Rihanna Wants Her New Music To Sound "Timeless"

On Monday, during a promotional appearance for her new movie, Home, Rihanna told MTV that she wants her new album to sound "timeless" — and that's great news for fans. How did she reach this conclusion? Well, apparently, the 27-year-old pop star doesn't think her songs have aged all that well — in fact, there are "a lot" she doesn't even want to perform live anymore! I know that seems kind of sad at first, but I think this realization led to an important "Aha!" moment for Rihanna: she wants to create music that people will remember for years to come — not just radio-ready pop (though, if you ask me, there's a time and a place for that, too).

She explained:

I've made a lot of songs that are just really big, you know, songs from the jump, they just blow up, and I wanted to kind of just get back to — well, not that they weren't real music — but I just wanted to focus on things that felt real, that felt soulful, that felt forever. I wanted songs that I could perform in 15 years; I wanted an album I could perform in 15 years. Not any songs that would burn out. I find that when I get on stage now, I don't want to perform a lot of my songs because they don't feel like me. So, I want to make songs that are timeless.

As I watched the interview, I got the sense that Rihanna recently came to a "fork in the road" regarding her career. The way I see it, she had two options: continue to record mostly top 40–friendly pop songs (which isn't something she finds all that appealing anymore) or take matters into her own hands. I think she chose the latter — and that makes me really, really happy.

Of course, taking "the road less traveled," so to speak, has meant that Rihanna hasn't been able to give fans anything new to listen to for a while, and I won't lie, that's been tough. However, if she's making music that she truly feels good about, music that excites and delights her, music that challenges her as both an artist and as a person, well, then I think it'll be worth the wait.

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