In a new interview with Giles Hattersley for British Vogue, Rihanna discussed motherhood, her Super Bowl LVII halftime show performance, and her long-teased new album. Regarding the Super Bowl, Rihanna described why she chose to perform after declining an offer to play the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show in solidarity with activist and former quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” Rihana said, “but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.” The interview continued:

This last point is key for her. “Two Super Bowls back-to-back,” she says, referring to last year’s headliners, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, “you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.” There’s another key difference this time as well. “Of course,” she says, becoming visibly moved by this thought, “raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life.” It’s made her reevaluate everything. “You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’” She shakes her head. “All of those things really start to hit differently.”

The interview also provided some updates on Rihanna’s next album, the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s, Anti. Apparently, according to Hattersley, “Rihanna never stopped recording. The past years are littered with songs she’s fallen in and out of love with.”

Regarding the timeline for the project, Rihanna said, “I want it to be this year.” She continued, “Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”

Rihanna periodically provides album updates during interviews with Vogue. A 2018 piece included the fateful line: “She plans to make a reggae album.” The next year, she said, “I have been trying to get back into the studio,” and clarified, “I like to look at it as a reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album.”

And, in 2022, she told Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi, “I’m looking at my next project completely differently from the way I had wanted to put it out before. I think this way suits me better, a lot better,” adding, “It’s authentic, it’ll be fun for me, and it takes a lot of the pressure off.”

Read the latest piece, titled “Rihanna Reborn: How a Megastar Became a Mother,” at British Vogue.

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