Since the release of Rihanna’s last album, Anti, in early 2016, fans have been requesting new music from the pop star. It seems the Bajan entertainer has been focusing on the beauty and fashion industry, working on her Fenty cosmetics line, Savage lingerie and her clothing collaboration with Puma. In exciting news, the singer is preparing new pop and dancehall albums, according to Rolling Stone.
Dancehall is a type of reggae, characterized by its use of the Jamaican patois, an English-based creole language of the island’s natives, and fast drum heavy instrumentals (or riddims). Though Rihanna was born in Barbados, she has flirted with the reggae sound throughout her career on songs including “Work,” “Man Down” and “Pon De Replay.”
A source told the publication Rihanna and Roc Nation have been working on the dancehall album for more than year and a half, and eight songs have been secured for the project. Around 500 records have been submitted from Jamaican songwriters and producers.
“[Rihanna’s team] have, no lie, 500 records for this project [from] different producers and writers,” an unnamed dancehall producer told Rolling Stone. “They’re only choosing 10 records. They’ve been having writing camps and trying to keep them quiet for almost a year and a half now. I’ve been flying to Miami, flying to L.A., cutting records nonstop for this project.”
In addition to the reggae album, two sources claim Rihanna is also working on a pop album with producers including Boi-1da and Skrillex.
