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A$AP Rocky fans will have to wait just a bit longer for the release of Don’t Be Dumb. The rapper has announced it is delayed to later this year.
As spotted on Hypebeast, the “Good for You” rapper recently responded to a post by NPR on X, formerly Twitter, where the publication reported the news. A$AP Rocky confirmed it saying, “LEAKS & SAMPLE CLEARANCES ARE DISRUPTING THE ALBUM. ITS BEEN 6 YEARS & I WANNA MAKE THE BEST ALBUM EVER. IM SORRY FOR THE WAIT.” Recently he spoke to Billboard, in an in depth interview where he revealed that he has been working on this project for the last couple of years. “At this point I’ve been working on music for six years, but they leak my music and I get over it and say, ‘F**k it,’ ” he explained. “They leak a lot of the music and it ruins it. Like my ‘Taylor Swift’ video. I was pissed off about it, so I never released it.”
Later on during the conversation he touches on his involvement in the Rap civil war that occurred earlier this year, specifically his back-and-forth with Drake. “You got to realize, certain ni***s was throwing shots for years. I ain’t in the middle of that sh*t,” he said. “That’s not how I retaliate right now. I got bigger fish to fry than some pu**y boys. It is real beef outside. It is real. Ni***s getting really clipped and blitzed every day. Ni***as sniping ni***s every day. That little kitty sh*t ain’t about nothing.”
You can watch A$AP Rocky’s newest video “HIGHJACK” below.
A$AP Rocky‘s forthcoming fourth album Don’t Be Dumb was slated to arrive on Aug. 30, but in his new Billboard cover story that came out Thursday (Aug. 22), he revealed that he’s pushing the project to the fall. “LEAKS & SAMPLE CLEARANCES ARE DISRUPTING THE ALBUM. ITS BEEN 6 YEARS & I WANNA MAKE THE […]
Mexican group Reik returned to their pop roots with Panorama, a 13-track album that honors their past while exploring more avant-garde compositions. It’s their first LP since 2009’s Ahora, but that album was mainly comprised of past hits with only a few new tracks.
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Released on May 10 under Sony Music Mexico, Panorama includes the previously debuted singles “Baja California,” “Abril,” “Gracias por Nada,” and “El Correcto” featuring Carin León, in addition to “Roomies,” “Te Odio,” “Vámonos a Mi Casa” with LAGOS, the album’s focus track “No Molestar” and its title track.
“I would say that we haven’t made an album like this since Des/Amor [in 2016], so it was super special. We genuinely felt like we had lost the muscle memory of how to make albums and how to work on them and release them,” says Reik’s vocalist, Jesús Navarro, to Billboard Español. “The first few weeks have been super overwhelming because at least I didn’t remember how much work it takes to try to release an album, but also promote it, add the finishing touches, and at the same time plan the tour, the music videos, the release, the promo… and it’s something we’ve done a thousand times before, just not all of them together in about 10 years.”
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After spending several years experimenting with Latin urban sounds, Reik, which also includes guitarists Julio Ramírez and Bibi Marín, teamed up with the MiSHNRZ, a duo of producers made up of Ismael Cano Jr. and Matthew Rey. “We put a lot of heart and also a lot of thought into it. We didn’t want to settle,” Ramírez says. “We really wanted to make this a very unique album.”
“I think it was very automatic,” adds Marín about their reunion to create a whole new album. “I think when it’s time to do something, you just do it… The gears of the machine were always well adjusted. Right now, we are very excited that everything is going, that we are in this new stage and we are happy.”
Reik spoke with Billboard Español on Thursday (May 16) from Houston, where they gave a concert as part of their Panorama 2024 U.S. Tour. Presented by Loud and Live, the 25-date tour began on May 11 in Orlando, Florida, and ends on June 10 in Seattle. (For more details, click here).
Below, Reik breaks down five essential songs from their album Panorama.
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“No Molestar”
Julio Ramírez: Now that I think about it, that was the easiest, oddly enough. It was super cool when this song was made, because the truth is that the album was mostly formed — I think we already had about nine songs or 10 — and we always wanted to keep everything in line with pop, to reclaim our sound… but change it a little so that it doesn’t seem like it’s the same from tracks 1 to 13.
