With almost exactly a month to go until Super Bowl LVII, all eyes continue to point to Rihanna. Since her halftime performance was announced in September, eager fans have been hoping to get their hands and ears on some new music. While we did get an okay power ballad for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack back in October, Bad Gal RiRi took some time to troll this morning with a first teaser for her halftime performance on February 12.
In the Apple Music-provided clip, Rihanna walks through a void of sorts toward the camera as voices of commentators bemoan the lack of new music from the pop superstar over the past six (well, at this point, seven) years. As the cacophony of voices reaches critical mass, with any single voice indistinguishable from any other, the commentary cuts out, and Rihanna’s 2016 single “Needed Me” cuts in. The message is clear: “You needed me. Xoxo, Rihanna.”
Honestly, it’s a decent troll. Rihanna has gotten increasingly bold in vocalizing her indifference and occasional annoyance toward fans’ desire and frequent entitlement to new music. Though she has hinted that she’s been working on something time and again since 2016, the most we’ve gotten are a few singles, and she seems to have only grown more interested in selling underwear and makeup in the intervening years.
As recently as November, she reminded everyone that the “Super Bowl is one thing, new music is another thing” during a red carpet appearance with the Associated Press. She continued: “I knew, the second I announced this, they’re gonna think my album is coming. I need to get to work. But I do have new music coming out. But we’ll see, we’ll see. Unrelated, but a special project.” Cryptic!
Of course, it is always possible that she will change her mind—she did change her mind about doing the Super Bowl at all, of course—and that some new track will drop in the next month. Hey, January 28 is the seven-year anniversary of Anti—there’s no time like the present, Rih.