Rihanna has been working on her ninth studio album, which would be her first release since 2016's "Anti." In an interview with British Vogue, she expressed her determination to release the album this year, stating, "I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it'd be ridiculous if it's not this year". More recently, she mentioned that she has visual ideas for the album but no new songs yet, suggesting that her creative process is working backward this time. Rihanna has also confirmed that she has material that could yield hits and is collaborating with her partner, A$AP Rocky, on the album.