Rihanna is "starting over" with her ninth album.
The 'Umbrella' hitmaker hasn't released an LP since 2016's 'Anti' but now she's finally ready to get back into the studio again and plans to re-listen to the music she's worked on over the last few years and decide if any of it is still relevant or interesting to her.
She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "I think that music, for me, is a new discovery. I'm rediscovering things.
“I have been working on the album for so long that I kinda put all that stuff aside and now I'm prepared to go back in the studio. I'm gonna start - give me a second!
"Yeah, I'm starting over. But I don’t want to neglect the songs that I have, so I actually want to go back and listen to stuff with new ears, with my new perspective and then see what applies and what I'm still in love with."
The 36-year-old singer - who has sons RZA, two, and Riot, ten months, with A$AP Rocky - sparked a fan frenzy earlier this week when she was spotted in New York City wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan 'I'm retired'.
But Rihanna insisted fans have no need to worry.
"People got triggered with that retired word.
“They were like 'We're never getting an album now.' No one read the other line, it was something about, 'This is as dressed up as I get.'"
Last week, the star's 2012 single 'Diamonds' was RIAA certified Diamond and the track still means a lot to her.
She said: "Wow, I remember where we made it from the jump. It was in London, and I also remember performing 'Diamond' on tour.
"Performing it with all the lights...everyone puts their phone out at that very moment. And it's connected to my grandma. I literally think of her every single time I perform that."
Bang Showbiz