Multitalented, multifaceted musician, entrepreneur and bad-ass Rihanna graces the cover of British Vogue for the publication’s May 2020 issue (by our estimation, her 16th Vogue cover—but who’s counting?). Inside, she not only discusses her Fenty empire and her dream of having at least “3 or 4” kids, but once again hopscotches around the conversation regarding the whereabouts of her forthcoming album. Ay yi yi.
As we’ve come to expect at this point, the Bajan beauty doesn’t directly state when her ninth solo album (affectionately nicknamed R9 by her fan base, the Navy) will drop, or any other juicy morsels of information we need in order to feel joy during these trying times. However, she did say that it will definitely be a reggae album, and she’s riding high off of the project’s endless possibilities.
“I don’t want my albums to feel like themes,” she says in the interview. “There are no rules. There’s no format. There’s just good music, and if I feel it, I’m putting it out...I feel like I have no boundaries. I’ve done everything—I’ve done all the hits, I’ve tried every genre—now I’m just, I’m wide open. I can make anything that I want.”
Rih is likely well-aware that she’s getting on our nerves in the process of whetting our appetites, but let’s get real: it’s clear there are more important things on her mind. She chatted about her Fenty skincare line, forthcoming after months of speculation. However, she says it will not be unveiled until she and her team can ensure it will be just as monumental as her Fenty Beauty makeup collection (“[Skincare] either works or it doesn’t,” she says in the interview).
Although she’s a focused businesswoman, Rihanna does have aspirations of settling down at some point, disclosing that she dreams of having multiple children within the next decade. A progressive queen, she says she thinks she will be a mother regardless of her romantic situation because the relationship she aims to have with her children is more important.
“I feel like society makes me want to feel like, ‘Oh, you got it wrong…’” she explains of wanting to be a mother even if her circumstance isn’t ideal when the time comes. “They diminish you as a mother if there’s not a dad in your kids’ lives...The only thing that can raise a child truly, is love.”
We love to read it, and we’d also love to hear it, if you know what I mean. We’ll hold on to her recent PARTYNEXTDOOR feature for the time being.