And when “No Molestar” starts, wow! It happened that I was on the computer trying out sounds from the MiSHNRZ’s producer Ish (Ismael), and suddenly I said “That’s it!” They were the chords of the chorus, I remember. “TA ta ta.” So we immediately started humming the chorus and then we were like, “You know what? Let’s make a verse!” And we went to the first chords and we all got excited. For us it was a bit of a Bruno Mars vibe in the studio. We finished the lyrics and there is a video of everyone dancing, jumping, having an incredible time.
That feeling made us go like, “Wow, we got something special.” We always get emotional in the studio, but that song made us very emotional. And I love that we dared to include a super out-of-nowhere, French-ish arrangement at the end of the song; The Beatles’ “Michelle” was the inspiration. It was a treat for us, too.
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“Panorama”
Bibi Marín: “Panorama” was, according to me, the first song that came out of this new stage, of these new experiments that we were doing. And when I say experiments, I mean that it was a very consciously decisive moment, where we started looking for the new pop sound for Reik. It was already very clear to us that we didn’t want to continue experimenting with urban… so we said, “OK, pop, but how?” Because we don’t want to sound like we’re going to release an album that could well have come out in 2004 or 2005.
So it was the first time we got together with the MiSHNRZ, who wrote almost the entire album, produced almost the entire album, in short. We got together and the first experiment that came out was “Panorama” — so for everyone, it was very refreshing and very inspiring. It was a new, fresh sound, it was somewhat challenging, but at the same time it made us feel that we were going in a very good direction. Even though it was a somewhat “rare” song for Reik, it was still a very pop sound. So much so that it even gave the album its title, and it marked a little bit the direction in which we began to move musically.
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“Ojos Papel” (feat. Leo Rizzi)
Jesús Navarro: “Ojos papel” is a super special song to me. I believe Leo is one of the most special singers that we’ve heard in the new music scene in Spanish, and we are very aware of his existence. We had already made a track together on one of his albums — but it was a little strange because we were just out of the pandemic, and it was still difficult to travel, so we made this track and released it without having ever met in person. We just met at the [2023] Latin Grammys in Seville and we gave each other a very long hug, with a lot of emotion.
Only recently, when he was in Mexico City a few months ago, we got together to write with him, and this wonderful song came out. I think Julio hit the mark at the beginning of the session when he spoke with the entire team and they sort of agreed to let Leo take the lead in the session a little, so that we could get a song that was ours, but at the same time not characteristic, not what you would expect. I think the goal was achieved.
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“Roomies”
Bibi Marín: I’m going to say “Roomies,” because apart from the fact that it’s a song that I love, I think it’s the song that pays the most tribute and reference to our origins in two senses: One, musically, in terms that it is a super light, good-vibe pop song; [and two] like literally at the end of the song, the outro is the introduction of “Qué Vida la Mía” [from 2005]. The idea not only of the song, but of the entire album and of this stage, is yes, to make the statement that we are returning to our roots — to a super-pop pop — and what better way than using a little piece of one of our first songs. I think this song covers a lot of space there.
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“Baja California”
Julio Ramírez: “Baja California” is a spectacular song to me. It became so important that we opened the album with that song, and we also open the Panorama Tour show with that song. We find the video spectacular. It was really nice to go back to where we grew up, to make the video with Ry [Shorosky], who is a really impressive director from Utah. It turned out beautiful, the vibe is incredible. And I think it was super cool to make this track — I’m going to talk about it on an author’s level — trying to make a pop that’s much cooler, much more daring.
I mean, in my eyes, the approach was how we would sound with a kind of The Weeknd or Harry Styles vibe, but with our own handwriting — and “Baja California” came out. I don’t know, I love that song, I love that we’re mentioning Baja, we’re mentioning Rosarito, but putting it in the context of a love story. I think it’s super cool. I hope people like it. It sets the mood for the whole album.
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Bardi Gang will have to continue waiting for Cardi B’s sophomore album. She has confirmed she isn’t releasing it this year.
The Bronx, New York native is reportedly taking it light for the rest of 2024. On Tuesday, May 14 she responded to a fan who spoke on her transparency as a high profile artist on X, formerly Twitter. In her post she wrote “Exactly and I tell myself this all the time..and I hate that I fall back and start interacting again and it bites me in the ass… anyway NO album this year I don’t care I’m relaxing this year.. Dropping these features I already committed to and traveling and enjoying my summer.”
