Rihanna reposts about her long-awaited album

We're so getting played...

It has been ten years since Rihanna released Anti, her eighth studio album, on January 28, 2016. For her devoted fanbase, the wait for new music has been long, occasionally frustrating, and filled with false hope, so when Rihanna does anything that hints at a comeback, the internet takes notice.

Her latest moment came when she reshared a video from Whitney Rose, a cast member on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, who humorously pointed out just how long it has been since Rihanna last dropped an album. The repost was simple, but it was enough to set social media alight, with fans flooding timelines with a familiar wave of memes, jokes, and cautious optimism about her long-awaited ninth album, widely known as R9.

To be fair, Rihanna has hardly been sitting still. Since Anti, she has built Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty into hugely successful global brands, headlined the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, and started a family with rapper A$AP Rocky, welcoming sons RZA in 2022 and Riot in 2023.

Still, for fans who have been waiting a decade for new music, even a light hearted repost is enough to keep the hope alive. Most are taking the moment for what it is, a fun interaction rather than a major announcement, but that has never stopped anyone from dreaming that R9 might finally be closer than it seems.

Let's see if ZM can check off another item off our 2026 bingo card....  

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