Rihanna will return from war this week

We know by now that Rihanna will make her return to live music, headlining the 2023 Super Bowl Half Time show on 12 February 2023. It’s been a long time coming: ask any die hard RiRi fan and they’ll tell you how painful it was to watch Beyoncé, Lorde and Adele fans leave them behind in the missing pop star waiting room (Frank Ocean fans can still keep them company). But with that Super Bowl show coming we’ve been waiting to hear about new material alongside it; now, we know Rihanna’s first solo material since ANTI in 2016 will drop this week, as part of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

Of course, the Navy have been privy to a series of false starts in the past few years. What they thought might be a new single would have wound up being a new highlighter stick instead, which is leading many to believe her announcement on Instagram for the Super Bowl — just her arm holding the NFL football — might be another decoy. Fans are gearing up for the event to look something like this: 

We jest! So with the drought nearly over, what are the cold hard facts about R9, Rihanna’s forthcoming album, and the new Black Panther track? Come on gays, let’s break it down.

Has Rihanna been in the studio?

Short answer: yes, and quite frequently, which is why folks have been confused as to why we haven’t heard any new solo material in quite some time. Paparazzi have spotted Rihanna and her boyfriend, A$AP Rocky, in an LA studio over the past week, adding to a slew of sightings over the past two years.

So what’s the deal with the Black Panther music?

Last night, ahead of the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on 11 November, Disney gave us what many have construed as a nod towards what to expect from the music. In a video released on socials, the ‘R’ from the glistening Wakanda Forever logo is pulled into the foreground, with Friday’s date, 28 October, listed underneath.

For the original Black Panther movie, Kendrick Lamar was enlisted to curate the soundtrack, which topped the Billboard 200 in the US and was nominated for seven Grammys. It seems like Rihanna may be doing the same for the sequel.

Subscribe to i-D NEWSFLASH. A weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox on Fridays.

What’s the next Rihanna album called?

While elusive artists like Frank Ocean and Lorde have peppered teasers on social media, enough for fans to start at least making wild guesses at what’s coming next, Rihanna fans have nothing for Rihanna’s next standalone record. It’s unlikely her music will bear any of the same titles of her fashion or beauty ranges.

What will Rihanna’s next album sound like?

Now this we have heard hints of. Speaking at a Savage x Fenty show this time last year, RiRi told journalists: “You’re not going to expect what you hear.” Genre-wise she’s done it all, from EDM to rock-pop to R&B. She told Vogue, back in October 2019, that the record would be reggae inspired, which would align with her more recent statements.

In terms of collaborators, well, Rocky is with her in the studio, so a feature wouldn’t be a huge surprise. In pre-COVID times, she also posted on Instagram Stories alluding to being in the studio with The Neptunes, the production duo of Pharrell and Chad Hugo. One of Rihanna’s most recent vocal features was, of course, with N.E.R.D. on “Lemon”. That was so long ago that that music might have been scrapped, but knowing they’ve worked well together before, it’s likely Pharrell will be involved somehow. 

How do I get tickets to see Rihanna at the Super Bowl?

Tickets for the following year’s Super Bowl go on sale shortly after the event happens in February, so die-hard football fans have had the chance to snag tickets to the event for seven months now. But following Rihanna’s announcement as the half-time performer, there was an unprecedented surge in ticket interest. According to AceOdds.com, who picked through Google Trends data, there was a search increase of 9900% for Super Bowl tickets in the 24 hours after she posted that cryptic football pic.

If you’re looking to head down IRL, instead of watching it on TV like the rest of us, you better be prepared to fork out serious cash! Ticketmaster have a series of VIP packages that currently lead to dead links, which makes us think they’ve sold out completely.

There are, as always, resale tickets via VividSeats — but they’re not cheap. Nosebleed stadium seats are currently going for around $4800, if you fancy seeing Rih-ANT-a. Tickets for the lower pitch levels are priced between $15,000 and $40,000.

What is the next Rihanna album’s release date?

Every time Rihanna has loosely dated new music, saying it’s coming “soon” or, as she said in 2018, “next year”, it’s never materialised. So it’s best to stop hoping quite so hard for a solid timeline. Speaking around a Savage x Fenty launch, Rihanna told Access Hollywood that “In the past, I’d shoot out an album in three months, but now, I don’t have the luxury of doing that because I have this other baby.” The baby she was referring to was Savage x Fenty; now she has an actual baby. But with her first live performance in nearly half a decade lined up, it’s safe to say that a Rihanna record — a single, at least — should be with us within the next four months. No promises though.