Rihanna has insisted her new album won’t be delayed too much by her pregnancy.
The 37-year-old pop star – who is expecting her third child with her partner A$AP Rocky – confirmed the happy news at the Met Gala on Monday and some fans were wondering if it will impact her long awaited record.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the Umbrella hitmaker was asked if the album – which has been dubbed ‘R9’ – will be ‘put on pause even longer’.
She said back: ‘No, maybe a couple of videos.’
Fans have been waiting nine years for the collection, but RiRi hinted plans are still in place.
She then quipped: ‘I can sing!’
Rihanna has insisted her new album won’t be delayed too much by her pregnancy (seen revealing she is expecting at the Met Gala on Monday)
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the Umbrella hitmaker was asked if the album – which has been dubbed ‘R9’ – will be ‘put on pause even longer’
Rihanna – who already has sons RZA, two, and Riot, 21 months, with Rocky – also revealed she isn’t ‘too overwhelmed’ by her pregnancy, although there was some initial shock.
She added: ‘I’m good! I’m shockingly feeling ok, and not too overwhelmed at the moment. At first it was kinda like, ‘Ahhh!’ ‘
In the meantime, fans are still waiting for the follow-up to 2016’s Anti.
While details are few and far between, in February she offered a tease of what fans can expect from the album.
She told Harper’s BAZAAR magazine: ‘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!’
Rihanna insisted there was ‘no genre’ for the album, and she has been determined to make the next batch of songs something ‘matching [her] evolution’.
She said back: ‘No, maybe a couple of videos.’ She quipped then: ‘I can sing!’
Rihanna – who already has sons RZA, two, and Riot, 21 months, with Rocky – also revealed she isn’t ‘too overwhelmed’ by her pregnancy
She added: ‘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.’
At the Met ET’s reporter then asked whether Rihanna and her boyfriend, ASAP Rocky, had any other news to share, like a secret wedding.
‘No, girl, you don’t know I keep secrets very well,’ the Fenty Beauty founder replied.
Rocky was a co-chair of this year’s gala, which had the theme Superfine: Tailoring Black Style and the dress code Tailored for You.
The rapper arrived first with Rihanna joining him hours later.
Before Rihanna made her appearance, Rocky couldn’t help gushing about his partner, telling the Associated Press, ‘It feels amazing, you know. It’s time that we show the people what we was cooking up. And I’m glad everybody’s happy for us ’cause we definitely happy, you know.’
Extra was on the blue carpet when A$AP confirmed they are expecting a third child together to CBS This Morning’s Nate Burleson.
When asked to complete the sentence, ‘Rihanna’s outfit tonight is…,’ the singer answered, ‘Rihanna’s outfit tonight is… I don’t know, whatever. Just don’t cover her baby hump, you dig?’
‘It feels amazing, you know. It’s time that we show the people what we was cooking up,’ he also said.
‘And I’m glad everybody’s happy for us ’cause we definitely happy.’
Rihanna opted for a Marc Jacobs dress which highlighted her growing baby bump with a boned corseted bodice and cropped suit jacket.
The ensemble was completed with an oversized hat and maroon polka-dotted necktie.
Fans have been waiting nine years for the collection, but RiRi hinted plans are still in place
The Met Gala, known as fashion’s biggest night, is held on the first Monday in May and celebrates the opening of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition at the New York museum.
This year’s theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, casts an eye back over 300 years of Black fashion, the concept of black dandyism and its lasting impact on contemporary style.
Each year, Vogue editor Anna Wintour handpicks a group of celebrities to serve as co-chairs and help launch the museum’s exhibition.
Alongside Rocky, Wintour chose seven-time Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, singer and producer Pharrell Williams and Oscar-nominated performer Colman Domingo.
