Here’s Everything Rihanna Did In 2020 Instead Of Releasing Music
That tiny feature on a PartyNextDoor track does NOT count.
2020 has been full of upsets, to say the least, but to top it all off, I really didn’t expect to be writing this article for the third year in a row.
Although technically speaking, Rihanna did release music this year — but let’s not kid ourselves, a 30-second feature on a PartyNextDoor track is no ‘R9’.
While there are still a few weeks left of the year (and celebrity gossip haven Deux Moi keeps teasing a big surprise release from a popstar), Rihanna hasn’t given any real clues that her long-awaited follow up to her eighth album, 2016’s ANTI, is coming in 2020.
And if bombarding Rihanna’s socials with ‘where’s the album’ was already a meme in 2018, by now, it’s an all-out trolling war. Last December, she joked on Instagram that it was more or less completed and she was “refusing to release it”; in February, she told Entertainment Tonight she was simply serving back what she gets.
“I like to antagonise my fans a little bit,” Rih joked. “Well, they antagonise me, too! So, they get it right back.”
While she’s posted pictures from the studio throughout the year and told press she’s still working on an album, it’s clear that music is just one of many spinning plates for the pop-star — and in terms of both cultural and economic capital, it’s only strengthening Rihanna’s brand.
Over the past four years, Rihanna has pushed back ‘musician’ further and further on the multi-hyphenate as her Fenty empire expands further and further, landing her a Forbes-estimated net worth of $600 million. Chatting ahead of her Fenty Savage runway show this October, she hinted that music doesn’t offer the same challenges as being a businesswoman.
“It’s really important for me to expand,” she says. “To build, evolve, to do things bigger, better. To try new aspects of creativity… I get bored really quickly, so if I’ve done it I’m already bored of it while I’m doing it… I’m always like ‘what’s next, what’s next?’.”
After once banging out seven albums in seven years, Rihanna’s now within the largest time between releases in her career — and even then, we had plenty of stand-alone singles in between 2012’s Unapologetic and ANTI. Of course, artists should take time to release works: they aren’t machines, though we do have a tendency to treat Rihanna as superhuman.
Plus, in a culture churn where Spotify CEO Daniel Ek suggests that artists simply need to release new music constantly to stay afloat, Rihanna’s refusal to play that game is refreshing. Then again, that’s only possible because of Rihanna’s sheer power as a brand rather than a musician, and her diversified portfolio — terms an average artist couldn’t dare use about themselves without being called a sell-out.
For a refresher, here’s everything Rihanna’s done in the objectively awful year of 2020
Donated More Than $8 Million To Fight COVID-19 Across The Globe
In March, Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation donated USD $5 million to various COVID-19 funds, including Feeding America and WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund. She also donated USD $700,000 worth of respirators to her native Barbados (who she became an official ambassador for last year) and USD $1 million for PPE for New York during their first COVID-19 peak.
In April, she matched Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s USD $2.1 million donation to provide shelter, food and resources for victims of domestic violence during the COVID-19 lockdown in Los Angeles.
As she said on an Instagram live, “If one of y’all motherfuckers ask me about the album one more time when I’m tryna save the world unlike y’all president… on sight!”
Held A Lingerie Runway During The Pandemic
The show must go on, we guess. Despite the pandemic, Savage x Fenty — Rihanna’s lingerie line — held its third annual runway show this October, albeit transforming into pre-recorded show ready to stream on Amazon Prime.
Rosalia, Ella Mai, Roddy Ricch, Bad Bunny and Miguel performed, while everyone from Drag Race currently reigning Jaida Essence Hall to Demi Moore, Lizzo and Paris Hilton walked the runway. They revealed Savage’s first collaboration (with designer Adam Selman), as well as a men’s boxers collection, as created by Christian Combs, aka Puff’s son.
The show avoided any COVID-19 controversies, though Rihanna apologised to the Muslim community for unknowingly including a song in the runway portion by British producer CouCou Chloe which features a recording of a Hadith, a sacred prayer.
CouCou also apologised and pulled the song from streaming services, saying she was unaware of the sample’s religious importance.
Told White People To ‘Pull Up’ And Take A Stand On Racism
While accepting the NAACP Image Awards’ 2020 President’s Award for her charity work across the years (including her own humanitarian and education charity, the Clara Lionel Foundation), Rihanna gave a stirring but simple speech to say that systemic racism is not a problem to be considered and solved by people of colour alone.
“We can only fix this world together, we cannot do it divided…,” she said. “We cannot let the sensitivity seep in — that if it’s your problem, then it’s not mine. It’s a woman’s problem, that it’s a Black people problem, a poor people problem.”
She then asked the predominantly POC audience that they need to demand their white co-workers, friends and family stand up against racism.
“They wanna break bread with you? They like you? Then this is their problem too. So when we’re marching and protesting and posting about the Michael Brown Jnrs. and the Atatiana Jeffersons [who were both shot and killed by police officers] of the world, tell your friends to pull up.”
Demanded Justice For George Floyd, Breonna Taylor And All Black Victims Of Police Brutality
In support of the Black Lives Matter protests and the demand for justice after the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and now 190 more Black Americans in 2020 alone, Rihanna expressed her own dismay on social media, as well as using Fenty accounts to call for justice.
“FENTY as a brand was created to elevate beauty, power and freedom! At this very moment racists are attempting to rip those values away from Black people and we will NOT stand by and let that happen. We are too powerful, creative and resilient,” read the Fenty Instagram page in a June post.
