Bowl halftime performance, which led her to receiving five Emmy nominations, as well as a nomination for Best Original Song at the 2023 Oscars.

To their question, she responded: "I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos. And I need the right background music with the visuals. I can’t just go shoot a video to me talking."

ASAP Rocky spotted last night in Paris. A fan asked him to ask Rihanna to release the album and he replied that she is working on it. pic.twitter.com/rwNy1TWzHU

— (@badgalhive) February 17, 2024

Prior to the Super Bowl performance, she shared two new tracks — both for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. “Lift Me Up" – a tribute to late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman – which was her first solo release in six years, as well as the ballad, “Born Again”, which was written and produced with her "Umbrella" collaborator The-Dream and Ludwig Göransson.

Rihanna has teased R9 multiple times over the past couple of years, initially saying that it would drop shortly after ANTI, but motherhood and becoming America's youngest female self-made billionaire, of course took precedent. During a 2021 interview with The Associated Press, she teased: “You’re not going to expect what you hear. Just put that in your mind. Whatever you know of Rihanna is not going to be what you hear. I’m really experimenting.”