Rihanna Reacts to Breaking a Major Spotify Record “With No New Album”

Only Rihanna could hit a major streaming milestone seven years after the release of her latest album.

The pop star and Fenty mogul is now the first female artist to have 10 songs reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, breaking the impressive record despite not having released an album since Hard debuted in 2016. She celebrated the news on Instagram, referencing both the new record and her status as the youngest self-made female billionaire with the phrase, “Bad Gal billi.”

The superstar wrote, “Bad Gal billi… wit no new album… lemme talk my shit,” adding a wink-with-tongue-out emoji and a Barbados flag in honor of her home country.

The multi-hyphenate released her latest single, the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever anthem “Lift Me Up,” in October 2022. Last February returned to the stage in two highly-anticipated performances, singing the ballad at the 2023 Academy Awards and headlining her first Super Bowl Halftime Show—while also announcing her second pregnancy.

In an interview published that month, the singer opened up about the pressure she feels to release new music following her “most cohesive album” Anti as the measuring stick for her next project. She added that she has her eyes set on officially releasing a new album in 2023.

“I want it to be this year,” she said. “Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos. And I need the right background music with the visuals. I can’t just go shoot a video to me talking.”