What’s next for Rihanna? The Oscars — and managing fans’ expectations

Written by on February 13, 2023

What’s next for Rihanna? The Oscars — and managing fans’ expectations
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

After slaying the Super Bowl halftime show and revealing she’s pregnant with her second child, what’s next for Rihanna? Oh, nothing much — just the Academy Awards.

As previously reported, Rihanna scored her first Oscar nomination for co-writing “Lift Me Up” from the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Speaking to ABC’s Michael Strahan in an interview that aired on Good Morning America Monday morning, she explained that movie’s main theme appealed to her.

“[Director Ryan Coogler] reached out to me and he asked if I would be interested in doing a song for the film,” she told Strahan. “And when I saw the film, I felt like, ‘This is so powerful. The sense of motherhood and how much strength that embodies,’ right? I felt that when I watched the film and it hit me.”

It probably doesn’t hurt that there’s a scene in the movie where two characters literally discuss a specific shade of makeup by Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty brand.

Meanwhile, Rihanna says she’s aware that fans are desperate for new music from her, especially after “Lift Me Up” and the Super Bowl.

“They’re waiting,” she acknowledged. “I’m excited to actually put new music out but I don’t have any updates for you on that yet.”

Looks like we’ll just have to keep playing Anti- on repeat until Rihanna decides to bless us with something new. However, the fact that she’s about to have two children under 2 doesn’t bode well for a new album. 

Indeed, ahead of the Super Bowl, she told Nate Burleson on his new podcast, The Process, “I want to just put music out and have fun with it but if it has to be an album, that might take some time.”

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