Rihanna is a cunning individual in her own right. Instead of giving her fans the usual tug of the arm marketing pitch, RiRi decided to test their loyalty by pretending to cancel her musical agenda for 2019. To her credit, the ruse worked to rile up anticipation, and she didn't even break a sweat. It all went down on Friday night in the form of an innocuous selfie upload.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1078877677061316608
Against the red glare of the photo posted on her Instagram Storyboard, Rihanna attempts a joke that goes a little something like this: "Where the album?'" she captions the image. "Me: sorry my connection poor."
https://twitter.com/_/status/1078868006279757824
Needless to say, some fans with weaker detection skills were quick to assume the worst. Even the more measured of fans still felt a tad "gaslit" by the suggestive tone of her joke. At the other end of the spectrum, fans who've been counting the days since the release of ANTI nearly three years ago, view anything other than a "Download Link" as a complete abomination.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1079104038241738752
Fans will undoubtedly hearken back to December 22nd, 2018, as the day Rihanna promised her fans a new album slated for 2019. And though I find myself able to withstand the remote possibility of an album postponement, I do empathize with the arid feeling, except in my case, I'm waiting for Biggavelli to return from Rikers Island, above anything else. To each their own!
