Rihanna responds 'I feel ATTACKED' after RHOSLC star calls out the wait for new music

The complaint that reached Rihanna

The wait for a new Rihanna album is one of pop culture's longest-running frustrations, and apparently the singer herself is not immune to the jokes. According to Billboard, on Tuesday, May 26, Rihanna reposted an Instagram Story from Whitney Rose, a cast member of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, in which Rose filmed herself looking genuinely sad about the situation. "I just realized that we still have not had any new music from Rihanna," Rose said in the selfie video, calling the singer "my favorite, my girl, my queen."

Rihanna's response was swift and self-aware. She reposted the clip and added the message "I feel ATTACKED!!!!" followed by three crying-laughing emoji. It is a small moment, but for fans who have been waiting since Anti, her eighth studio album released in 2016, any acknowledgment feels significant.

What we actually know about R9

The last time Rihanna dropped a full studio LP was in 2016, when Anti spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. Since then, the album her fans have nicknamed R9 has remained officially unannounced.

She is far from alone in being asked about it. Last month, Billie Eilish told Elle magazine that she was excited for R9 if it ever materializes. And last February, Rihanna told Harper's BAZAAR that the reggae album rumors were false, adding that she has been in the studio but has been waiting for the material to match where she is artistically. "After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more," she said.

She also told the magazine that she believes she has finally found the right direction. "It's not going to be commercial or radio, digestible. It's going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I've finally cracked it, girl!" Whether that confidence translates into a release timeline remains, for now, an open question.