This came to her core fanbase as a surprise. Earlier this year she announced that she had plenty of songs in the hard drive and stated she was locked into album mode. While previewing her “Like What (Freestyle)” she reiterated the new LP was on the way. “January 27 of 20-20-f***in’-three. I be working on this sh*t at 5 a.m. — you know I’m a night owl,” she revealed. “I promise y’all this year: I’m not letting my anxiety, I’m not letting what haters say, I’m not letting what fans say… If I do a song, Imma just f***in’ drop it.”
Prior to that Cardi B released her single “Enough (Miami)” and her second collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion “Bongos”. The untitled sophomore album is the follow up to her critically acclaimed Invasion Of Privacy.
Mötley Crüe promises there’s more where its brand new song “Dogs of War” came from.
The track and video, both out Friday (April 26), are the first releases under a new deal with Nashville’s Big Machine Records. It’s also the Crüe’s first new song since the Machine Gun Kelly collab “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” from the soundtrack for the 2019 Netflix biopic of the same name and the band’s first recording with new member John5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie), who replaced original guitarist Mick Mars last year.
“We want to keep putting out new music, too, so we don’t get stagnant,” frontman Vince Neil tells Billboard. “We recorded ‘(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)’ by the Beastie Boys and we recorded this song, too, and I thought it turned out pretty good.” And while no firm plans have been specified for future material (although an EP has been rumored for fall), both Neil and John5 say there’s more Motley music on the runway.
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“There’ll definitely be new music out next year, for sure,” Neil says, “’cause we recorded a couple of other songs, too. Maybe we’ll release one of those by the end of the year, but I can’t say. But we want to keep putting out new music — not, maybe, an album but a few songs here, a few songs there, and that’s good.”
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John5 confirms that “there’s gonna be more music to come out, that’s for sure. [Bassist] Nikki (Sixx) calls me all the time and says, ‘Hey dude, check this out’ and it sounds like it could be a demo from, like, the Too Fast For Love album or the Shout at the Devil album. He just has that inside him; he’s created this music and it sounds just like that era because that’s who the guy is.”
Neil describes the fiery-tempoed “Dogs of War” as “like old school meets new school. It’s got that old school vibe about it, but it’s new music. Nikki came up with it and he sent me the music and I thought it was really cool. So I started singing it and we got in the studio and it turned into the song I think the fans are really gonna like it.” The song was produced by frequent Crüe collaborator Bob Rock, which Neil says was a source of comfort for the band.
“He’s great,” the singer explains. “He’s a lot of fun. He’s smart. He’s creative. He knows what the wants. He knows what to get from each guy to make them be their best. That’s what a good producer does, takes what you have and makes it better – and that’s what (Rock ) does to Mötley Crüe. That’s what we love about him. We know he’s not gonna change and we didn’t want any change. We wanted to do it just the way we always recorded with him.”
The upcoming video, meanwhile, is an animated, all-CGI affair directed by Nick DenBoer that depicts the band in various levels of an apocalyptic, video game-like battle. It also includes a clever nod to the pig masks the group wore on the cover of 1997’s Generation Swine album.
In making the new label deal announcement, Big Machine Chairman and CEO Scott Borchetta — the driving force behind the 2014 Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Mötley Crüe compilation — says that, “Growing up in Southern California, I was in Hollywood when these new sheriffs showed up and took over the city. It was loud. It was powerful. It was game changing. (The band has) reignited the flame with ferocious newCrüe Music.”
Neil, who resides in Nashville, calls Borchetta “a good friend … and a good friend of the band’s. They’re just a smart company that knows how to market songs and how to get them on the radio and do all the stuff you gotta do. They’re perfect for us.”
BMG remains the band’s home for catalog releases, however. This year it’s already released a Dolby Atmos remaster of The Dirt Soundtrack to celebrate its fifth anniversary as well as a Record Store Day re-release of the rarities compilation Supersonic and Demonic Relics on vinyl for the first time. Since this year is the 25th anniversary of the band’s legendary Dr. Feelgood album, fans have been speculating about some sort of release to commemorate that later in the year.
