New York City never sleeps and neither, it seems, does Rihanna. Or, at very least, the "Born Again" singer and mother of two seems to have slept less than you might usually expect this weekend.
Because this is Rihanna we're talking about, there's photographic evidence of this midnight-oil-burning behavior, courtesy of pictures of the singer that the Daily Mail reports were snapped at around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.
When the photos were taken might be intriguing, but where they were taken sent a tidal wave of hopeful excitement crashing down across the internet. Rihanna's late-night, 2:30 a.m. adventure didn't involve a trip to a club or high-profile event, but to a recording studio.
Rihanna wasn't avoiding attention on the outing, wearing an attention-grabbing, oversized, camel-colored fur-trimmed coat over what appeared to be a casual and comfy leisurewear look that makes it impossible not to wonder (/hope/pray/dream/wish from the purest part of your heart) if she was lounging on the couch or relaxing in bed when inspiration struck and she decided to head to the studio.
Rihanna accessorized the look with a pair of Fenty x Puma Avanti LS sneakers in PUMA Team Royal-Creamy Vanilla (a two-tone design in a vibrant shade of blue and a creamy off-white) and a large Louis Vuitton handbag.
She opted for a similar LV bag (albeit in a different size) when she made a late-night Target run in NYC earlier this week. For that outing, the singer paired her brown Louis Vuitton Speedy bag with another very cozy outfit—a black sweatsuit and black sheepskin Ugg slippers.
Fans couldn't contain their excitement—and speculation—that the visit to the studio might be a sign that Rihanna, who hasn't released a new album since 2016's Anti, might be working on new music and that her highly-anticipated (and impatiently-awaited) ninth studio album (referred to as "R9" among fans) might be coming soon.
R9 IS COMING “”””””””””GET UP NAVYS WE ARE GETTING NEW ALBUM pic.twitter.com/7jESDC8SBVJanuary 18, 2025
Of course, others were more skeptical, with one lamenting on X, "rihanna been in and out the studio for years and we still ain’t got a new album," and another joking that, "Somebody needs to sue Rihanna for constantly going to the recording studio or being photographed near a studio" and calling the studio sightings and continued lack of new music "ridiculous at this point."
Still others theorized that wearing blue could have been the singer's way of signaling that the studio trip was for work on The Smurfs Movie (in which she plays Smurfette), not her music.
FWIW, Rihanna has said that she does plan to release another album in the near (or, at least, near-ish) future, but that she's been held back by what she described in a 2023 interview with British Vogue as "toxic pressure" to top Anti with R9.
"There’s this pressure that I put on myself. That if it’s not better than that then it is not even worth it," she said at the time, adding that it's not a healthy way to approach creating music, which should be "an outlet and a space to create, and you can create whatever."
She added that the pressure has slowed her creative output, but made it clear she still has art inside her that she's eager to share.
“I realized that if I keep waiting until this feels right and perfect and better, maybe it’s going to keep taking forever and maybe it’ll never come out and no, I’m not down to that," she said. "So I want to play. And by play, I mean I have my ideas in my head, but I can’t say them out loud yet.”