Rihanna may not always be there when you call for new music, but she’s always on time with a lewk. Just when we thought we’d have to survive this September without a cover from our beloved bad gal, Vogue Hong Kong debuted their trio of September covers—because one picture of Rihanna is never enough—and our fall got made. (Seriously, though; does this woman take a bad picture, ever? Or does she have the best PR in the business threatening the lives of those who possess outtakes? Questions that need answers...)
Of note to a few commenters on Instagram was the blown-out appearance of Rihanna’s skin in some shots, which left many wondering if she’d been lightened for Hong Kong audiences. Frankly, we have no idea if that was the intention, but what we do know is that these covers would’ve never made the light of day without Rihanna’s approval, so if she likes them, we love ‘em.
But while we allow these covers to placate us as we await new music from the multihyphenate mogul, we did hear a rumbling of—wait, is that the sound of horses’ hooves? No, they’re stallions; Megan Thee Stallion, to be exact. Savvy music industry watchers the Pop Hub noticed a new SESAC registration yesterday: a song titled “Whip It” was registered by Rihanna, and apparently it features none other than our favorite big ol’ freak, Megan.
Also of note on that list is a Nicki Minaj collaboration titled “Raining Men,” which leads us to wonder if they sampled The Weather Girls’ classic hit for that track (put some respeck on Martha Wash’s name). But we’ll just have to wait and see, as the release date of Rihanna’s ninth album remains a mystery. In the meantime, you can cop the newest release from Fenty, titled “8-19.”
Correction: Friday, 8/30/19 at 7:30 p.m., ET: Don’t look out for that Nicki Minaj feature on any new Rihanna works, since one of our readers pointed out that it’s actually an old song. Apparently, it didn’t register on our collective radar, since several members of our staff thought it would be an upcoming offering. Apologies to Rihanna and Nicki for the oversight.