Rihanna caps off her birthday week with the unveiling of a stunning cover shoot for Harper’s Bazaar‘s March issue.

The superstar styles and profiles for publication and, much to fan excitement, also seized the moment to dish on her long-awaited new album.

Affectionately codenamed ‘R9’ by fans, the project has been long-gestating. And, despite almost a decade passing since its 2016 predecessor ‘ANTI’ was released, the buzz is only intensifying.

Now, she’s broken her relative silence on specifics about the yet-titled LP – and revealed that it’s all sorts of unexpected.

Full story below…

On Her New Album:

“I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years.

[I’m feeling really optimistic. This feels right. It feels like it digs right into where I need to be, and I want this. This body needs to come out, and I’m ready to go there. This is becoming my new freedom, because when I’m in the studio, I know that my time away from my kids is to blossom something that hasn’t been watered in eight years. I’ve been in the studio the whole eight years. But it didn’t hit me. I was searching for it. I went through phases of what I wanted to do. ‘This kind of album, not that album.’ I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects. And it’s not going to be commercial or radio digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!”

On Rumors of a Reggae Album:

“Way off! There’s no genre now. That’s why I waited. Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour.’ After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.”

On the Sound of R9:

“I know it’s not going to be anything that anyone expects.”

On Her Thick Skin:

“[What I know] is that you’re carving your journey. And every disappointment, letdown, hurt, good, weird, uncomfortable—it’s all for you. All of your experiences, they’re actually preparing you for the next step. I look at my childhood and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, God already knew that this is how my life would look. And if I didn’t go through this or if I didn’t do that or if my family didn’t have that sense of humor, comments online would probably hurt my feelings.’ It’s like I was being prepared for this all along.”

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: Harper’s Bazaar / Luis Alberto Rodriguez]

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