Rihanna shared a late-night video on Instagram on February 27, 2026, capturing the initial reaction to her entering the recording studio at 2:18 a.m. Titled “Commercial Break,” the silent clip shows her strutting into a dimly lit space sitting at a mixing console, taking notes and laughing with collaborators.
This initial glimpse has reignited excitement for new music from the singer, whose last album, “Anti,” was released in 2016.
Years of Patience: A long break after the release of Anti in 2016
Rihanna has dropped hints about her ninth album, dubbed R9 by fans, through multiple interviews. In June 2024, at the Fenty Hair launch party, she announced that she felt “ready to get back into the studio,” according to E! connected. By February 2025, in Harper’s Bazaar, she revealed a breakthrough: “I finally solved it. I finally solved it,” she rasped.
She emphasized quality over speed, explaining: “This long time away from music should account for the next thing everyone hears.
We must calculate. It should matter. I have to show them the value of waiting. “I can’t offer anything modest.”
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She has dismissed previous reggae rumors as “far-fetched!” Instead, the project defies expectations: “It’s not going to do anything anyone expects. It’s not going to be commercial or digestible on radio. It’s not going to be something you can expect.”
“It will be where my art deserves to be now,” People magazine noted. In a 2022 Vogue interview, she changed her approach: “I’m looking at my next project very differently than how I wanted to approach it before.
I think this method works better for me, a lot better. “It’s authentic, it’ll be fun for me, and it takes a lot of pressure off.”
Watch the video here
id@undefined Caption not available.She was spotted by paparazzi in a New York studio in January 2026, adding Fuel sources told The Sun’s Bizarre column, “Rihanna has loved being a mother to her children and has been very busy working on her fashion brand Fenty but music is her soul passion. She is ready to return to the stage and wants her fans to hear the music she has been working on.”
A live comeback is on the horizon
Insiders expect stadium tours starting in August 2026. “This is going to be a huge year for Rihanna and fans can expect huge shows. It’s going to be a sell-out, that’s for sure,” Retro Pop reported. She canceled her 2025 London dates due to her pregnancy with sons RZA and Riot, who she shares with A$AP Rocky.Fans flooded social media. “We might actually get new music from #Rihanna soon,” one Instagram clip noted. There’s no set release date, but her laughter in the studio signals real progress nearly a decade later.
