We Finally Have Some Rihanna Album News!

Calling all Rihanna Navy members! We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief because we finally have some news about Rihanna’s upcoming eighth studio album, and it sounds really promising. This past weekend, longtime Rihanna collaborators, Norwegian production duo Stargate, revealed on Twitter that they are “still working” on her new album. I know, it’s kind of a bummer that Stargate said that they’re “still working” on the album and not, “HEY THE ALBUM’S DONE SO CHECK OUT HER NEW SINGLE RIGHT NOW, BYE!” but considering we weren’t even sure that they were contributing to the project period, I’m going to go ahead and mark this down as a major win for desperate Rihanna fans everywhere.

Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, the two gents who make up Stargate, are responsible for producing some of Rihanna’s best and most memorable hits, like, “Don’t Stop the Music,” “Take a Bow,” “Rude Boy,” “Only Girl (In the World),” “What’s My Name?,” “S&M,” and “Diamonds” — just to name a few. Rihanna and Stargate go together like peas in a pod, like peanut butter and jelly, like…an amazing pop star and two tall, bald men who really know how to craft hits. I couldn’t imagine a Rihanna album without Stargate’s masterful touch, and thankfully, it doesn’t sound like I’ll have to.

But if you’re saying, “Stargate, shmargate! I already assumed Rih was working with those two again. Tell me something I DON’T know, Mary!” First of all, please check your attitude at the door. Second of all, hold on to your butt because it gets even better. On Wednesday morning, in demand hip-hop producer DJ Mustard revealed on radio station Power 105’s The Breakfast Club morning show that he worked on not one, but two songs for Rihanna’s new album.

When the host asked Musty (can I call him Musty?) if the songs were “hot,” he responded, “Crazy.” Now he better stop teasing because you know I can barely handle the excitement as it is. Granted, Musty was never going to be like, “Nah, the songs I did for Rih are sooo room temperature and boring and basically my career’s over now, bye!” But still, this is really great news.

DJ Mustard is the man responsible for Tinashe's "2 On," Tyga’s “Rack City,” Kid Ink’s “Show Me,” Trey Songz’s “Na Na,” Jason DeRulo’s “Kama Sutra,” and Jennifer Lopez’s “Girls.” He also said during the aforementioned radio interview that the two songs he did for Rihanna’s new album would showcase a “different” side of Mustard. These are not just plain ol’ regular club tracks, no. Wisely, Musty decided to push the envelope a little bit for the Princess of Pop. I can’t wait!

Now, as much as I hate to do it, I have to dampen the mood for just a second to say that plenty of producers have come out in the past and said things like, “I have songs on so-and-so’s upcoming album," but then when said album actually came out, their tracks were nowhere to be found. Whoops! Sometimes, an album’s track list isn’t finalized until the very last minute. Prepare yourself for the sad possibility that DJ Mustard’s work won’t make the final cut for Rihanna’s new album. ... But wouldn’t it be awesome if it did?

Do these two tiny tidbits of exciting album information signal that our Rihanna news drought has finally come to an end? I don't have a crystal ball (yet), but I sure hope so. I can't take much more of this nonsense. We're ready whenever you are, Rih!