Rihanna's New R9 Album May Be Dropping Sooner Than We All Think

This post has been updated with new information.

Update: Yesterday, Rihanna shared that a combination of managing her multiple businesses and lack of sleep have delayed her anticipated ninth album. "I do fashion one day, lingerie the next, beauty the next, then music the next. It's like having a bunch of kids and you need to take care of them all," Rihanna told Sarah Paulson for Interview Magazine.

Paulson then got straight to the point with the star, asking her how much longer we have to wait. Rihanna coyly responded that she's "really happy with a lot of the material we have so far" and although she's not rushing her creative process, the singer has "blocked off a solid period of time for the studio next month."

Next month!? Okay queen ... we might not be getting R9 as our summer playlist, but the album is definitely coming this year – and it's dropping sooner than we might think.

Original post: Is there anything Rihanna can't do? In the three years since the debut of her multiplatinum album, Anti, she upended the beauty industry with 50 shades of foundation and became the first woman of color to launch a luxury fashion line with LVMH. Now that she's an established businesswoman, she's finally decided to give us some new music to look forward to — be still my beating heart.

In a recent interview for T Magazine, Rihanna confirmed that her ninth album will soon be taking over our playlists. Staying true to her Caribbean roots, it will be her first reggae album with "R9" as a working title. "So far it's just been R9, thanks to the Navy. I'm about to call it that probably, 'cause they have haunted me with this "R9, R9, when is R9 coming out?" How will I accept another name after that's been burned into my skull?", she added.

When asked when the album will be released, Rihanna coyly responded, "I don't [know]." But we're banking on Riri to pull a Beyoncé and surprise us with an overnight drop of her new work. If there's one thing Rihanna could give away it's that she definitely won't be collaborating with Drake this time, "I don't see it happening. Not on this album, that's for sure." As for collaborating with Lady Gaga, she said it's possible, "because she followed me on Instagram. It's not in the books right now, but I'm not against it."