We learned from Rihanna's June 2018 cover story for Vogue that she was prepping a reggae album. We also learned shortly after from a Rolling Stone report that 500 songs had been submitted by some of the biggest producers and writers in dancehall in hope that they would fancy the queen and be deemed worthy of her upcoming ninth studio album.
The latest development in R9 news shows that the dream of this reggae-centric album are still alive. On Friday, a Rihanna fan page shared a photo on Twitter of a registration for a new Rihanna song through her publishing company, BMI. The song is titled, "Private Loving", and Jamaican dancehall and reggae artist, Demarco, is listed in the credits.
When the Rihanna fan page reached out to Demarco for comment, he was first confused as to how they acquired this report, and then expressed his shock by referring to it as, "Maddd". British singer-songwriter, Monique Lawz, is also credited on the track, and she retweeted the song's details, writing: "I CANNOT BREATHE!!!!!". Given these responses from both Demarco and Lawz, it appears the artists that send in references aren't notified that Rihanna selected them until later on in the album release process.
After hearing Rihanna's more dancehall-influenced tracks, like "Work" and "Rude Boy", we're sure in for a treat whenever R9 emerges. But for now, we wait.