Between her fashionably late appearance at the Met Gala on Sept. 13 and Friday’s Amazon Prime premiere of her Savage x Fenty Show Vol. 3, Rihanna has been all over the headlines lately — but not because of new music.
The last album from the Bajan pop star was 2016’s Anti, which topped the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Work,” as well as the top 10 hits “Needed Me” and “Love on the Brain.” Over the past five years, however, much of her publicity (and income) has come from her skyrocketing Fenty Beauty brand and Savage x Fenty lingerie line, with Forbes reporting in August that RiRi is officially a billionaire thanks to her mogul status.
On the latest episode of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we discuss what might be next for Rihanna’s music career, and why she might not really need to release an album at this point. Of course, we all want the album — just peep Rihanna’s Instagram comments — but does she owe us any music? Listen to the conversation below:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news about Lil Nas X making a high debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart with Montero and logging three concurrent top 10 hits on the Hot 100, how Taylor Swift’s latest re-recording of an older hit debuts straight into the top 40 on the Hot 100, and how Drake holds on tight to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 with Certified Lover Boy. Plus, we discuss the guilty verdict returned Monday on all nine counts in R. Kelly’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s deputy editor, digital, Katie Atkinson and senior director of Billboard charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
