Rihanna hinted at her long-awaited new album, dubbed R9 by fans, during a red carpet appearance over the weekend.
Asked about the follow-up to 2016's Anti, the singer told Extra: "It's going to be amazing. It has to be - that's the only reason it's not out yet.
"If I don't feel it and I don't feel it represents the evolution, the time I've spent on the sidelines. There has to be a demonstration of growth, right?"
Appearing at the launch of her new Fenty Beauty Soft'lit foundation in Los Angeles, she continued: "I want to play and I feel like music is a playground and I want to have fun with it and really show where I'm at."
When asked if there will be any special guests on R9, Rihanna admitted, "I'm not a big collaborator... It has to be very intentional, so I'll know when I have the record."
Rihanna's latest comments come more than a year after she said - while promoting her Super Bowl halftime show - that she expected the album to arrive in 2023.
"I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it's going to be ridiculous if it's not this year," the singer said in February 2023.
"But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and shoot videos."
Just a week and a half ago, Rihanna told Entertainment Tonight, "I already have stuff that I feel like I can make hits out of."
She described her work in progress as "so good." /BGNES