Back in 2014, of course, Mötley Crüe famously signed a “binding” contract for its The Final Tour farewell trek stipulating that support act Alice Cooper could cut their heads off if they broke it. Then, however, came The Dirt, which despite overwhelmingly negative reviews was a rating success, while the soundtrack hit No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and Top 5 on the Top Rock Albums and Soundtrack Albums charts. “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” single was also a Top 10 Mainstream Rock hit.
“The Dirt got us so many new fans, a whole generation that hadn’t seen Mötley Crüe. That kinda brought us back to want to play again,” Neil says. The Crüe did regroup for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard in 2022, while John5 came on board later in the year in place of Mars, who announced he was retiring from touring. (The band and Mars are currently embroiled in legal actions regarding the latter’s departure and status in the band, which Neil would not comment on.)
“John brings a lot,” Neil says. “He’s an amazing, creative guitar player. He hears stuff us normal people don’t hear. He brings a lot to the song and a lot to the band, and we’re just so happy to have him.” The feeling is mutual according to John5, who collaborated with Sixx on Sixx A.M. projects and co-wrote the three new songs on The Dirt Soundtrack.
“I love Motley and I’ve known Mick, Tommy (Lee) and Nikki for so long, it’s just like playing with your friends,” the guitarist says. “Their music is something I care about. I care about the history and I care about the future of this band, so I want to do things with the utmost respect and make sure everything is done right and execute it to the ability it deserves.”
Mötley Crüe will play selected shows this year starting May 3-4 at Hard Rock Live in Atlantic City, N.J. and including several festival dates.
Check out the full tour itinerary below:
May 3-4 — Atlantic City, NJ @ Hard Rock Live
May 9 — Daytona Beach, FL @ Welcome to Rockville
June 22 — Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
June 23 — Mt. Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
July 11 — Calgary, Canada @ Calgary Stampede
July 13 — Ottawa, Canada @ Ottawa Bluesfest
July 14 — Quebec, Canada @ Festival d’Ete de Quebec
July 19 — Minot, ND @ North Dakota State Fair
August 10 — Springfield, IL @ Illinois State Fair
August 14 — Des Moines, IA @ Iowa State Fair
August 17 — Thackerville, OK @ Winstar Casino
August 29 — St. Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fair
August 31 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun
Sept. 26 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live
Sept. 28 — Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival
Oct. 13 — Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Fest
It’s hard to believe that Sheila E. had not released a salsa album until only a couple weeks ago. As the daughter of American percussionist Pete Escovedo, the “Queen of Percussion” grew up surrounded by Latin music royalty — including the “King of the Timbales” Tito Puente, who was her godfather, and the “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz — before becoming a star in her own right.
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“Everyone thinks I’ve done a salsa record already, but I have not,” she says on a Zoom call from her home in Los Angeles about Bailar (released April 5 under Stiletto Music), for which she recruited Latin legends such as Gloria Estefan, Rubén Blades and Gilberto Santa Rosa. Her famous dad plays in one song, also featuring José Alberto “El Canario”, and its stunning big band orchestration and arrangements are a testament to her love for the genre.
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“I mean, I grew up listening to that music and it’s just so inspiring,” explains the Oakland-born singer and percussionist of Mexican and French Creole ancestry, who has performed, recorded, and toured with renowned artists from a multitude of musical styles — from her close friend and collaborator Prince, to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and more. “And then when I really got into listening to Fania All Stars and all the other groups that were part of that,” she continues, “I was just in love.”
Sheila E. started playing drums at the age of 5 — although she admits she doesn’t fully remember that — and made her professional debut at 15, playing the congas for her father’s Latin-rock-funk band Azteca. Active in the industry ever since, this year she also appeared in the Netflix documentary The Greatest Night In Pop, about the historic night in January of 1985 when many of the biggest stars in music gathered to record “We Are the World.” “That was one of the biggest nights in my career,” she recalls.
During the interview, the artist spoke endearingly about her role models, the new generation of female percussionists, the simple joys in life, and what she misses most about Prince.
1. Congratulations on Bailar, your first salsa album. What took you so long!?
I don’t know! [Laughs.] Everyone thinks I’ve done a salsa record already, but I have not. But you know, it was on my bucket list a while ago. When I started thinking about doing it, it was 2015 and it took me this long to really get it together … I’m really excited. I grew up listening to salsa music, it’s so important to me, and I thought, “Man, this is the time to do it! Why haven’t I done this yet?”
