Where have you been, Rihanna?
Fans impatient after 5 years and no new album
The 63rd annual Grammys, hosted by Trevor Noah, are happening Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And judging by the online searches monitored by Google, music lovers are eager to see Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, BTS and Beyoncé — all of whom are indeed nominated this year. But one of the most searchedfor names isn’t nominated, won’t be performing and hasn’t put out new music in five years. The Rihanna fan base — known as “the Navy” — is tired of waiting. And her label, Roc Nation, is in the dark. When The Post reached out to a representative about the status of the much anticipated R9 (the album’s rumored title), the rep briskly responded: “Don’t know . . . haven’t heard anything.” Rihanna, 33, reportedly has been working on a reggae-inspired album since 2018. The famously outspoken star has snapped at her devoted fan base over their growing impatience. When she posted vacation photos on Instagram earlier this year, with the caption “New Year’s resolution: apply the pressure,” a fan bristled: “Resolution should be releasing the new album.” “This comment is sooo 2019. Grow up,” Rihanna fired back. “2021 energy.” “That’s just Rihanna,” said Skyy Hook, an on-air personality on “The Wake Up Show with Sway & King Tech” on Shade 45/SiriusXM. “If someone says something disrespectful on social media she claps back . . . That realness is why people respect her.” However, a five-year wait is a lifetime in the fast-moving world of pop music. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga struggled to reconnect with fans after taking a long hiatus between albums. But both Hook and Memsor Kamarake, a stylist who has worked with Rihanna, believe that the star — who has been romantically linked to rapper A$AP Rocky since her three-year relationship with Saudi billionaire Hassan Jameel reportedly ended in early 2020 — will be able to reclaim her throne. “She’s become bigger than the music,” Kamarake said. In fact, that thinking may be what’s caused the musical delay — as Rihanna has ventured from singer to fashion designer. “Fenty . . . is why the album is taking so long to drop,” said Hook of Rihanna’s beauty and fashion brand.
Rihanna’s high-profile partnership with fashion conglomerate LVMH, first announced in 2017, placed her under a powerful umbrella that includes Christian Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and Givenchy. Signing the singer was celebrated as a change-agent statement for LVMH: It would be their first line created by a black woman.
As for what Rihanna gets out of it — besides money, of course; the initial beauty-line deal was reportedly $10 million — insiders say she has enjoyed the creativity involved as well as the control.
“Rihanna understands her value,” said Hook, noting how, in the music industry, artists have to pay “money back to record labels for recording and promoting albums.”
With fashion, Hook added, “There are not 50 people in Rihanna’s pocket before she even sees her profit. There are very few middlemen in fashion compared to the music industry.”
The Fenty Beauty makeup line proved an immediate success, pulling in $100 million during the first few weeks of its launch. When her most recent venture, Fenty Skin, launched last summer, the products — mostly under $40 each — were so in-demand that resellers were listing items online for as much as $550. And Savage X Fenty, Rihanna’s lingerie brand, is now worth $1 billion, according to Forbes.
Last year, Forbes placed the singer’s net worth at $600 million and noted that it is largely because of her fashion and beauty empire — not because of her music.
So it was a shock last month when LVMH announced it was shuttering the Fenty Fashion House line of clothing.
A source close to Rihanna’s camp said the blame lies, as with so many things, on the COVID economy.
“Most of the public’s discretionary income has been vastly reduced during the pandemic,” said the source, noting that the line proved to be too expensive for a large segment of Rihanna’s young fan base.
With a price range that spanned $200 or more for T-shirts to $1,100 for a cotton canvas dress, the upstart luxury brand struggled in an already crowded market. “There were simply too many choices fashion-wise out there,” the source said.
Now the question remains — will we get fashion Rihanna or music Rihanna in 2021?