Rihanna Knew It Was ‘Hypocritical,’ But She Still Asked GloRilla When Her Album Was Dropping

GloRilla, Rihanna - Credit: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
GloRilla, Rihanna - Credit: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Oh, how the proverbial tables have turned: About a year ago, Rihanna was in GloRilla’s DMs asking the question she’s been more or less dodging since 2016: When’s the album coming out?

On Instagram yesterday, GloRilla posted a bunch of photos from a recent party held in her honor. But tacked onto the end was a screen grab of an old DM conversation with Rihanna. Obviously, Rihanna recognized the ridiculousness of the situation, cracking in her message, “I know dis wild hypocritical, but when the album drop?”

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To be fair, the message was sent over a year ago, in March 2023, when GloRilla’s most recent release was her 2022 EP, Anyways, Life’s Great. At the time, she’d also dropped a mixtape, 2019’s Most Likely Up Next, and another EP, 2020’s P Status.

Technically, the wait continues for GloRilla’s official debut album, but — unlike a certain pop superstar — she has been steadily delivering new music. Back in April, the Memphis rapper released her first commercial mixtape, Ehhthang Ehhthang, and last month, she shared a new remix of her Megan Thee Stallion-featuring song, “Wanna Be,” with an additional verse from Cardi B.

Ehhthang Ehhthang opens with “Yeah, Glo,” a song GloRilla spoke about on a recent episode of Rolling Stone’s series, The Breakdown. In the video, the rapper says the song came about as she tried to pull herself out of a creative rut — she hadn’t released much music in a while and fans were clamoring for something new.

“I wasn’t the most confident at the time, and I was just overthinking a lot,” she said. “It was most definitely a confidence booster for myself and me just talking to myself and boosting myself up.”

As for Rihanna, well, she’s still out here teasing the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Anti. In an interview with Extra earlier this year, she said of the mythical album: “It’s gonna be amazing. It has to be — that is the only reason it’s not out yet. If I’m not feeling it and I’m not feeling like it represents the evolution, the time I spent away. There should be a show of growth, right? I want to play, and I feel like music is a playground, and I want to have fun with it and show truly where I am at.”

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