2. Many of the songs have a very classical salsa sound. Where did you find the inspiration?
Listening to my dad rehearsing when I was younger at the house every day, he would practice to vinyl and he would play Latin jazz music, but he also listened to Tito [Puente], to Mongo [Santamaría], Celia [Cruz], Eddie Palmieri, Tito Rodríguez, Fania All Stars. You know, so many people. Ray Barreto. I mean, I grew up listening to that music and it’s just so inspiring. And then when I really got into listening to Fania All Stars and all the other groups that were part of that, the whole scene back then, I was just in love.
3. You dad actually plays in your album on the song “Descarga,” also featuring José Alberto “El Canario.” How was this experience for you?
It was so much fun! When I told him, “Daddy” — oh, I call him Papi some times — “Papi, I want you to play in one of the songs on the record and we’re gonna write it especially for you,” he’s like, “You better ask me to play on this record!”
So he came to my studio, and we recorded him here, and then something happened to the track, which is crazy, so my brother had to record him while I was out of town. They recorded him in the Bay Area, at another friend’s studio, so we finally got it. But it was just awesome to have him playing on the record […] He was really excited. And my mom also played guiro on the same song.
4. What’s your first salsa memory? Do you remember any particular song or artist that captivated you?
My dad was 18 when he met Tito, and Tito would come San Francisco, to the Bay Area, to play, and they would go see him play. Later on, after I was born, [when I was] a little bit older, meeting Tito and see them play, I mean, it was just amazing. [Later] my dad and I went to New York to see Tito play at the Palladium and the Corso, all these clubs that, you know, there are like four different bands playing. We didn’t have something like that in the Bay Area! And when you’d go to New York you’d hear these 10, 15-piece bands, playing multiple clubs in one night till 5 in the morning — you just go, “What is this?!” … I was about 15.
5. What’s the biggest lesson you learned from your dad?
My dad has taught me to be on time and learn your craft, learn your music, practice. If there’s a situation where you’re going to perform live or in the studio, if you have the music ahead of time to learn it, understand it — so when you walk into the room you’re gonna feel good about yourself, which gives you confidence, and it helps you to enjoy what your craft is, what your gift is. Preparation means everything … And to treat others respectfully. I just watched him respect his musicians, and how he was a leader and treated his musicians as family. That’s what I’ve done my whole life.
6. You were actually very close to Prince and you played with him for years. What do you miss the most about him?
HIM! [Laughs.] Which encompasses a lot. The times that we had. And being in the studio, just hanging out, playing music, making up music, you know, writing, jamming, parties, playing for parties. Just having fun. And competing against each other! Teaching each other, sharing new music. Just everything about him.
7. You were also Tito Puente’s goddaughter. How do you remember him?
He was hilarious! He was so much fun, he was always a jokester. If you didn’t know him, you thought he was stern, but he would do that on purpose, just messing with people. […] Some of the funnest times where when he and Celia [Cruz] where together and they make each other laugh. He picked on her all the time, and they were just funny together, like brother and sister, fighting all the time.
8. Any particular anecdote with him?
I just remember when we were going to New York and my dad and I would go to sit with him, […] we never saw any other young girls playing at the time. It was different for me as a woman, to sit with these guys [in the band], and he would always tell them, “Just leave her alone, she’s gonna play what she’s gonna play.” You know, even if I didn’t understand the music completely, he understood what my heart felt about the music, because I didn’t read [music]. And then he would tell me, “Don’t listen to those guys, they don’t know what they’re talking about. You just go play and you just be you.”
9. As a young Latina musician, who did you look up to growing up?
Basically my dad, and my mom. My parents were just — and still are — amazing. Actually, right when I just got on [this Zoom call], they just knocked on the door and came to my house, so I get to see them often, I talk to them constantly, they’re always with me. They were my role models and my inspiration, and still are. You know, for them to still be alive and doing well and healthy, still in love with each other and married — they’re going on 68 years in October — it’s a big deal! They mean everything to me.
