Rihanna appears to have teamed up with Spotify for the release of her anticipated new album, and they’ve both dropped the biggest hints yet.
Fans are getting increasingly desperate to hear any new music from the Work singer but they may not have much longer to wait, with rumours mounting that R9 could arrive in August.
According to Instagram fan account Fenty Stats, Rihanna started following Spotify on Monday and allegedly unfollowed Tidal, Jay Z’s streaming service which hosted her 2016 album Anti.
Shortly after this revelation began doing the rounds on social media, Spotify got out their big wooden spoon and dropped a huge hint about their possible new partnership with RiRi.
The streaming service shared a photo of Rihanna, 31, smiling and waving alongside the caption: ‘Hi @badgalriri.’
Are they just simply giving a shout-out to one of their favourite artists or is there an underlying message to decipher?
Regardless, it sent Rihanna’s fans wild and many took it to mean that her ninth studio album is on its way to Spotify.
One fan commented: ‘QUEEN IS COMING TO BREAK RECORDS,’ while another hailed her ‘Queen of Spotify’.
Scared to get their hopes up, one of Spotify’s followers pleaded: ‘Is she coming? Please don’t play with my feelings,’ while another said: ‘The money y’all about to crop with a deal with this lady. the ultimate business move.’
Joining in the endless commentary, a Spotify subscriber joked: ‘Aye I better be paying 9.99 a month for a reason.’
It’s been a long, tiresome wait for Rihanna’s new body of work with her last album, Anti, released more than three years ago.
.@rihanna is now following @Spotify on Instagram pic.twitter.com/JpGXdtvj63
— Fenty Stats (@FentyStats) July 29, 2019
Since then, the popstar has collaborated with the likes of DJ Khaled and Kendrick Lamar, but has mostly focused on other ventures like her Fenty beauty and fashion collections.
However she did give fans an update on her new album back in June, confirming that it will likely be titled R9.
In an interview with the New York Times, RiRi revealed: ‘I’m about to call it that probably, ’cause they have haunted me with this “R9, R9, when is R9 coming out?” How will I accept another name after that’s been burned into my skull?’
She also shut down the possibility of a new Drake collaboration stating: ‘I don’t see it happening.
‘Not on this album, that’s for sure.’
Brace yourselves folks, R9 is (hopefully) on its way.
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