At the annual carnival in Barbados, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky stood among the spectators, she in a white top and cardigan with a scarf tied at her hips, he in a white shirt, trousers and a baseball cap. At one point the couple mimed a sexual act, and the clip posted by Paris Match on Instagram drew a storm of criticism. "They behave like animals in the jungle," one commenter wrote, while others called it "disgusting" and "vulgar."

Days later, in an interview with The Jason Lee Show, Rocky was asked whether he was to blame for the long absence of a new Rihanna album. "No. She is in the studio right now. Yes, I said it. Sorry, baby," he replied, according to People. The admission, which he half-jokingly apologised for, offered the most concrete news about Rihanna's music since her last full-length record, ANTI, released in 2016.

That album spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 and produced hits including "Work," "Needed Me" and "Love on the Brain." Since then, Rihanna has not released a studio album, though she has remained visible: she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023, announced her second pregnancy during that performance, and released the Oscar-nominated single "Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" in 2022. She has also built Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty, and Forbes estimates her fortune at $1 billion.

The announcement could be the most significant update for Rihanna's Navy, the singer's fans, who have spent years speculating about the reasons for the delay. Rocky also addressed the couple's dynamic, telling Lee that her success does not intimidate him. "My woman got billions, I got multi-millions. Her success isn't mine. I am proud of my woman," he said. In February 2025, Rihanna told Harper's Bazaar she was "very optimistic" about a new album, adding that she did not want to release "anything mediocre."

The carnival clip remains a counterpoint to the studio news, a reminder of the couple's public life. As fans parse Rocky's slip, the image of the two of them, side by side among the crowd, lingers — along with the question of when Rihanna will finally let the music speak again.