10. What’s your first memory playing drums?
Well, the first time I played with my dad I was 5 years old. I remember the process of getting dressed at my grandmother’s house, dressing up really pretty, and then I remember waking the stairs [to the club] and hearing my dad’s band — he was playing with his brothers. This is in Oakland and I can hear the music. We got to the door, he saw my mom and he said, “I wanna introduce my wife and my daughter Sheila. She’s gonna come up and play.” So we walked to the stage, and I remember all the audience partying and clapping. I remember literally just my dad picking me up on the stage and standing me on a stool to play the congas. I just remember everything up to that point. He said that I played well, but I don’t remember.
11. Do you play every day nowadays?
No. When I was living at home [with my parents], in my teenage years, I was playing a lot. But no. I mean, I have drums in my home and my studio, and when someone comes over and I have to record, a lot of times I don’t touch my instrument until I get on stage.
12. What do you like doing besides music? What do you enjoy?
Oh, I enjoy life! I love being outside and nature. Walking, bike riding. I used to skate all the time, playing basketball outside, swimming. I love sports, I love going to the basketball games, professional, NBA, WNBA, football. Anything having to do with sports! I love playing ping-pong, pool. My whole family, we’re all into sports, and we love competing against each other. And I love going to other countries and learning about the food and the community.
13. What was the last country that you visited?
Spain. I was in Gaucin, Spain.
14. Favorite food?
It’s simple. I love making fresh juices in the morning, green drinks to start my morning with something really good. Later on in the day my food changes and I want potato chips and popcorn. It’s a balance. But I love Japanese food and I love all kinds of food! I really do.
15. Do you like cooking?
I do — I love grilling outside. Sometimes, even if it’s cold and it’s raining, I’ll still go outside and grill. I make amazing steaks, fish. I [also] make great gumbo.
16. Any young female musician you admire and are rooting for?
Oh my Gosh, there’s so many it would be unfair for me just to mention a few. What I do, when I have a couple of minutes, I’ll go on social media and I’ll look to see — you know, because of the algorithms it will tend to steer you away to find other people. So I’m always trying to encourage young women playing not just drums, but any instrument. I just reached out to another young girl last night and she D.M. me this morning and she was just like, blown away. “Oh my God, you have no idea,” she said. “I started playing percussion and drums because of you. I started at 9 years old and you are my idol.” And I just love hearing that. “Thank you for your gift,” it’s what I said to her. But there’s so many.
17. What does it feel like to be called the Queen of Percussion?
There are so many amazing queens playing percussion right now that I have seen that can outplay me for sure, and I can’t wait for them to be discovered, because they’re so amazing. So it’s a blessing and I’m humbled by it, but there are so many others that can play as well and should be called Queen of Percussion.
18. If you weren’t a drummer, what would you would be?
I would be an athlete! I was training to be in the Olympics when I was younger in school. I did track and field, I was a sprint runner, I was very fast. And I also played soccer for 5 years.
19. I saw you recently in the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop. What did you think about it?
I thought it was really good. I mean, I didn’t know who was going to be in it, they just said, “We want to do an interview,” and I was like, “Sure!” After I left later at 4:00 in the morning [the night of the recording of “We Are The World” in 1985,] I didn’t know what transpired after, so it was nice to see. And it brought back wonderful memories of what I had accomplished that night [when I also played at the American Music Awards right before]. That was one of the biggest nights in my career.
20. If there was a movie about your life, who should play you?
There are women that have come out to me to say, “I’m gonna play you if you ever do a movie.” [Laughs.] [Actress] Nicole Parker, she was one a long time ago […] and I was like, “Absolutely!” And Nicole Scherzinger, from the Pussy Cat Dolls, we talked to her a long time ago. She’s amazing, and she’s like, “I would love to do it.” And I said, “Well, I will have to teach you some timbales!” And then early on, when we were thinking of doing something, my nieces played percussion and they of course look related to me, so that was a good find for playing me when they were younger.
For fans having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Rihanna has retired from making music, it’s time to rip that band-aid off.
RiRi has kept music on the back burner for several years now, and she’s only returned to the stage when presented with prime (and, at times, high-paying) opportunities that no major artist would want to refuse. She headlined the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show last year, where she also revealed she was pregnant with her and A$AP Rocky’s second child. And earlier this month, the internet devoured guerrilla footage of her first full concert in eight years — during the pre-wedding celebration for Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, India. Rihanna was reportedly paid anywhere from $6 to $9 million for her set, which included performances of her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits “Work,” “Umbrella,” “We Found Love,” “Diamonds” and more.