“In support of the Black community, we will be donating funds to Color of Change and Movement for Black Lives. We ask you to speak up, stand up, and pull up against racism and discrimination in all forms.”
Fenty also ceased sales on June 2 as part of BlackOut Tuesday. Via social media, Rihanna also continually pushed the Kentucky attorney general to ensure justice for Breonna Taylor’s death.
View this post on Instagram
Released A Damn Zine
Why just dominate magazine covers, when you can create one yourself? In January, Rihanna and i-D partnered up for the imaginatively titled ‘Rihannazine’, which features interviews with Zadie Smith, Roxane Gay, Miss Vanjie, Rico Nasty and more. The physical copy is long sold-out, but you can find a digital version here.
Of course, Rihanna popped up across the glossies too, landing on the May cover of British Vogue and all versions of Harper’s Bazaar across the world in September.
View this post on Instagram
Dropped Details Of R9, Told Shaggy To Audition
Back in February, Shaggy revealed that Rihanna’s team approached him to work on R9, which Rihanna has repeatedly said will flirt with reggae, but turned them down after learning he’d have to audition to be on the team. In short, it won’t be him.
“There’s a lot of great people involved, but for me, I didn’t need to audition to be on the record,” he told The Sun. “I’ll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear, it should be good.”
Around the same time, Rih posted an Instagram story on a studio, mentioning that legendary producers The Neptunes — aka Pharrell and Chad Hugo — are working with her. Talking to Vogue UK in March (in a pre-COVID interview), Rihanna said she was “aggressively working” on music, and in October told AP she’s held several songwriting camps.
In short, she wants you to know it is coming, at some stage. And by the sounds of it, she’s aiming for pure escapism.
“I just want to have fun with music,” she told AP. “Everything is so heavy. The world that we live in is a lot. It’s overwhelming every single day. And with the music, I’m using that as my outlet.”
— ariel (@ariellebeau) February 14, 2020
Popped Up On PartyNextDoor’s Album
‘Believe It’, this track’s probably the only music we’re getting from Rihanna this year. Canadian singer PartyNextDoor has worked with Rihanna on some pretty big tracks, co-writing ‘Work’, ‘Wild Thoughts’ and ANTI favourite ‘Sex With Me’ — unfortunately, ‘Believe It’ isn’t quite as exciting.
It’s perfectly fine, but it’s not exactly the return we were hoping for. Rihanna’s pretty much playing backup here, and when PARTY told Rolling Stone her vocals arrived just before the album was about to be released, it wasn’t exactly surprising. You can kind of tell it was a rush job. Still, maybe she was just warming up.
Repeatedly Ignored Drake
Drake, seemingly the world’s biggest simp, has tried a few times to get ex Rihanna’s attention this year. First, he tried shouting her out in the comment section of DJ Spade’s Instagram live in March, when he realised @badgirlriri was around too.
He called her by her real name, asking if she could fix Spade’s spotty Wi-Fi, then tried to show off his freestyle skills by typing in all caps: “DUB PLATE CAME PRETTY LIKE A FENTY FOUNDATION”. Finally, he wrote “Rihanna drop R12 right now”.
Rihanna indirectly responded, writing in the comments “Give Drake some water”, not even giving him the satisfaction of an @.
In July, Drake went to Barbados for a two week trip, even going so far as to hang out with Rihanna’s brother and visit her childhood home, all, assumedly, in the hopes she’d notice him. Give it up!
Just Like You, She Held One Virtual Party Then Realised They Kinda Suck
In April, Rihanna threw a ‘Fenty Social Club’ on Instagram live, which featured mini-sets from Octavian, Kitty Ca$h, Pedro and Stretch Armstrong. Rih-Rih was on the poster line-up too, but didn’t perform per se — but she did dance with Lil Uzi Vert, trying her hand at his ‘Futsal Shuffle’.
There was no second instalment: just like everyone else, she quickly got over the virtual hangouts.
Lil Uzi Vert and Rihanna on live is the best content from today pic.twitter.com/va92xmMfbC
— 𝓑𝓮𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓬é’𝓼 𝓕𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓴𝓵𝓮𝓼ᴮ🌱 (@_bvrzdalyricist) April 11, 2020
Launched Fenty Skincare, Shoes And Sunglasses
With Fenty’s house with LVHM launching last year, Rihanna became the first woman of colour to be the head of a luxury fashion house. In 2020, the expansion continued, as they dropped seven collections, including forays into eyewear and shoes, the latter in collaboration with Amina Muaddi.
Meanwhile, Rihanna entered into the skincare game too with Fenty Skin, which features products for men — hence enlisting her (probable) beau A$AP Rocky into the campaign (and Lil Nas X!).
View this post on Instagram
Partied In The Back
Sorry to The Chats, but Rihanna has the most important mullet in all of music. After first appearing back in 2013, Rihanna returned to her mullet in September — or did it return to her? Either way, we were blessed to see it back.
omggg Rihanna with the mullet is backkk pic.twitter.com/g1KjAbldfR
— MOGUL (@jaymesblond) September 25, 2020
Her Forehead And Her Lived Their Best Lives
View this post on Instagram
Jared Richards is a staff writer at Music Junkee and freelancer who writes for The Big Issue, The Guardian and more. He is on Twitter.
Photo Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage