SLIMMshay_d

I hope what's taking the music so long is Rih knowing she really has to craft an album that is truly personal a la Rated R. When I think of albums I would want to inspire her direction for R9 the only album I think would work wonderfully is The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. If we could just get a song like To Zion, the wait would be worth it just for that

Lol u replied before I got to edit my last post but I've never watched a Zeus show either but just from clips I see constantly, the shows on that network are a circus. That type of TV is just violent for the sake of violence I get how traditional reality TV can be a guilty pleasure but I will never understand the appeal for that type of content.

BGC was the inspiration but fundamentally they are different beast. Reality TV can be horrible but older shows had structure and restrictions there were always consequences for fighting. Baddies is a show ran by an antiblack women who gets groups of majority black women to live together solely to drink and fight each other. They hold "auditions" where they are actively incentivising and sometimes directing ppl to fight complete strangers, all for just a chance to be on their show. Meanwhile the casts of these shows are made up of the same individuals every season, its extremely toxic on different level imo. On top of everything I remember Natalie Nunn used to talk so much sh*t about Rih. 😂 Honestly I could go on but if u don't see the stark difference in those types of shows from what I've pointed out we can agree to disagree on that point.

Lmao it's definitely the lack of music but I will break down my issues. I'm not really worried about what music we will get, I have faith in her in that aspect it's just the ppl Omar named were mostly ppl she's worked with before. I really want some writers/producers out of left field. As far as the reality tv topic, I'm very aware she loves some good trash tv but nothing on Zeus is as well put together as the Flavor of Loves/BGCs that we used to get. I am a black man in America and I will never stop criticizing shows like Baddies because in my opinion it is doing a lot of damage to my community and the youth in general, especially young women/gay men. Young Miami is just very ignorant 😂 so that's why I'm put off by the things you mentioned. But it truly isn't THAT deep.

I completely agrih. We need new blood on this next album, none of those names spark any interest. A Billie Eilish/Finneas collab would be nice but like u said does she really know their music? 😂 And I just saw a video of her on FT with Jason Lee then Young Miami while she's vibing to that terrible song, that combined with this little "news" about the "album" and her hanging around people from Zeus Network really is just off putting. I'm really starting to think she's losing the plot. Get on the phone with some real WRITERS and stop trying to keep up with the kids!

Lmao I seen those and I just knew that wasn't what was being referenced here

Idk how I forgot the watermelon line I think the problem comes from ppl looking for/ putting a deeper meaning to a lot of what she does. I think Formation was the start of it all, the few pro black lines in the song mixed with the Superbowl performance garnered her more political discourse than she's ever had. I feel like they realized conversations around her became more nuanced than before so she doubled down on the "real artist" angle. Which wouldn't be a problem if her songs actually progressed from just a few lines referencing black culture/issues.

When and where did she apologize?

Russian Roulette Man Down Only Girl Love on the Brain

While it is a fact that Bey does write nice music I think what puts a lot of ppl off is some of her fans and the media sometimes paint her as if she's musical savant in the vain of someone like Nina Simone when her lyricism just isn't there wether she wrote it or someone else . IMO Bey being such a great vocalist is to her detriment sometimes because she prioritizes her vocal performance over the melody, lyrics and message sometimes. I know her fans don't agree but she definitely try's to stay current with today's trends and sometimes it's cringey. Mixing lines that sound like a random tweet or Tumblr post(the Red Lobster/ Hot sauce line in Formation) into songs that are supposed to be meaningful, feels so out of place. It makes some songs sound chaotic and unfocused but the vocals are great so her fans don't mind. On the topic of the context of a lot of her recent music, where a lot of ppl see so much depth and meaning in her lyrics other ppl like myself can't help but want her to be more overt in her delivery when it comes to speaking on real issues. The way she is discussed when it comes to her musicality and using words like "scientific" makes matters worse because what artist has ever been described like that?! Ppl act like there is no incentive for her collaborators to embellish stories about her involvement(not saying they do) but working for her is very lucrative in many ways so is it really that hard to believe some ppl do so in hopes of future opportunities? It just comes off very pretentious and disingenuous because where are the songs to give us the impression that she applies any science other than maybe social science when making music? Bey has yet to make a song anywhere near Strange Fruit, A Change Is Gonna Come, They Don't Care About Us, Four Women etc. I feel like the average person expects a certain type of music/message when they hear all the buzzwords used to describe her as revolutionary and she has yet to deliver something truly transcendent to where her music actually embodies the message ppl say she's trying to send. Because as of right now her progressiveness is very safe and surface level and the way she is described in the music making process it's not hard to see how some ppl have a hard time feeding into all that.