Shortly before her Indian pre-wedding concert, she had hinted at a collaboration with Rocky – but it was about a lip balm. And earlier this week, she starred on the cover of Vogue China to celebrate the expansion of Fenty Beauty, one of Rihanna’s many business ventures that’s transformed the superstar with nine Grammys into a mogul with nine zeroes in her net worth. But fans are still holding out for her ninth studio album.
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Rather than continuing to hope for R9’s uncertain arrival, it would be easier to accept that the album might never materialize. And although she’s never officially announced her retirement, her career moves over the last few years have strongly suggested that no new music is on the horizon.
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Rihanna hasn’t dropped a full-length project since 2016’s ANTI, and it’s arguably her best album – even Rihanna agrees. “In hindsight, it really is my most brilliant album,” she said in her 2023 British Vogue cover story. “It always felt like the most cohesive album I’ve ever made.” It produced the nine-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Work,” featuring Drake, and two additional top 10 hits with “Needed Me” and “Love on the Brain.” “Work,” “Needed Me” and fellow single “Kiss It Better” all earned Grammy nominations, while ANTI was up for best urban contemporary album and best recording package in 2017.
The LP debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 following its surprise release on Tidal (with a little more than a day left in the chart’s tracking week); after it became widely available to digital retailers and streaming services, ANTI reached No. 1 in its second-charting week, marking her second chart-topping album after 2012’s Unapologetic. And at 412 weeks (and counting), ANTI is the fourth-longest-charting album on the Billboard 200 by a woman artist, after Adele’s 21, Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die and Taylor Swift’s 1989. The songs from ANTI collectively have 7.2 billion official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. Rihanna really doesn’t need to drop another body of work, because she’s already delivered a classic.
And while ANTI set the bar very high, that doesn’t mean Rihanna couldn’t outdo herself. Artists like SZA and Frank Ocean have proven they can follow up their universally acclaimed sets with equally excellent or even better albums. But Rihanna has opened up about the pressure that comes with the prospect of dropping the highly anticipated follow-up to ANTI.
“There’s this pressure that I put on myself. That if it’s not better than that then it is not even worth it,” she told British Vogue last year, explaining how her perfectionism has gotten in the way of her creative process. “I realized that if I keep waiting until this feels right and perfect and better, maybe it’s going to keep taking forever and maybe it’ll never come out and no, I’m not down for that.” RiRi also told the publication that it would be “ridiculous” if she didn’t drop the album in 2023. Now that we’re quickly approaching Q2 of 2024, it’s hard to determine how Rihanna has since readjusted her timetable for R9.
She’s made comments about R9 in previous interviews that have indicated it isn’t completely a myth. In her 2018 Vogue cover story, she said she wanted to make it a reggae album. When she covered the magazine the following year, she doubled down on her statement. “I like to look at it as a reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album,” she told Vogue in 2019. But otherwise, Rihanna has not publicly disclosed any concrete details about or plan to release the album we’ve all been waiting for.
She told Entertainment Tonight in February 2022 that her fans “would kill me if they waited this long for a lullaby.” And what did she do? She released a lullaby seven months later with “Lift Me Up,” her first solo single in six years and the lead single from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. While the tribute to late actor Chadwick Boseman wasn’t the kind of song fans were expecting (and the kind of song Rihanna joked she wouldn’t deliver), it proved she still had the juice, commercially and artistically: “Lift Me Up” debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and became the best-starting radio single of Rihanna’s career, debuting at No. 6 on Radio Songs. It also earned best original song nominations at the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards and 95th annual Academy Awards and a best song written for visual media nod at the 66th annual Grammy Awards.
But one hit soundtrack single – that stayed two weeks in the Hot 100 top 10, which isn’t a remarkable feat for a Rihanna single – is no indication of her hypothetical new album era. Most people seemed to forget that she recorded two songs for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, with “Born Again” closing out the project. The song didn’t earn the same impressive chart stats or rave reviews as “Lift Me Up,” which spurred multiple “Rihanna Returns to Music” headlines. Yet her momentary reappearance, which has been followed by other mini-resurfacings like her Super Bowl and pre-wedding performances, hasn’t officially signaled the end of her eight-year musical hiatus.
