Rihanna Doesn’t Owe Us Anything — We’re Lucky To Even Be Trolled By Her!
On today's episode of BuzzFeed Daily, we broke down the top pop culture headlines AND discussed Rihanna's next album. You can listen below or scroll down to read more about the interview!
So let's dive right into it! Recently we talked to Buzzfeed’s Natalie Oganesyan about Rihanna’s upcoming album and what artists and fans owe to each other. Here's some of what we learned:
BuzzFeed Daily: It's been over five years since Rihanna's last album came out. Everyone is waiting for her new music. People make jokes about it all the freaking time. You actually wrote a piece for BuzzFeed back in September, right after she teased the upcoming album. So as our most preeminent Rihanna scholar, what should we be expecting from R9?
BuzzFeed Daily: I'm glad you brought that up, because there's speculation that the reason we're waiting so long is because Rihanna is planning on dropping two albums — one pop and one reggae. What do you think? Wild conspiracy theory? Or, potentially, we're getting two freaking albums?
@rihanna / GIPHY / Via giphy.com
NO: I believe it, honestly, because what can Rihanna not do? So speaking about the Rolling Stone 2018 article, there's this whole sort of investigation where eight sources who are anonymous and close to the project were saying that Roc Nation, Rihanna's label, was looking for beats for the past year for a reggae album. But then also two of those sources said that there's also a pop one in the works. So I don't know. I feel like that's not impossible, given she's a woman of many talents. I think that could be done, and maybe like a sort of a side-by-side situation or just two different works completely.
BuzzFeed Daily: In anticipation of this album, it feels like there are two separate aspects to what's been happening. There's the album and its release date, which we've talked about. And then there's the fan discourse, which has taken on a life of its own. Rihanna's fans, aka Navy, have been extremely vocal about wanting this album released, which raises the question: Do fans have the right to demand art from artists? What do you think about that?
BuzzFeed Daily: So say we have an artist who hasn't really been talking about anything and fans are begging for music and demanding it. Is there a difference between that and someone like Rihanna, who has multiple times spoken about how it's coming? And do you think she has to live up to that promise? Because from 2018 to now she's been teasing this album.
@rihanna / GIPHY / Via giphy.com
NO: That's the thing. Rihanna is a hilarious person. Objectively speaking, we know about her trolling. I mean, there’s a whole timeline, going back to 2018 of her doing so. But at the same time, she said before how — this is a quote — that Navy has been “haunting” her about these demands. And I think when it comes to her...she is one of the best selling artists of all time. That's proven. And she's been in the industry since she was 16, which is just unfathomable to me. I think she knows the fanbase behind her. I think she knows what people are expecting. But she's also the type of person who's courageous enough to be like, "No, I'm on my own time. I'm really working on something special for you guys." And I think at the end of the day, Navy understands that even though there's jokes and there's fun, of course.