I like the look but I think it's to reminiscent of her dress from 2018

I would only be happy with a song like this if it's a DJ feature. I don't want anything generic for R9.

JB, Like Justin Bieber? If she made a song with him I'd never forgive her

Skin and Rude Boy should've swapped albums

😂 Honestly it was time for the Puma collabs to end. She's had her time with fashion collabs the list is so extensive, she kinda set the standard and paved the way for celebrity collabs with fashion brands. Now with the progress of social media it's not that exclusive to have deals like FENTY x Puma. (Plus, no new music so we really don't care.)

What did she tweet? I've been chronically offline and I'm feeling too lazy to look it up

It's 7-8 for me, with ANTi winning for having LOTB but now you've got me thinkin… How would yall judge these match ups? I tried to match songs with similar sounds/themes and get rid of the interludes. Mad House vs Goodnight Gotham Wait Your Turn vs Consideration Hard vs Pose Stupid In Love vs Same Ol' Mistakes Rockstar 101 vs Woo Russian Roulette vs Desperado Fire Bomb vs Love On The Brain Rude Boy vs Sex Wit Me Photographs vs Work G4L vs Needed Me Te Amo vs Never Ending Cold Case Love vs Kiss It Better The Last Song vs Close To You

I agrih. Also Pose/SWM were out of place artistically imo as opposed to Just Feel It. I'm 100% sure that wasn't the only song considered/recorded for the album that would've fit better. We just will never hear them Rated R wahad a more serious tone and was a little more balanced whereas ANTi for sure has higher highs(but kinda unfair because naturally she grew as an artist). ANTi had more "club Rih" w/ Work, Needed Me, SWM, Woo etc. RR was more of her stepping outside of her comfort zone and ANTi was her showing her mastery of her forms of expression.

I think the straining in LMU was more of a style choice while FOM is just bad and shouldn't exist 😂 I think she sounds good on Anyone but I do wonder what her voice will sound like live if and when we hear it again.

Ok yall I'm bored and I've been trying to cope with/ make logic of the lack of music so excuse my lil theories I've listened to the R9 demos and ANTi and I think I kinda see why she didn't love it. If she had released those demos as a full album I can see how she wouldn't have felt it was a sufficient follow up to ANTi. I know a lot of us wouldn't have cared much, considering how long it's been but I don't think it would've had a "timeless" feel to it which I think is a nagging thought she constantly has. Regardless what direction she takes for her next album what I can say I hope for is evolution and R9 in that state wouldn't have been that. I really want her to expand her subject matter, songs like Reward have hints of that but we need more drastic shifts imo. I look at songs like Easy On Me/ My Little Love by Adele and we absolutely need a song from Rihanna that truly feels personal to where she is now, songs that really show her growth as a woman. She's said things to that effect but they use to sound like her usual cliche answers but I think I get it now. Songs like Love Looks Like Us, Gwan Look Pon It, Start It would've been in the right direction as far as beats go but lyrically none of the songs really pushed any boundaries. That would've been an album full of basic love songs and none of them really gave her a chance to showcase any vocals. I don't care for artist like Taylor for a reason Ultimately I do think I understand why she didn't feel confident in releasing this and I hope it's for similar reasons as I speculated and not just because she's a lying sadist. PRAYING FOR R9 IN 2026.

After skimming through the songs I can see how she didn't love the album. A lot of the songs have potential but sound too generic imo. Most of the songs could've been released by other artists like Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tyla etc. I feel like majority of those demos(granted I know they are demos) don't have the same quality as songs like Man Down, No Love Allowed and that really should be the bar. A few of them for sure would've tore the club up tho but I think Rih is tired of being seen as an artist who can only make good music if it's for partying.

Remember when new hair meant something?

Obviously not new music but if this is true, what could it be? We already had the little merch drop to celebrate 20 years.. what other scraps does she have? I guess there is always the documentary but thats wishful thinking at this point and I wouldn't consider that a musical project. Maybe we will get the videos for TTT, Right Now, SWM etc.

Yea, no.