And a large reason why the “Don’t Stop the Music” hitmaker stopped putting out music is because Rihanna has been preoccupied checking off everything else from her bucket list. A few years back, a snippet of her 2008 InStyle cover interview resurfaced on X (formerly known as Twitter) where then-20-year-old singer listed what she wanted to accomplish in the next 10 years: “I want to have already started my family and have some businesses of my own. A fashion line, a makeup line, and I still want to be doing what I’m doing at a much bigger capacity – by the grace of God!” Rihanna, now 36, has accomplished everything she’s set out to do: In the eight years following ANTI, Rihanna welcomed two sons with Rocky; launched her $1 billion-worth Savage x Fenty lingerie brand and historic Fenty fashion line with LVHM Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (which was put on hold in 2021); and opened her Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin lines, with the success of the former helping her reach billionaire status in 2022.
While fans’ original entry point to Rihanna was her music, she has wielded her musical career as an entry point to starting other successful businesses. And fans can get frustrated if it seems like artists are neglecting the thing that made them popular in the first place, but what they might not realize or even respect is that artists have other big dreams they want to pursue – and music might’ve provided an avenue for them to achieve them. Saweetie, another business-savvy artist who has noticeably taken her sweet time to release an album and recently explained the pressure surrounding it, has also opened up about wanting to create a legacy for herself beyond music. Whether artists completely stop making music to pursue their other passions or drop singles here and there before disappearing again, fans’ hopes for their musical careers don’t always align with the direction artists take them in.
Maybe RiRi will pull a Kendrick and deliver the news we’ve all been waiting for when she sees discussions about her retirement. Or maybe ANTI really is her swan song. Either way, Rihanna’s career trajectory has been nothing short of exceptional – and for better or for worse, another album isn’t going to dramatically affect it.
On Kenny Chesney‘s 20th studio album Born, out today (March 22) via Blue Chair Records/Warner Music Nashville, he continues his reputation for recording songs that both elevate the spirit and cut to the bone. Landing nearly four years after his 2020 album Here and Now, Chesney’s latest revels in both taking risks and taking in […]
Kacey Musgraves‘ fifth studio album, Deeper Well, has arrived.
The singer-songwriter first teased the news of the album in early February, with a series of photos and a social media post which read, “I’m saying goodbye to the people that I feel are real good at wasting my time…No regrets, baby, I just think that maybe you go your way and I’ll go mine.” Those words, of course, are lyrics to Deeper Well‘s title track; Musgraves co-wrote the song with longtime collaborators Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk. Musgraves followed by releasing another song from the album, “Too Good to Be True.”
Musgraves told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 about the new album, saying, “I’ve found more of a connection to my softer side, my roots, like some of the Americana, the folk, the country…really the warmth of that. I felt drawn to that. I felt like I was in a softer place myself after [Musgraves’ 2021 album] star-crossed and going through a divorce and doing a lot of therapy and honestly falling in love again and opening myself back up to the human experience. These songs just kind of started coming out.”
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On her new project, Musgraves drew inspiration from the energy and artistic legacy of New York City’s Greenwich Village. She also recorded the album at the iconic Electric Lady studios.
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“Sometimes you reach a crossroads. Winds change direction,” Musgraves previously said in a statement. “What you once felt drawn to doesn’t hold the same allure, you get blown off course but eventually find your footing and forage for new inspiration, new insight and deeper love somewhere else.”
The 14-track album was announced after Musgraves picked up her seventh Grammy honor, for best country duo/group performance for her Zach Bryan collaboration “I Remember Everything.” That Grammy victory made Musgraves the first artist to win in all four country field categories, having previously won best country solo performance in 2019 (“Space Cowboy”), as well as best country album and best country song in both 2014 (Same Trailer, Different Park and “Merry Go ‘Round”) and 2019 (Golden Hour and “Space Cowboy”).
“I Remember Everything” became Musgraves’ first Hot 100 chart-topper, and spent 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart; she has also earned four top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 to date, among them star-crossed and Golden Hour.
Stream Deeper Well below:
Beyoncé got her fans feeling the country spirit on Tuesday (March 12) when she revealed that her upcoming country album will be titled Cowboy Carter. The superstar’s Parkwood Entertainment company announced the news via social media, two weeks before the album is slated to arrive on March 29. The post also showed an image of […]