Rihanna may have her hands full with her fashion, make-up, and acting endeavours, but the star still has music on the mind.

As reported, the 30-year-old recently told fans that new material is on its way.

And while she’s still remaining mum about specifics, she did let slip to Vogue  – whose June issue she scorches – a little about its direction.

Dive below for details and more…

On Rih’s 9th LP:

With her next record—her ninth—Rihanna is moving the needle on her creative output all over again: She plans to make a reggae album. Though it’s too soon to name a full list of collaborators, one early influence may be Supa Dups, the Jamaican-born record producer who has worked with such dancehall greats as Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and Elephant Man.

If Rihanna had to name her favorite reggae artist of all time, though, it would have to be Bob Marley.

“I’m gonna sound like a real tourist when I tell you my top Bob songs,” she says, pausing to scroll through a playlist on her iPhone before rattling off many of his most beloved hits: “Three Little Birds,” “No Woman, No Cry,” and “Redemption Song,” a Marley classic she has covered on tour. It may surprise you to learn that of all the tunes in the reggae icon’s catalog, “Buffalo Soldier” is the one that resonates with Rihanna on a deeply personal level. The song’s theme of upheaval and displacement is a familiar refrain for the singer, who was whisked away from Barbados to New York within months of being discovered by record producer Evan Rogers at the tender age of sixteen.

Given the success she’s enjoyed playing in the reggae/dancehall space (see: ‘Work’, ‘Man Down’), it’d be a wise move.

What’s more, given her heritage, it’s a sound that is unarguably “hers” and gifts her an authentic point of difference from the other Pop gals. We say…do it! Especially given that she’s a little light on albums that have a sonic and aesthetic theme that are seen through from beginning to end. This could well be her opportunity to address that.

Elsewhere in the feature, she opens up about turning 30, her body image – which some have critiqued in recent months, her home country, and more.

Rihanna On Turning 30:

“OK, so now that I’m 30, are there things I’m supposed to do? Should I be freezing my eggs? What do you do at 30?”

Rihanna On Body Satisfaction & Feeling Savage:

“I feel very beautiful and confident in my lingerie.

“t’s really about taking complete ownership of how you feel and the choices you make.”

Rihanna On Barbados:

“I basically grew up in paradise. I mean, people save for their whole lives to go on vacation there, and it’s easy to take that for granted,”

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: Vogue / Mert & Marcus]