Rihanna may be serving Avon-lady of late – selling socks, sneakers, and make-up – but make no mistake: RiRi has music on the mind.
According to a new report, recording is well-underway for the star’s next project – which may manifest in the form two albums.
Per initial sources, the 30-year-old is prepping Pop and Caribbean-kissed LPs.
Now more info has emerged about the latter.
Head below for the tea…
Rolling Stone shared the following from a producer close to the process:
“[Rihanna’s team] have, no lie, 500 records for this project [from] different producers and writers. 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.”
Another creative contributor weighed-in, but expressed caution about the approach of Ms. Fenty’s camp:
“Their whole thing was, ‘Yo, we’re gonna make this [album] real dancehall, [real] Caribbean. Rihanna is Bajan, so let’s make this a full project like that. To me, it hasn’t been going that way. They’re kind of mixing it up, putting in the pop. If the reggae artists and producers won’t get the chance on the pop album, at least let us survive on the dancehall album. They’re changing up the direction continuously.”
Credible Caribbean names said to be in the mix include:
Supa Dups (Drake), R. City (Beyonce), Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor (Vybz Kartel, Sean Paul), Linton “TJ Records” White (Serani, Vybz Kartel), Ricky Blaze (Gyptian), Tyshane “Beam” Thompson (Yo Gotti, Lecrae), Kranium and Chronixx.
The hope amongst all involved is that, with act of Rihanna’s caliber flying the flag for said said in the mainstream, it’ll carry over and
Indeed, a producer who has “done quite a lot of stuff” for the album shared that labels have already started reaching out to him:
“[They’re ]asking if I had any songs that [Rihanna] didn’t take. People are already gearing up to go in that direction [towards dancehall] because somebody as big as her is doing that. If an artist like Rihanna comes out and does [an album influenced by Jamaican pop], that’s definitely going to shift the needle.”
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Here for it!
Like her or loathe her, Rihanna has a unique lane and background that – if you ask us – she ought to play up much more.
Because, whatever the ever-raging debate is surrounding her abilities, her rooting is something that is unequivocally “hers” and provides her a U.S.P in a landscape dominated by homegrown American divas.
Put simply, as she continues on her quest to cement her name and sound amongst other icons, now is as opportune a time as ever to do so with material that is more authentic to her than anyone else.