Rihanna on new album: 'I just want to have fun with music'

Posted October 01, 2020 7:00 am

By LEANNE ITALIE

FILE - Singer and fashion designer Rihanna attends the "Rihanna" book launch event in New York on Oct. 11, 2019. It's been four years since Rihanna released an album but the singer is working hard on recording new music. The pop star, 32, told The Associated Press for her new album she's already held 'tons of writing camps" - where songwriters are put into groups to create original tracks for artists. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - It's been four years since Rihanna released an album but the singer is working hard on recording new music.

The pop star, 32, told The Associated Press for her new album she's already held 'œtons of writing camps" - where songwriters are put into groups to create original tracks for artists.

Now, she said she's asked herself the questions: 'œWhat do I feel personally? What do I want to put out, and as an artist, how do I want to play it with my art? How do I want to interpret that?"

'œHow do I want to reimagine it because it's been so structured before," Rihanna continued in a recent interview.

The multi-genre artist who has won Grammys in the R&B, dance and rap categories added: 'œYou do pop, you did this genre, you do that, you do radio, but now it's just like, what makes me happy? I just want to have fun with music. Everything is so heavy. The world that we live in is a lot. It's overwhelming every single day. And with the music, I'm using that as my outlet."

Rihanna's 'œANTI," the singer's eighth album released in 2016, was a critically acclaimed effort, launching multiple hits such as 'œWork," 'œLove on the Brain," 'œNeeded Me" and more. Overall, Rihanna's achieved 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since making her debut in 2005. She's accumulated 31 Top 10 hits on the chart.

Since the release of 'œANTI," she's guest appeared on songs like DJ Khaled's 'œWild Thoughts," Kendrick Lamar's 'œLoyalty," N.E.R.D.'s 'œLemon" and Future's 'œSelfish." Her only 2020 release has been 'œBelieve It'ť with PartyNextDoor.

Rihanna, who has been uber-busy with her successful makeup and fashion lines, says the pandemic has challenged things musically speaking, but she plans to press on.

'œI want to go on tour but I can't, so I'm stuck with music that I love, and now I'm trying to figure out how I can even create visuals to that," she said. 'œThat's a challenge as well. But I love challenges so, you know, I'm gonna get it done.'ť

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AP Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.

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Leanne Italie is a member of the AP's Entertainment and Lifestyles team. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/litalie.

This image released by Savage X Fenty shows designer Rihanna on the set of The Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 Presented by Amazon Prime Video in Los Angeles. The lingerie fashion show, with musical performances, dancers and models, will drop Friday exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. It's the line's second turn on the streaming platform. (Dennis Leupold/Savage X Fenty via AP) The Associated Press

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