Rihanna Returns to Studio

While it's been a decade since her last full album, the critically acclaimed "Anti," Rihanna hasn't been entirely silent musically. She earned her first Oscar nomination in 2023 for "Lift Me Up," a song featured in the film *Black Panther: Wakanda Forever*. More recently, she released the track "Friend of Mine" for the 2025 *Smurfs* movie, in which she also voiced the character of Smurfette. Her hiatus from creating a new album coincided with her rise as a business mogul. In 2017, she launched Fenty Beauty, a cosmetics brand praised for its inclusive range of 40 foundation shades that revolutionized the industry. The brand generated over $550 million in revenue in its first full year. Following that success, Rihanna launched her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty, in 2018. The line, celebrated for its inclusivity, achieved a $1 billion valuation by early 2021 and has announced plans to expand into brick-and-mortar stores. In February 2023, Rihanna made a highly anticipated return to the stage for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show. The performance, her first live show in over five years, became the most-watched halftime show in history, attracting over 121 million viewers. During the show, she also revealed she was pregnant with her second child. The recent glimpses into her studio work came from a "day-in-the-life" video she shared. The clips showed her in a late-night meeting for her Fenty brand before heading to a recording session that lasted into the early morning hours, though the audio was strategically muted. In the years since "Anti," Rihanna has also started a family with rapper A$AP Rocky. The couple now has three children together. Her recent video concluded with "mom duties," as she was shown making a Mardi Gras costume for her son after leaving the studio.